HolidayLettings or sykes?

[MaggieP]

Exactly so Nemo. and as I am not based in the UK, using Sykes means it is one thing less to worry about. My previous agency charged 33% +VAT so Sykes 20% plus VAT is better value for me.

[Guest]

[colinc1234]

Hello Netherway,

Let me second what newtimber suggests. Talk to local agents and then look at using two agents, maybe a local one and a national one.
The South West of England has plenty of choice - there are good options down there.
35 weeks seems high for the first year but maybe you have good occupancy rates all year in the south west?
I would recommend the equivalent of a prenup - ask the agent to write down what happens if and when you part company.
Also make sure that you they allow you to email and keep in touch with the guests. This will enable you to build and maintain your own database and will be vital if there comes a time when you want to go it alone.

Finally a little story which shows when a large agency can unfortunately be a good idea. We share a cottage with Sykes. It is about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hrs from the Lake District but they advertise it on their website as Lake District + hot tub. The rates are really low and because they get a lot of visitors for the Lake District - well they get a lot of people looking at the cottage and booking. The owner is very happy.

If you allow dogs - have a look at advertising on specialist websites. The ones we use have an awful lot of advertisers for Cornwall - so it must be helping them ( i know it helps us)

So i guess the moral is study the options very closely. The best route is not always that obvious.

Thank you

Colin

[rosebud]

I went with an agency who just advertise in my local area (Sussex) for the first 2 years. They brought me 19 weeks in year one, 29 weeks in year two.

I always wanted the possibility of marketing independently & one thing I liked about my agency was that I can go to their availability chart for my cottage & block off dates using my computer. With Sykes you have to phone them up to ask them to show weeks as unavailable. I didn't want to have to do this.

Since advertising independently I had 39 weeks in year 3, & 34 weeks in the current year so far (April to April).

I am still with the agency but haven't had a booking through them since last Spring.

[Nemo]

That's great rosebud, but you are doing loads of marketing and are on more than one listing site aren't you?

[colinc1234]

Hello Rosebud,

You have done really well. Can i ask - were you able to learn some of the marketing ideas from your agency? Were they willing to work along side you or was it more stand offish?

Also - did you have any problems with them when you were collecting the guest details to remarket to later? Did they argue that the guest details were theirs and not yours?

Thank you

Colin

[ianh100]

Our place is not far from you, near Sherborne. We managed 9 weeks so far this year with HL and about 12 with OD. We managed another 9 with other routes or repeat bookings.

I offer a 10 % discount via my employers social club and a few similar outlets, this is still cheaper than using HL.

don't assume you will get 22 weeks via HL!

[Essar]

There are a number of local agencies specialising in cottages in Dorset:-
dorsetcountrycottages.com
dorsetholidaycottages.co.uk
dorsethideaways.co.uk

None are very big agents but they do have good search results on Google and very good on Bing.

When we first started in Bournemouth we used a small local agency who had about 90 properties on their books; in the first 18-months they were our only source of booking and they filled us year round at a reasonable return. They used HL & HA to advertise on too. We learnt a lot from them and with what we learnt ourselves this encouraged us to go independent.

I agree with others on here; unless, you've done holiday rentals before, to try and get your own bookings from the outset as an independent will be a near impossibility. Using an agent, such as Sykes, will give you the time to do more research, learn from your guests, look at the competition, delve into the murky world of listing sites such as HL, HA, OD, AB, BC & HT (and others). 18 to 24 months is a good grounding - the more you enjoy being an owner the quicker you will learn. LMH is a good source of information I wish I had come across it much earlier than I did - I could have saved 6-months before going it alone.

I don't have the experience of using a big national agent such as Sykes, what I've heard about them is better than most. Personally, I would use a local agent first, negotiate and give them 6-months, if it doesn't work out you can switch to one of the nationals afterwards.

