The Benefits of Professional Management for Your Vacation Rental Property

How much can you handle? 

You’ve purchased your new vacation rental property.  Your first guest has arrived and is all settled in.  Shortly after their arrival you get a call, “There is no hot water.”  You guide them to the breaker box and they successfully reset the breaker.  Problem solved.  An hour later you get a call.  “I cannot connect to the Wi-Fi.”  You guide them through resetting the router and they are able to connect.  Then your phone rings at 2:30 a.m. and your renter says, “The AC is not working and its 85 degrees inside the condo.  What are you going to do about it?”  What do you do or who are you going to call?  These and numerous other situations occur on a regular basis when you have a vacation rental property.

Professional, Reliable Contacts

A professional manager is going to have staff and vendors available 24/7 to deal with any type of situation that could occur during your guest's stay.  They will also have the professional contacts to take care of your property whether it is HVAC, appliance, plumbing, dock, lawn care or any other type of problem.  These contacts have probably been working with the property manager for years and are more likely to get the problem fixed quickly to keep their loyal customer.  

Property Clean-Up

Once the guest leaves, the home or condo is dirty and in need of cleaning.  A property manager is going to have their own housekeeping staff or they will contract with a housekeeping service company to provide professional cleaning services.  The manager should also have separate staff that inspects the housekeeping to ensure nothing was missed, to look for possible damage to the property and to ensure that everything is in good working order and ready for the next guest. 

Marketing 

Another aspect is the marketing of your property to potential guests.  A property manager is going to be spending thousands of dollars each year on advertising to attract guests.  Our company operates three websites, advertises on about 10-15 different vacation rental websites, advertises in the Lake of the Ozarks Vacation Guide, has an on-line presence with the official Missouri travel website, has a physical location that guests can visit and operates a physical visitors information center.

Sales and Accounting

In addition to the marketing, a professional manager is going to have a sales staff that knows all about the Lake and is prepared to take payments, send contracts and coordinate the entire guest stay from booking, to arrival, to departure.  The manager also has an accounting department that handles your monthly statements, expenses, income distribution and yearly 1099’s.  This helps make your tax preparation so much easier at the end of the year.

Other services that should be provided are travel insurance, damage protection plans, contracts, preventive maintenance and interior design consultation.  These are all things to consider when trying to decide whether you want to try and handle the renting of the property yourself or if you should hire a professional.

Russell Burdette is the owner of Your Lake Vacation, a professional vacation rental management company at the Lake of the Ozarks since 1986.  If you would like more info on renting your home or condo as a vacation rental, please call 573-365-3367 or e-mail russell@yourlakevacation.com.

For more information please call us toll free at 1-877-284-0267!!

YourLakeVacation.com
4571 Osage Beach Pkwy, Suite A
Osage Beach, MO 65065
Local - 573-365-3367
Fax - 573-365-5076  

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