Using a management agency

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Iqishigh
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Location: Glasgow City Centre

Using a management agency

Post by Iqishigh »

Hi,

About to start the rocky road of holiday letting. We have been in touch with Sykes and pass the keys. Both charge around 19%. Is it really worth it?

We are starting out in this business venture so thought it might be worth starting with agency and then further down the line, we might go it alone.

Anyone had good or bad dealings with either of these agencies or can recommend a better one?

Thanks for the advice you bunch of experts :)
Dave
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

If you search the site for Sykes then you'll see what their reputation here is.

Don't forget you need to add VAT to those fees.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Can I tactfully suggest that you do a search on Sykes on this forum before you sign up. That way you will be better informed.

I don’t have any personal experience of Sykes, but have read some interesting stories.
Iqishigh
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Location: Glasgow City Centre

Post by Iqishigh »

Ok I'm getting the vibe that Sykes aren't so great. Any good alternatives as we are likely to go for the managed approach.

Thanks

Dave
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

Iqishigh wrote:Ok I'm getting the vibe that Sykes aren't so great. Any good alternatives as we are likely to go for the managed approach.

Thanks

Dave
Do you want it managed or just advertised?

All Sykes do for their money is set a low price, advertise the property and take the bookings and collect the money. Any "management" is down to you.

You'll need to contact the guests to arrange access
You'll need to arrange the cleaning and laundry
You'll have to sort out any problems or complaints that occur

Basically all the management is down to you. I only have experience of Sykes but I think most of the big listing companies are the same. If you want someone to truly manage the property for you then you'll need to look for a small local agency.
Iqishigh
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Location: Glasgow City Centre

Post by Iqishigh »

Hi Caro,

Sykes have said they can completely manage including finding and arranging cleaning, key changeover and maintenance. They tell me 18% which includes all the commission charges that booking.com and others charge. Unlike pass the keys who charge 19% and then you also pay airbnb commission on top of that!

I will keep doing research as I would prefer having it completely managed at the start at least.

Regards

Dave
Sapper
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Post by Sapper »

We have been with Sykes for four years and so far are really happy with them , yes other agencies will price you higher but this is no good if there is no one in. We have in excess of 40 weeks booked every year and have been pleased with the income received . We do changeovers ourselves and send a generic email to guests each week with instruction on collecting into the cottage . If Sykes tell you they will get you a certain number of weeks a year you can be confident that is what you will get . They are also open to you suggesting pricing for your holiday let
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Ben McNevis
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Post by Ben McNevis »

Dave,

I'm not on your wavelength! I find it hard to understand why someone would buy a property, furnish it and prepare it lovingly and then hand it over to someone else, pretty much under their terms, not yours.

Agencies are purely there to make money. They don't care much about you or your property. Their customers are the guests. So guess who takes the blame when something goes wrong? It's you. That 3-way relationship is a tricky one to manage.

Most of the owners on LMH are the kind who like to be involved with guests and who love their properties. Some are on-site but many, like us, are a day's journey away. It's not difficult to deal direct with guests even if you are off-site. It just needs a good reliable cleaner/caretaker.

Agents are good at getting guests. I think that they can be useful for a new venture when you want to hit the ground running. But are those agency guests going to be happy enough to leave 5* reviews? In the past, we have used a local agent for one property and we have tried Booking.com. We found that guests who book through an agency really don't know what to expect and have often been rushed into booking a property that's not right for them. They have been our least happy guests. Although our experience was that we got bookings at times when the property would otherwise have been empty, our overall feeling is that using an agency was a mistake.

That's my 2 cents.
Cheers, Ben
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Moonshine
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Post by Moonshine »

I agree completely with Ben. I’ve been letting my cottage, joined on to my house, for 16 years. The first year I was with a local agency and didn’t like anything about it. I didn’t like the huge amount of money they took just for handling bookings (about 30 per cent, by the time everything was added together). I didn’t like the way they decided my prices. I didn’t like the way they criticised unimportant but unavoidable points about the cottage (‘the gate at the end of the drive opens the wrong way’) and didn’t appreciate the things that I now know guests do appreciate (peace, birdsong etc etc). I didn’t like the way they wouldn’t allow me to make days or weeks unavailable in the cottage if I wanted to for any reason at any time. Most of all I didn’t like the way that I knew nothing about the people who were coming to stay next door. I positively like handling the bookings myself and getting a feel for my potential guests, maybe chatting to them on the phone, answering their questions, and putting them off if I don’t think the cottage is right for them (too isolated, for example) - or if I don’t like the sound of them (a rare event). Now that everything’s online none of this is difficult. It’s my cottage and I like to be in control! And, incidentally, maybe I’ve just been lucky, but I’ve never yet found holiday letting a ‘rocky road’.
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

Iqishigh wrote:Hi Caro,

Sykes have said they can completely manage including finding and arranging cleaning, key changeover and maintenance. They tell me 18% which includes all the commission charges that booking.com and others charge. Unlike pass the keys who charge 19% and then you also pay airbnb commission on top of that!

