Property managers are entrusted with management of a property by the owners to handle the tasks related to tenants/guests, and the operation and management of the property, as well as of its finance. Managing vacation rentals or operating a serviced apartment is a demanding job, which is known as a full time job with no days off. Technology has paved the way so much, delegating most of the responsibilities to the Property Management Systems (PMSes) and automating many of the operations involved. Having a vacation rental property take-on form is essential in this business.
Selling rentals to guests, setting rates, collecting rents, cleaning and maintenance, guest vetting, listing properties and writing descriptions to rent out the rooms through different booking platforms and OTAs are in the list if we were to count a few of the responsibilities of a property manager. The extent of the responsibilities depends on the terms of the management contract. Almost in all cases, a property manager needs to add a new property to their management portfolio as they scale their business. The type of information they need to collect when taking on a new property to manage is what is included in a proper and comprehensive vacation rental property take-on form.
Why Do I need a Vacation Rental Property Take-On Form?
As a property manager, you are expected to increase your rentals’ exposure and fill the occupancy calendar as much as possible. The greater exposure your listings get, the higher revenue they will bring you.
Listing your properties on different booking platforms and OTAs is a way of increasing exposure. Apart from the giants of the vacation rental industry like Expedia, Airbnb, and Booking.com, there is a long list of booking platforms out there in the market. In order to get your properties listed on OTAs, you need to sign up for each of them, getting in touch with their account managers. And in order to prevent checking every single page of these OTAs to update rates and availability, using a channel manager becomes handy. It also helps in preventing overbooking.
The other option to sell your vacation rental units to decent guests and earn more money is to boost your direct bookings. With the help of a direct booking website which is SEO-friendly and by spending a little bit of time on tweaking the content, you can gradually increase the number of your direct bookings. Zeevou Direct is also a commission-free booking platform if you are looking for even more direct bookings.
To realise both of the above options, as you might have already noticed, you need to have full access to the property’s accurate information as you take over a new one. For sure, you want to list your rental on an OTA or insert data in your direct booking website; that’s why you should compile the information in an organised way. Here you might find a sample vacation rental property take-on form very useful.
As a property manager, you also need to get all the details about the condition of the property when you take over the management. You need to know the numerical data to be able to calculate the net profit of your rental. It is also necessary to be explicit and transparent when providing reports for the owner of the property. To get detailed and explicit reports, you need accurate input which might be possible through using an accurate vacation rental property take-on form.
What is a Vacation Rental Property Take-on Form?
A property take-on form should be completed with absolutely everything about the property and the owner’s preferences. It will be supplemented by descriptions, facilitating the process of listing rentals on OTAs and property listing sites. A vacation rental property take-on form should get enough information from the owners about:
- Property, general information about the property such as the number of bedrooms and amenities, property type, location and address of the property, number of bathrooms, etc.
- Unit Basics, information about the unit such as the number of beds, home appliances, living room condition, location of different parts, etc.
- Bathroom, information such as the number of bathrooms, and whether or not it is ensuite, has a hairdryer, etc.
- Kitchen, whether it is shared or private and the list of its appliances
- Facilities, such as flooring type, Wi-Fi, balcony, heating, smoke detector, etc.
- Costs, data about the cost of insurance, cleaning per stay, laundry per guest, etc.
Zeevou’s Vacation Rental Property Take-on Sample Form
Zeevou has gathered almost all the information property managers need to get from the owners for taking on a new property to manage. Here is a sample Excel file which you can revise based on your preferences and needs. Zeevou wishes you a very fortunate and profitable vacation rental management.
