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Playa Beach Condos & Villas is happy to provide rental management services for vacation rental properties in Mexico and the Colorado Mountain Area.
I charge 15-25% commission to those clients who have me manage the entire rental process - from lead generation to money collection to customer satisfaction. I offer a variety of services if you do not require comprehensive assistance.
How do I earn that commission? Well, besides working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.....
1. My website is designed to allow for online booking for those properties where I am in control of the availability calendar and E-request reservations (reservation upon confirmation) for all others. This was a big investment I made in technology that is growing more popular as folks become more comfortable with vacation rentals. Over the last few months, I have seen online booking go from a couple of reservations a year to a half dozen within 90 days. I expect this trend to continue to go up.
2. I advertise my website using keyword advertising, links and search engine optimization techniques to keep my site visible for guests who do not utilize traditional vacation rental advertising sites. This is a moving target for internet businesses and I work with two premier firms for vacation rental internet marketing. I do not charge for placement on any of my websites.
3. I maintain the VRBO listings for clients and charge only for the actual annual advertising fee charged by VRBO. This policy is the same for other vacation rental sites as well.
4. I am integrated via my rental management software with TripAdvisor, FlipKey, TravelGuard and HomeAway so that anytime I make a pricing, availability, or amenity change it shows up immediately on those sites and I pay by the lead for inquiries from those sites as opposed to buying annual listings from them. I do not charge the lead fee to my clients as I consider this a cost of doing business (as well as an accounting nightmare I wish to avoid).
5. I have a list of over 3000 past inquirers (and growing daily) that receive quarterly enewsletters about news and special promotions in Playa del Carmen.
6. Every guest I book automatically receives a post visit guest survey from FlipKey and the review is posted on TripAdvisor. Hotels with reviews rent 100% more than hotels without reviews and these are verified by TripAdvisor. This is worth its weight in gold!
7. I arrange transportation to the property for guests at the actual cost - $70 each way for a private van with an optional stop for groceries. I offer optional grocery shopping service and chef service, baby furniture rental and professional babysitting services.
8. I provide each guest with a comprehensive list of visitor information that includes restaurants, activities, emergency contact information, and important contacts for their vacation.
9. I communicate arrivals/departures to the property manager for cleanings, special requests, check in, etc.
10. I am the "customer service" desk to take care of problems, issue refunds, take compliments!
11. I manage the entire rental process from initial inquiry, answering questions, making sure the condo is the right spot for the guest, negotiating price, collecting money, distributing directions and check in information, collecting the approval on rental agreements, resolving any problems that might occur.
12. I collect a non-refundable $99 damage deposit waiver for each reservation which allows me to repair or replace any item that is accidentally damaged by the guest up to $1000.00 in cost.
13. I offer as part of the reservation itself an option for travel insurance to protect the guest, the property owner and myself from lost revenue due to situations beyond our control. The cost to the guest is a nominal $70 per thousand of rental amount.
14. I utilize an 800 number service with email transcription and I have a back up employee to ensure prompt telephone attention to each and every inquiry.
15. I carry my ipad everywhere so that I can read and respond to email inquiries immediately and speak intelligently about availability and pricing.
16. Monthly revenue is remitted within the first 15 days of the following month (typically it is within 2 days, but if I’m travelling that can be delayed). I have an rental report that includes the last name of the guest, the rental amount minus the damage deposit, my commission and any additional charges (refunds, VRBO listings, misc.). The monthly remittal includes all guests who checked out during the previous month. For example: The July check is for all guests whose departure date was from June 1-30.
17. I have built a smart phone application that if free to download and allows me to send special rates or information each Monday to subscribers. I also provide guests with a mobile version of my website.
18. I constantly invest in my website to keep my look and technology current. The vacation rental war is fought on the internet and I intend to be the victor!
I would love to market your property/properties and participate in seeing you enjoy increased rental occupancy and overall profits.
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