[rosebud]

Hi Colin

You have done really well. Can i ask - were you able to learn some of the marketing ideas from your agency? Were they willing to work along side you or was it more stand offish?

No I didn't learn any marketing ideas from my agency - Lay My Hat was my most helpful source!
Yes they were willing to work alongside me - but charge a little more now than when they were my only source of bookings. I am on very friendly terms with a key member of staff in their office. I choose them initially as they had no restrictions (as some national agencies have) & have owners who advertise independently as well as through their agency.

Also - did you have any problems with them when you were collecting the guest details to remarket to later? Did they argue that the guest details were theirs and not yours?

I respect the agency - they were a great support initially - and never used the guest details subsequently - I think this would have been an underhand thing to do ...

I have worked very hard at marketing - am on many listing sites - subscription & commission & am now embarking on social marketing.
I also think I have been helped by positive reviews from guests ....

[rosebud]

I have have very similar results to you Ianh 100 13 bookings through Owners Direct and 8 through Holiday Lettings (Apr 14 to Apr 15)

And yes Nemo I am doing loads of marketing on many sites!

[newtimber]

Rosebud - you have very high levels of bookings but to be fully booked in summer already before the peak January booking season, could mean your rates are too good value.
I notice that the National Trust have a 2 bedroom cottage sleeping 3 in Steyning (the same as you?) - I don't know how it compares but theirs is £985 in peak season as opposed to yours at £545.
It's obviously much better (more profitable and less stressful and less work) for the same cottage to be booked 50% of the year @ £200 per week than 100% of the year @ £100 per week.

[rosebud]

Rosebud - you have very high levels of bookings but to be fully booked in summer already before the peak January booking season, could mean your rates are too good value.
I notice that the National Trust have a 2 bedroom cottage sleeping 3 in Steyning (the same as you?) - I don't know how it compares but theirs is £985 in peak season as opposed to yours at £545.
It's obviously much better (more profitable and less stressful and less work) for the same cottage to be booked 50% of the year @ £200 per week than 100% of the year @ £100 per week.

This time last year I had a total of 4 weeks booked for the following spring & summer - now I have 17 & a half weeks for next spring & summer- but 13 weeks are for a long summer booking I (wisely or foolishly) accepted.

You are right - the National Trust Property is a similar size to mine with 2 beds sleeping 3. (It is thatched & has a lot of charm) There is also another property (1 bedroom - sleeps 4) charging £628 to £718 in July & August.

Yes I will certainly increase my summer rates for 2016 & compare my rates for the rest of the year with other properties too.

Although I have been pleased at the level of my bookings my costs are high & I have been working very hard so I will take note of your advice Newtimber

Thanks!

[Netherway]

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. Clearly we are on a steep learning curve so will learn through an agency , we have signed up with sykes effectively until the end of September 2015 , they have confirmed we can also advertise our website including adverts on other sites including HL. We have uplifted the initially agreed pricing structure by 5% with sykes which effectively reduces the commission to 19% including vat . We had one booking on HL for Christmas . The clients actually paid out 1633.92 and we received 1485 .
Netherway .

[jsaaja]

Hello,

Just thought id add to this conversation, we were in a similar position when we started up 2 years ago and decided to go with Sykes, for the last 12 months we received 100 bookings between our 2 cottages which we were over the moon with, we do take a few booking ourself but only maybe 5% . We dont like paying the commission (20%) but its easy and trouble free and i really doubt we would get the same amount of bookings without them, the Sykes staff are lovely and answer the phone quickly if we ever have a problem xxx good luck xxx

[charles cawley]

If were forced to recommend an agency other than ourselves I would either use Sykes or try out a good local agent.

The key is to read all the small print very carefully and to realize that an agent is an extension of you. They act on your behalf. Thus, if an agent sticks to the deal you are in the firing line, not the agent.

If however, an agent is negligent or acts outside of their remit, you have a case. Agents are odd creatures and so need to be handled in an odd way. I should know, I am one.