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Any advice on private rental vs. agencies?
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New Villa Owner
Any advice on private rental vs. agencies?
I bought a villa in Lagos in April this year, and have got it with an agency. I've not exactly been inundated with bookings though, and am thinking about doing it on my own next year. Does anyone who's done this before have any advice about this - does the benefit of saving the agency fees outweigh the hassle of doing it yourself? Or is it just too difficult? Also, any practical advice on cleaner/laundry/pool contacts would be much appreciated.
ps - what a great mine of info this site is. V impressed!
ps - what a great mine of info this site is. V impressed!
Rental:
As far as rentals go, it has not been the best of years and a good rental outcome can also depend which agency you are working with and what markets you are targeting.
An agency will always invest considerably more money in advertising and will reach a wider range of clients. On the other hand, the internet (eg. cvo.com) is proving to be a cheap and effective alternative to agency marketing.
If you do not want to put all your money on one horse, you can implement both methods, provided the agency agrees and you centralize bookings in one place to avoid double-bookings.
Private rentals involve a considerable amount of paperwork and will always be more hassle for you if something goes wrong. If you are going to do it yourself, make sure all aspects of strangers residing in your house are covered: Things like breakage deposits and payment advances are vital to ensure your interests are secured.
Admin:
Services like gardners and pool services can easily be implemented privately and paid on a monthly basis.
Maid service is a different story:
Either you hire a cleaning company which will come into the house in pairs and clean it professionaly, or you hire a maid yourself to clean the house.
A cleaning company is as uncomplicated as gardners and pool service as you can pay it on a monthly basis without any hassle. The downside is, that you do not know the people who will be doing the cleaning and they will also not assume any responsibility towards the villa. If a client breaks something or something goes missing, chances are you will only find out when it is too late.
A maid will be more "attached" to the villa and is therefore able to assume some responsibility to ensure it is functioning properly. If you are lucky, you will quickly have someone who will be your eyes round the house. The downside, a maid who takes her job seriously will also want things like social security, subsidized transport, etc - more paperwork.
I suggest you evaluate how much time you are willing to invest and how much money you can save/earn with that investment.
G.
As far as rentals go, it has not been the best of years and a good rental outcome can also depend which agency you are working with and what markets you are targeting.
An agency will always invest considerably more money in advertising and will reach a wider range of clients. On the other hand, the internet (eg. cvo.com) is proving to be a cheap and effective alternative to agency marketing.
If you do not want to put all your money on one horse, you can implement both methods, provided the agency agrees and you centralize bookings in one place to avoid double-bookings.
Private rentals involve a considerable amount of paperwork and will always be more hassle for you if something goes wrong. If you are going to do it yourself, make sure all aspects of strangers residing in your house are covered: Things like breakage deposits and payment advances are vital to ensure your interests are secured.
Admin:
Services like gardners and pool services can easily be implemented privately and paid on a monthly basis.
Maid service is a different story:
Either you hire a cleaning company which will come into the house in pairs and clean it professionaly, or you hire a maid yourself to clean the house.
A cleaning company is as uncomplicated as gardners and pool service as you can pay it on a monthly basis without any hassle. The downside is, that you do not know the people who will be doing the cleaning and they will also not assume any responsibility towards the villa. If a client breaks something or something goes missing, chances are you will only find out when it is too late.
A maid will be more "attached" to the villa and is therefore able to assume some responsibility to ensure it is functioning properly. If you are lucky, you will quickly have someone who will be your eyes round the house. The downside, a maid who takes her job seriously will also want things like social security, subsidized transport, etc - more paperwork.
I suggest you evaluate how much time you are willing to invest and how much money you can save/earn with that investment.
G.
I do the rentals for our apartment plus another one and really enjoy it. If you are organised and prepared to put some time, money and effort into it it's great. I like to build a rapport with clients and help out with info on the area, transport etc.
You have to be prepared to throw some money at advertising the first year to get known, then hopefully you will have repeat bookings and recommends in future years. You also get to know which websites/publications bring the most enquiries and can decide who to continue with after that.
I think a lot depends on whether you have the time and inclination to do it yourself.
We have management who organise everything from maintenance and repairs to cleaning so I don't have to worry about that side of it at all.
If you want to discuss it further, let me know.
kteee
You have to be prepared to throw some money at advertising the first year to get known, then hopefully you will have repeat bookings and recommends in future years. You also get to know which websites/publications bring the most enquiries and can decide who to continue with after that.
I think a lot depends on whether you have the time and inclination to do it yourself.
We have management who organise everything from maintenance and repairs to cleaning so I don't have to worry about that side of it at all.
If you want to discuss it further, let me know.
kteee
Just a thought for "New Villa Owner." You really must have someone here to sort out any problems which WILL crop up. As you will have no doubt noticed from postings on this site, there are people who will demand compensation, if everything is not exactly as it should be, and there goes your income. It could be no water, no power, an appliance not working, and many other things. My advice would be, don't go it alone yet. Why not take up the offer from kteee, and also advertise on the web site. Next year you will have a better idea of which way to go. Going it alone in the early stages of ownership, can give you sleepless nights. A friend of mine had a phone call to say that when his clients arrived, the villa was over run with cockroaches. He had to find them another villa, not an easy job at 10.30pm. Don't be brave, keep your options open!
Villa Rental - Agency v Self administered
Using an agency is the same as giving a total stranger access to your credit card. Nobody can sell the concept better than the owner. In the 4 years we have rented our properties we have handled all the marketing and administration ourselves. The management of the properties is handled locally in Carvoeiro by a very competent Dutch Lady who takes care of the maids, gardener, poolman and all repairs.
There is no better way.
There is no better way.
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Guest
I don't think it would be fair to Steen to recommend other sites apart from this one, there are many others that specialise in the Algarve and also general villa and apartment rental sites that cover the whole world.
Do a search on google and see what comes up, have a look at the sites and compare the properties advertised to yours, some sites will be better than others for different types of property.
I also built our own website giving info on our apartment and Carvoeiro in general, I think this is very helpful especially for first time visitors and first time independent travellers.
Good luck
k
Do a search on google and see what comes up, have a look at the sites and compare the properties advertised to yours, some sites will be better than others for different types of property.
I also built our own website giving info on our apartment and Carvoeiro in general, I think this is very helpful especially for first time visitors and first time independent travellers.
Good luck
k