One minute you’re at your computer poring over calendars and budgets. The next you’re up to your elbows in overflowing toilet water wondering exactly how and when rubber gloves became your best friend. Such can be the life of the vacation rental host!
While it’s tempting to take on the responsibility of doing anything and everything yourself, it can also be a huge toll on your time and energy.
That’s where outsourcing can be a godsend. Offloading some tasks not only frees up some of your time, it also allows you to tap into the expertise of professionals who already know how to do things in the best, most efficient ways. The question is, who do you hire and for what? Here are six things you can outsource to help make hosting a hassle-free experience.
1. Check-in and key concierge
Handing over a couple of keys is the kind of super-simple task that can quickly turn into a nightmare. Guests can be late, uncontactable, lost, frustrated… possibly even all of the above! Instead of waiting around all day for them to arrive, a key concierge service will manage this side of things for you.
There are a number of different options for automating this check-in. Some providers pair you up with key-safe lock boxes or locations like local businesses that can officially mind your keys for you. Others offer a 24-hour key concierge service with meet-and-greet of your guests. In short — nightmare averted.
2. Cleaning and turnover
We hardly need to drive home the benefits of hiring a professional cleaning service. Hours saved and effort spared? Innumerable. However, be sure to hire cleaners who know the difference between cleaning a personal space and doing a hospitality turnover. Schedule them in after every guest for a thorough going-over of the place, and make sure you communicate to them any extra tasks you need like changing linen, restocking supplies and informing you of any damages.
3. Interior decorating
Some of us are born with a flair for design. Others still think that lime green formica bench-tops have some business existing outside of 1975.
For most property owners, a little help can go a long way, considering just how important aesthetics are to the success of your listing. A qualified interior decorator will not only tweak your place to make it more appealing to potential guests, but they’ll know where to source things from, will be on top of what’s trending (and what’s timeless), and will certainly help you to supercharge your bookings using the magic of color and space.
4. Maintenance
Blocked drains. Broken heaters. Blown fuses. Ant invasions. All things that it makes sense to rely on a professional for (unless you really, really love getting into your overalls at midnight on a Saturday).
Either have all of the necessary services on speed dial, or strike a deal with a property manager where maintenance issues are automatically taken care of. It’ll save a serious amount of stress — and keep any negative reviews at bay.
5. Web design
Building a dedicated vacation rental website for your property has a whole host of advantages. It can save money for both you and your guests, can help to net repeat bookings, and some providers can even help simplify the management of listing across multiple platforms.
If you don’t have the faintest idea about website design – fear not. Specialist vacation rental software services like Lodgify provide owners like you with all the right tools and templates, allowing you to easily create your own website without any prior technical knowledge at all.
6. Property management
Last, but certainly not least, is the option of hiring a property management service. If you want to sit back and collect the income from your property, while someone else does all the management, this is the right choice for you.
Exactly what the property manager will look after depends on your specific contract with them, but it can include tasks like responding to inquiries, managing listings, setting pricing, greeting guests, scheduling cleanings and looking after administration.
Naturally there are costs involved with any outsourced services, so determining which ones are best for you depends on your individual budget. The main thing to consider is the value of your time and energy, versus the cost of hiring an expert. After all, we all want our hosting experience to be as hassle-free as possible.
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