Are you planning a long holiday overseas? Not being home for a long period of time can create problems as no one will be maintaining the house and perhaps the garden. You would need to ask your friends or neighbours to come look after your place while you are away. Instead of leaving your home empty, you can actually turn this into an opportunity to make extra income by turning their home into a holiday home.
How you can prepare your home for holiday rental?
- Check if your home is guest ready
- Create a point of difference
- Working with a Property Management company
Check if your home is guest ready
Before you decide to list you holiday home on platforms like Airbnb, the first thing you need to do is to make sure your home is guest ready. The easiest way to do that is to put yourself in potential guests’ shoes, that case you know exactly what you would expect from their perspective.
- Is the place clean and uncluttered
- Do you have the things the guest might need such as milk, butter and bread, coffee, tea, sugar, cooking oil, salt, just to name a few
- Do you have the tableware such as mugs, glasses, knives and forks
- Are the essential consumables available such as dishwashing liquid, clothes detergent, body wash, shampoo and conditioner
- Is there a lockbox where you can put the key
- Do you have a clear space the guest can put their luggage
- Do you have professional photos taken which you can use to promote your holiday home
You would also need to check on government website in your state and learn about all the regulations that apply to short-term rental accommodation, such as Airbnb.
Point of difference
Do you know there are thousands of properties listed on websites like Airbnb? In order to attract more “guests”, you would need to show a point of difference. The right furnishing and styling can help you to attract and retain guests.
The easiest way to achieve this is to simply hire and use property management company as they will do everything for you from styling your place, listing your holiday home to housekeeping. Although, there are also simple things you can do to make your home look amazing such as highlighting feature trees or plants in your garden by installing exterior lighting. You can also head to your local shops to get some live plants which will add a fresh touch to your place.
A handy tip here is again putting yourself in potential guests’ shoes, when you arrive how likely are you going to take a snap and post on your Instagram!
Working with a Property Management company
If you will be traveling overseas for a period of time, you might want to work with a property management company instead of trying to manage everything yourself remotely. And in fact, many people would still make a good profit using a property management company.
While you are away, the property management company can help you to look after the guest, arranging milk and any consumables and getting someone to clean the place when the guest has left.