First guests tommorrow - feeling nervous!

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
dizza2560
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First guests tommorrow - feeling nervous!

Post by dizza2560 »

Hello again everyone,

As some of you may remember we have been refurbishing our house in York since February, and after a lot of hard work our first guests ( a group of 8) arrive tonnorrow, and although I know everything is in place, I am still feeling nervous!

I would just like to say a huge thankyou to all of you who answered my questions, so much good advice, and it is great to feel a part of the hatter community.
dizza2560
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First guests feeling nervous

Post by dizza2560 »

Sorry, no idea why a smilie appeared it is a group of 8 !
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Hi Dizza - hope you get a good night's sleep - it sounds as if you've dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's so things will be fine. York's a wonderful city and hopefully your guests are appreciative people who will write something lovely in your guest book when they leave, and you'll have passed the first hurdle.

The forum code for that rather devious looking smilie is an 8 followed by the bracket )

You wrote "(a group of eight)" but used the numerical 8 .... hence 8)

Let us know how your guests enjoyed their stay and welcome to the world of holiday rentals!
Last edited by Giddy Goat on Thu May 03, 2012 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Harborfields
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Post by Harborfields »

"8" + ")" = 8)
starcana
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Post by starcana »

Good luck and enjoy!
booboo
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Post by booboo »

:) Good luck from us too, hope it all goes well! I will be glad when our first guests come and go, just to get the feel for it,at the moment thats not till August :shock:
Do let us know how you get on
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kendalcottages
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Post by kendalcottages »

Good luck! :)
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

Good luck. I remember the feeling well - about this time four years ago! It gets a lot easier, but you don't lose the buzz.
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Post by Yorkshire Lass »

Good luck - I'm sure it will go well though I bet you'll be waiting for the phone to ring! We are heading up to Whitby this morning in anticipation of completing on our purchase of a second holiday rental feeling rather apprehensive also!
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Happylady
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Post by Happylady »

hope all goes well for you - where have you been advertising?
dizza2560
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first guests tommorrow feeling nervous

Post by dizza2560 »

Thank you all for your kind messages, so far so good! no phone calls.

Happy lady I have been watching your posts with interest as we are in a similar area.
We signed up with Sykes at the beginning of the year, and this weekend is our first "live" booking.
We currently have 13 weeks booked until the end of the year, but I am hoping that will improve once the internal photos are added to our description ( at present there is only an external [photo due to the refurb).
I know there is a lot of discussion on the forum about companies such as Sykes, and I agree the commission is quite high, but for us it has worked in getting bookings and I have been very impressed with their owner service, very friendly and helpful. plus once I get a bit more computer savvy there is no problem in us marketing the property ourselves, as long as we charge brochure price and do not poach any previous guests. I liked that flexibility.

Hope that helps and good luck.
Happylady
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Post by Happylady »

thanks for this info. As we wanted to use our place quite a lot ourselves this year decided to do our own marketing. Will review whether to go with someone like Sykes at the beginning of next year. Interesting to see that you can't poach previous clients if you leave Sykes but guess there's nothing to stop you leaving business cards in your visitors book :wink:
marsh frog
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Post by marsh frog »

We are 9 months in & just with HL but pleased how it is doing. As we want to use the cottage ourselves when it is available it suits us much more than an agent.
BTW Happy Lady - have just liked your FB page :wink:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/marshviewcottage
If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air....
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

Good Luck to the Newbies :D I know the feeling, I get it at the begining of each season and this is my sixth year :oops: (I'm aiming for another 4 or 5 years if I can manage it)
Happylady
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Post by Happylady »

marsh frog wrote:We are 9 months in & just with HL but pleased how it is doing. As we want to use the cottage ourselves when it is available it suits us much more than an agent.
BTW Happy Lady - have just liked your FB page :wink:
have liked yours Marsh Frog :D - your place looks lovely
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