Thinking about renting your own home?
It may be tempting to place your home on a “for rent by owner” website and attempt to handle the rental of your home without using a professional agency. While saving on agency fees may be tempting, are the savings really money in the bank?
Time is money. The value of having an agency handle rental for you allows you to focus on the enjoyment of your second home versus the rental and maintenance aspects associated with home ownership. Filtering inquiries, booking reservations, greeting guests, servicing the guests while they are in your home, maintenance calls, trust accounting, tax submissions, and marketing all take a large amount of time. How does the return on the time it takes to do all these items compare with your regular earning potential during these hours or to the value of time spent doing things you love?
Security of your investment is key. On-site personnel is essential for assuring that your home is in good order and guests have left the home as they found it. What if something does happen during a guests stay? Handling collections and legal issues surrounding damage or an event can be difficult especially if the issue isn’t caught in a timely manner. How will you know if your home is secure and maintained without hiring someone to check it for you?
Attention to you and your guests are the focal points of a professional agency. Property Management companies are in business to bring agency, homeowner and guests together in business transactions that benefit all parties. It is what they do. Agencies hire full-time employees and provide them with professional and legal training as well as stay knowledgeable about industry trends. Agencies also have systems in place to take care of owners and rental guests. An agency such as Bald Head Island Limited Property Management has an attorney on staff to assist in daily decisions regarding rental receipts and advise on issues that arise.
Exposure through marketing brings awareness and results in bookings. When you list your home with a website provider you become limited to one stream of exposure. A professional agency may list your home of the very website you are considering and pay the associated fees; however, an agency invests money in many forms of advertising including web, print, direct mail and public relations.
Satisfaction comes in many forms. In the short-term the savings may seem worth it; however, peace of mind is worth something. “For rent by owner” sites taut booking results, but what about your personal experiences with rental guests and the overall experiences of the guests themselves? Taking the worry out of maintaining a home you visit several times a year, the challenges of customer service and all the various components of renting a home is what a professional agency does.
Before listing your home on a “for rent by owner” site research rental agency firms and weigh your options. Bald Head Island Limited Property Management has a proven track record of over 28 years and offers a way for homeowners to enjoy their second home instead of manage it.
In case you need more evidence that renting your own home can be less than desirable, check-out this recent Airbnb incident posted on Mashable. http://mashable.com/2015/04/30/house-destroyed-airbnb-renters/.
Published on Thursday, April 9, 2015