Running Holiday Cottages...
Discussion
Hi All,
My Wife and I are interesting in running 4 holiday cottages which are currently for sale, at a decent price. These cottages are very modern, apparently charge £900 a week and reckon it could be a good investment. I have only just gone to the agents today for further information obviously, but my main question is - does anyone run any like this? How do you find it? Is it good or bad idea?
Thanks
My Wife and I are interesting in running 4 holiday cottages which are currently for sale, at a decent price. These cottages are very modern, apparently charge £900 a week and reckon it could be a good investment. I have only just gone to the agents today for further information obviously, but my main question is - does anyone run any like this? How do you find it? Is it good or bad idea?
Thanks
Like any venture, don't let the heart rule the head, so do the sums; look over the accounts for the past 3 years and make sure you're aware of the local competition and where they sit on Trip Advisor et al. Maintenance is also important; are they fit for purpose or are they due a major refurb? I'd also be keen to understand why they've come to market. Good luck!
Hi.
I ran one for a number of years.
It's a great way of being tied to the internet. You get all sorts of issues with cleaners and the like, and most of your time is spent sorting out minutia / small stuff.
Like any customer facing job,you need to like people, and feel comfortable having a chat with them, and spending time that does not directly pay you.
And as the previous poster said, make sure the finance works for you.
Don't forget that it's also very seasonal, so you can be limited to where and when you go on holiday to.
I ran one for a number of years.
It's a great way of being tied to the internet. You get all sorts of issues with cleaners and the like, and most of your time is spent sorting out minutia / small stuff.
Like any customer facing job,you need to like people, and feel comfortable having a chat with them, and spending time that does not directly pay you.
And as the previous poster said, make sure the finance works for you.
Don't forget that it's also very seasonal, so you can be limited to where and when you go on holiday to.
£900 a week - each? All 4, all year?
if only it was so simple, seasonality, and as was said above cleaners and maintenance costs, unless you plan on doing all the work yourselves. That is easy and profitable, BUT if you ever want a holiday, each week costs you £900 x4 plus the cost of your holiday.
We rent out 3 so have some experience.
if only it was so simple, seasonality, and as was said above cleaners and maintenance costs, unless you plan on doing all the work yourselves. That is easy and profitable, BUT if you ever want a holiday, each week costs you £900 x4 plus the cost of your holiday.
We rent out 3 so have some experience.
The 3 posts above say virtually everything.
We have 3 in France during summer months only and have 70% returning clients built up over 11 years.
However the market costs to fill the other 30% seems excessive these days. Getting SEO right for a slam-dunk website is virtually impossible compared to the huge number of directory sites - Holliday Lettings, Owners Direct, AirB&B etc., that an individual just cannot compete with and using just one, may not give sufficient exposure.
Finally, competition will undoubtedly be tough, so work out what your USP is - why should someone prefer your place to all the others?
We have 3 in France during summer months only and have 70% returning clients built up over 11 years.
However the market costs to fill the other 30% seems excessive these days. Getting SEO right for a slam-dunk website is virtually impossible compared to the huge number of directory sites - Holliday Lettings, Owners Direct, AirB&B etc., that an individual just cannot compete with and using just one, may not give sufficient exposure.
Finally, competition will undoubtedly be tough, so work out what your USP is - why should someone prefer your place to all the others?
rdjohn said:
The 3 posts above say virtually everything.
We have 3 in France during summer months only and have 70% returning clients built up over 11 years.
However the market costs to fill the other 30% seems excessive these days. Getting SEO right for a slam-dunk website is virtually impossible compared to the huge number of directory sites - Holliday Lettings, Owners Direct, AirB&B etc., that an individual just cannot compete with and using just one, may not give sufficient exposure.
Finally, competition will undoubtedly be tough, so work out what your USP is - why should someone prefer your place to all the others?
Genuine question - why would you try to operate using your own website when OwnersDirect etc are cheap and effective?We have 3 in France during summer months only and have 70% returning clients built up over 11 years.
However the market costs to fill the other 30% seems excessive these days. Getting SEO right for a slam-dunk website is virtually impossible compared to the huge number of directory sites - Holliday Lettings, Owners Direct, AirB&B etc., that an individual just cannot compete with and using just one, may not give sufficient exposure.
Finally, competition will undoubtedly be tough, so work out what your USP is - why should someone prefer your place to all the others?
NB I have nothing to do with OD but used it to rent out holiday places a few years ago to the satisfaction of me and my guests.
sideways sid said:
Genuine question - why would you try to operate using your own website when OwnersDirect etc are cheap and effective?
NB I have nothing to do with OD but used it to rent out holiday places a few years ago to the satisfaction of me and my guests.
