Until 2015 we owned gites and did a little caretaking on the side for second homes nearby. Then we sold the gites and the caretaking became our primary activity, some houses are only used by the owners and some are rented out but we have only been involved in the practical side - cleaning, laundry, garden/pool, meet and greet etc, which is either charged as a set fee or an hourly rate.
One of our clients is thinking of handing over the whole advertising/bookings/paperwork/guest liaison process to us as well which we would be very happy to do, obviously we used to do it for our own property, but I have no idea how to go about charging for this. Would it normally be a percentage of the value of the rental, if so what is the going rate in SW France? Not something I can find out easily on google.
Management fees
It is a given that the guest liaison (or hand-holding) is a time-consuming affair, but very erratic in its hours and demands - some customers are more demanding of your time than others, as we all know. I also think it's the fun bit, I usually enjoyed it very much.
I think you should maybe charge by the hour, or part thereof, plus expenses (and maybe a modest annual retainer). You could get yourself one of those timers that lawyers use and just get into the habit of recording the time of every interaction, phone, email or physical. I don't know what would be a fair rate, but I'm in SW France and I would think something like €25 - 30 per hour or thereabouts?
Mols
I think you should maybe charge by the hour, or part thereof, plus expenses (and maybe a modest annual retainer). You could get yourself one of those timers that lawyers use and just get into the habit of recording the time of every interaction, phone, email or physical. I don't know what would be a fair rate, but I'm in SW France and I would think something like €25 - 30 per hour or thereabouts?
Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
I think you should maybe charge by the hour, or part thereof, plus expenses (and maybe a modest annual retainer). You could get yourself one of those timers that lawyers use and just get into the habit of recording the time of every interaction, phone, email or physical. I don't know what would be a fair rate, but I'm in SW France and I would think something like €25 - 30 per hour or thereabouts?
Mols[/quote]
Thank you Mols that's a good idea, I have started charging for office time in the summer as we are the first point of call for the paying guests, the time was mounting up over each month and I was resenting doing it for nothing, usually at unsociable hours! Why is it the guests that have problems are always the ones with no French?
Mols[/quote]
Thank you Mols that's a good idea, I have started charging for office time in the summer as we are the first point of call for the paying guests, the time was mounting up over each month and I was resenting doing it for nothing, usually at unsociable hours! Why is it the guests that have problems are always the ones with no French?
Pricing will also depend upon which régime you are operating under (with/withoutTVA). You may well need to take professional advice if your currrent caretaking is on an AE basis and now you're thinking of taking bookings (and receiving client monies?). AE is probably not the best deal for that - but then you'd be charging TVA on your caretaking services.
Over the years we've done it two ways:
1. For acquaintances we built and ran the advertising, dealt with enquiries, bookings, money and all guest correspondence. We liaised with the changeover service and dealt with a couple of 'issues/complaints'. We banked the money, made the damage deposit refunds and gave the owners an account of everything once a month. We charged 10% of the rental for the service.
2. For friends who have a second home they rent out we organise the advertising, deal with enquiries, bookings, money and all guest correspondence. We do the meet and greet, provide all the house information, are on call and sort out 'issues' as they arise. Out of season we decide on what maintenance etc. needs doing and organise it or do it ourselves. We buy all the consummables, take care of the linen, do the changeovers, clean the pool and garden. We pay all the bills and generally 'run' the house. We provide replacements for damaged items, deal with the damages deposits etc. For this we take 1000 Euros a year as a 'retainer' and charge 25 Euros an hour for changeovers, pool cleaning, gardening and linen. The retainer effectively covers the admin/office work, call outs and hassle involved. If a call out results in us having to fix or do something then it is charged at the hourly rate plus parts.
The owners have never really questioned what we do but I suspect they have not always been entirely happy and did hint once that they (we) might find a cheaper, local alternative. If pressed to do so we would just walk away and leave them to it.
1. For acquaintances we built and ran the advertising, dealt with enquiries, bookings, money and all guest correspondence. We liaised with the changeover service and dealt with a couple of 'issues/complaints'. We banked the money, made the damage deposit refunds and gave the owners an account of everything once a month. We charged 10% of the rental for the service.
2. For friends who have a second home they rent out we organise the advertising, deal with enquiries, bookings, money and all guest correspondence. We do the meet and greet, provide all the house information, are on call and sort out 'issues' as they arise. Out of season we decide on what maintenance etc. needs doing and organise it or do it ourselves. We buy all the consummables, take care of the linen, do the changeovers, clean the pool and garden. We pay all the bills and generally 'run' the house. We provide replacements for damaged items, deal with the damages deposits etc. For this we take 1000 Euros a year as a 'retainer' and charge 25 Euros an hour for changeovers, pool cleaning, gardening and linen. The retainer effectively covers the admin/office work, call outs and hassle involved. If a call out results in us having to fix or do something then it is charged at the hourly rate plus parts.
The owners have never really questioned what we do but I suspect they have not always been entirely happy and did hint once that they (we) might find a cheaper, local alternative. If pressed to do so we would just walk away and leave them to it.
My original thought was to keep the practical side that I already do as an hourly rate, and the the new admin part as a percentage of the rental. It's a 4 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment in town so no pool or garden to deal with, but most bookings are 2-4 nights which as you all know would be the same amount of admin but less income than 7 nights.
And yes, I'm on AE so that would have to be sorted out too
And yes, I'm on AE so that would have to be sorted out too