I will keep doing research as I would prefer having it completely managed at the start at least.

Regards

Dave
Are you 100% sure? Do you have all this in writing? If they will provide all that for 18%+Vat I'd be very very surprised. I left them 2 years ago and they offered none of that then
rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

Hi Dave

I was with a local agency in Sussex for my first 2 years 2011-2013

I decided against national agencies as the ones I contacted had restrictions I didn't want to accept. I wasn't aware of Sykes at the the time .. perhaps they didn't exist.

I too wanted an agency. They gave me useful advice and handled any complaints that guests had.

The downside was that they didn't generate nearly as many bookings as I got once I advertised independently and the rents they suggested were relatively low.

Jenny
Kilm
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Post by Kilm »

I'd always recommend searching your local area for a local booking company and property management company if you can't or don't want to do it yourself.

I found a local booking agency who have an outstanding reputation and a database of over 36,000 people who have booked or queried them for our area. I've been one of the busiest properties since I started with them thanks to my size / location / facilities.

I also found a local property management team who are just brilliant. Beware the small print though! One property mob had in their small print a fee of £65 for each call the guest made to them!! This one I'm with charges me £100 a month which gets me unlimited support with attendance on site within twenty minutes unless it's an emergency.

My site now pretty much manages itself with limited involvement from me other than dealing with the odd guest complaint (or small claims court threat!) and asking the property team to do jobs for me.

Try to avoid working with big national firms until you've had a chance to ground yourself and iron out any teething issues for a year or two with your local firms.
Running Chrissy
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Post by Running Chrissy »

Ben McNevis wrote:
I'm not on your wavelength! I find it hard to understand why someone would buy a property, furnish it and prepare it lovingly and then hand it over to someone else, pretty much under their terms, not yours.

Most of the owners on LMH are the kind who like to be involved with guests and who love their properties. Some are on-site but many, like us, are a day's journey away. It's not difficult to deal direct with guests even if you are off-site. It just needs a good reliable cleaner/caretaker.
I would love to run ours ourselves but we both work full time and wouldn’t be able to deal with enquiries/ problems as they arise. That’s why we are planning to go with an agency, at least to start with.

Are we assuming it’s more difficult than it actually is? Would be great not to have to hand over 25% (inc VAT).
Making a start in North Cornwall &#127754;
sparkJS
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Post by sparkJS »

I have taken over a holiday let last year. which had been marketed by an agency for 4 years or so (cost of c25% inclusive which I feel is quite expensive).

Like you, I would not have time to deal with many enquiries etc and as I live 2.5 hours away all I can do is visit half a dozen times a year to do some preventative maintenance and deep cleans etc.

However the agency gets a good rental income and spends huge amounts on marketing so I feel that I would not be able to do as well elsewhere. I looked at the rental figures for the previous 4 years and it was clear that it took 2 years to ramp up to a decent capacity, so I am reluctant to start again. We are getting people rebooking with my property and also a large proportion rebooking with the agency, so there is clearly a loyal following.

I've made enquiries into other agencies and have had a local, popular company not consider me on the basis that they have too many properties in my area and don't think they will be able to get the bookings.
MG
Giraffe
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Post by Giraffe »

Cymraes is correct - there is a difference between advertising/taking bookings and managing a holiday property. I have difficulty in understanding how a national booking agency can do the latter. This includes instant problem solving and a knowledge of local tradesmen and resources to call on at short notice.

If you go with Sykes for the "whole" package they promise, you will need to specify in detail:

. What your specific requirements are
. Who does what
. Response times
. The standards you expect, you need your property kept in tip top condition
. The charges for specific services
. Where accountability lies, VERY IMPORTANT. There will be 4 parties involved in any issue - you, the holiday makers, the agency and any subcontractors.

Good luck. Personally I would not go down this route (for some years I was responsible for contract management for a large organisation). I live 5 hours drive from my property. I have a local housekeeper and her husband manages the property, doing both preemptive and reactive work. Holiday makers can ring them directly. They know all the local tradesmen and can respond quickly if a problem occurs in the property.
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