Owners Direct have now been bought by HomeAway an American website. Lots of things have been changed. Because they have very poor verification, lots of people using their website have been stung by non-existent properties after they paid the cash. A BBC Watchdog program last year had a big impact. So now they act as an escrow and you do not get a dyme until the customer is 100% happy. They have put in their clients mind that their advertisers are not to be trusted - odd as the people who pay to advertise are actually their clients, in the real world.NB I have nothing to do with OD but used it to rent out holiday places a few years ago to the satisfaction of me and my guests.
Perhaps an even bigger issue is that your advert gets shuffled towards the back if you are not a Gold client. The more you pay the greater the exposure, that principle is bad for the small operator in a crowded marketplace.
Their clients tend to be last minute looking for a bargain. My clients tend to be reasonably affluent looking for quality and plan ahead. We have 70% of guests returning. We are looking for round pegs to fit a few remaining round holes, their scatter gun approach does not really work.
They are loosing market share to AirB&B and so may not have the marketing exposure that you might expect.
The point of my earlier post was that marketing needs to be well considered as you can end up paying lots of fees to several directory type websites, without any guarantee of success. But an SEO and your own website is also unlikely to be effective as the directory websites will always score highly in Google's rankings.
Thanks for all replies everyone, bit hard to each reply to each bit.
The said holiday cottages are here
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for...
I am awaiting a call back from the agent involved, he is going to send over the last 5 years worth of accounts for me to review. We don't live too far away from the said properties, so managing them shouldn't be an issue but we do have a friend who we have sounded out to help us if required when we went to go away and so on. The cottages would be mainly ran by my wife as I already run my own business.
I am trying to organise a viewing over the weekend, but not saying I will purchase these. It's an idea we have been wondering for a while and just wondered if anyone had experience in doing so?
The said holiday cottages are here
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for...
I am awaiting a call back from the agent involved, he is going to send over the last 5 years worth of accounts for me to review. We don't live too far away from the said properties, so managing them shouldn't be an issue but we do have a friend who we have sounded out to help us if required when we went to go away and so on. The cottages would be mainly ran by my wife as I already run my own business.
I am trying to organise a viewing over the weekend, but not saying I will purchase these. It's an idea we have been wondering for a while and just wondered if anyone had experience in doing so?
rdjohn said:
sideways sid said:
Genuine question - why would you try to operate using your own website when OwnersDirect etc are cheap and effective?
NB I have nothing to do with OD but used it to rent out holiday places a few years ago to the satisfaction of me and my guests.
Owners Direct have now been bought by HomeAway an American website. Lots of things have been changed. Because they have very poor verification, lots of people using their website have been stung by non-existent properties after they paid the cash. A BBC Watchdog program last year had a big impact. So now they act as an escrow and you do not get a dyme until the customer is 100% happy. They have put in their clients mind that their advertisers are not to be trusted - odd as the people who pay to advertise are actually their clients, in the real world.NB I have nothing to do with OD but used it to rent out holiday places a few years ago to the satisfaction of me and my guests.
Perhaps an even bigger issue is that your advert gets shuffled towards the back if you are not a Gold client. The more you pay the greater the exposure, that principle is bad for the small operator in a crowded marketplace.
Their clients tend to be last minute looking for a bargain. My clients tend to be reasonably affluent looking for quality and plan ahead. We have 70% of guests returning. We are looking for round pegs to fit a few remaining round holes, their scatter gun approach does not really work.
They are loosing market share to AirB&B and so may not have the marketing exposure that you might expect.
The point of my earlier post was that marketing needs to be well considered as you can end up paying lots of fees to several directory type websites, without any guarantee of success. But an SEO and your own website is also unlikely to be effective as the directory websites will always score highly in Google's rankings.
Sorry, but I can top that!
A freind of a friend is the general manager of a top 7* hotel in the Middle East. An aircrew come for a regular stopover, but instead of their usual flight cases, they have big bags. The staff were on to them straightaway. Next time they come to stay, they insist on different room numbers. After quite close inspection, everything looks OK. But suspicions persist.
After several visits, a room is due for a strip down and refurb. They move the bed out and the piece of luxury carpet beneath the bed has been surgically removed. They backtrack through previous rooms and sure enough, every bedroom has a piece of carpet removed.
Fortunately, the next time they were ready for them at checkout and needless to say, an eye-for-an-eye justice prevailed.
A lot of people were disappointed their flight did not leave on time.
A freind of a friend is the general manager of a top 7* hotel in the Middle East. An aircrew come for a regular stopover, but instead of their usual flight cases, they have big bags. The staff were on to them straightaway. Next time they come to stay, they insist on different room numbers. After quite close inspection, everything looks OK. But suspicions persist.
After several visits, a room is due for a strip down and refurb. They move the bed out and the piece of luxury carpet beneath the bed has been surgically removed. They backtrack through previous rooms and sure enough, every bedroom has a piece of carpet removed.
Fortunately, the next time they were ready for them at checkout and needless to say, an eye-for-an-eye justice prevailed.
A lot of people were disappointed their flight did not leave on time.
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