Newbie needing help, please.

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.
~Jenny~
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2020 10:55 am
Location: Snowdonia

Newbie needing help, please.

Post by ~Jenny~ »

Hello!

I'm in the process of buying a property in Snowdonia that will be a holiday let and I've a few questions. Where do you guys buy your furniture etc from? Which letting service is the best? Do you have any tips for a new starter?

Thanks :D :D
User avatar
Cymraes
Posts: 519
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:31 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Newbie needing help, please.

Post by Cymraes »

~Jenny~ wrote:Hello!

I'm in the process of buying a property in Snowdonia that will be a holiday let and I've a few questions. Where do you guys buy your furniture etc from? Which letting service is the best? Do you have any tips for a new starter?

Thanks :D :D
I bought all my furniture locally from local small shops and suppliers. There are lots in Llandudno and Bangor. Maybe not the cheapest but local goodwill is worth a lot. I bought some artwork from a local artist and she now recommend me on facebook whenever anyone is looking for accommodation.

All the agencies promise the earth, charge you heavily and generally fail to deliver.

Get a good reliable cleaner - this can make or break your business.
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

I have too learnt it is very useful to buy white goods and electrical items locally. Yes it may be cheaper elsewhere, but as a remote owner the local shops are there to help out if anything needs fixing or replacing.
Drax
Posts: 185
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:36 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales

Post by Drax »

Don't buy beds that have slats to support the mattress's. With our population becoming increasingly overweight and obese these 'slat' beds can and do break when a 'large' person sleeps on them (it happened to us and it was very stressful trying to replace a bed at short notice).
Buy divan beds instead, more expensive but much sturdier and more 'classier'.
If using an agency to run your business carefully check them out, (on this forum, Trust Pilot etc) the large ones do not have a good reputation'
We run our business ourselves, much preferring to be independent and not be beholding to another organisation who dictates what you can or cannot do.
Keep your powder dry.
newtimber
Posts: 1945
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Brighton
Contact:

Post by newtimber »

Drax wrote:Don't buy beds that have slats to support the mattress's. With our population becoming increasingly overweight and obese these 'slat' beds can and do break when a 'large' person sleeps on them (it happened to us and it was very stressful trying to replace a bed at short notice).
Buy divan beds instead, more expensive but much sturdier and more 'classier'.
I don't think that they are classier necessarily. They have several disadvantages. They can scuff and are difficult to repair; they are more difficult to disinfect being fabric and not a hard surface; the headboards tend to be fabric which have the same problem of disinfection and scuffing/marking. Yes I agree the wooden slats can snap; but you can cover the whole base with a piece of perforated hardboard which reinforces the slats whilst allowing the mattress to breathe.
User avatar
greenbarn
Posts: 6146
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 6:41 pm
Location: The Westmorland Dales, Cumbria

Post by greenbarn »

Don’t underestimate the problems of running the let from a distance if that’s what you’re intending; it’s significantly worse at the moment as the cleaning protocols we have to follow for Covid require much more cleaning time, and if you’re hoping to find someone local to do the cleaning to the necessary high standards, they’re rarer than hen’s teeth and already have more work than they can cope with. You’ll also need someone local you can call on to fix things in a hurry.
Key point: know your target market - typical age range, interests, likely budget, kids or not, dogs - then understand what they want and how you can meet their expectations.
What you can offer may already be determined in part by the property layout and room sizes, but a lot of guests want something wider than a standard double bed; have you got the space for a dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, fridge and separate freezer - and if not, which is more important to the people you want to attract, and which would they not be as bothered about? Within your market, what standard of accommodation are you aiming to provide?
Crockery, glasses etc etc it’s essential to buy stuff that can be easily replaced and isn’t going to be discontinued. The specialist catering suppliers are the best choice for this, they have wide ranges and it’s all designed to stand up to commercial use (eg Porcelite) while looking the part. Have a look at an online supplier called Mr Whiteware whose minimum order quantities are manageable - there’s lots more suppliers. Same with bedding and towels, make sure you can match replacements; look at Out Of Eden and Richard Haworth among others.
And as others have implied, don’t touch Sykes with the mucky end of a 10 ft pole.
Loads more to think about. Dedicate a few days to solid research going through posts on LayMyHat, and you’ll get an idea of the questions you need to ask - and maybe how to answer them!
Good luck!
J B
Posts: 137
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:56 am
Location: We live in England and have rental properties in N Wales and Paphos, Cyprus
Contact:

Post by J B »

We've been doing FHL's in Snowdonia for nearly ten years now.

We use STS as our agents and get on well with them
https://www.sts-holidays.co.uk/

We have purchased furniture fittings etc from all over the place - you don't say exactly where in Snowdonia that you are.
As someone said, local places for white-goods give some back up when you are a remote owner.

Good luck

J
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

You'll be amazed at the amount of bedding/bed linen and towels you will need. Initially we got away with 2 sets of everything but the experienced ones will tell you you need three sets, one on the bed, one in the wash, one, clean, ironed ready to use.
This gets even more complicated if you go for ziplink beds and the like because you need sets for both ways the beds can be used.
Are you going to have mattress toppers / mattress and pillow protectors? Where are you going to store all of this? Who is going to launder all of this?
I do all my own laundry as we are on site, except for mattress topper (specialist cleaner, typically takes a week to get it back) and duvets (local supermarket large washing machine). At the moment there are complications with COVID as I won't bring any dirty linen into our house, so all washing has to be done in the cottage typically takes me two days by the time I've washed and dried and ironed everything.
If you are outsourcing bear in mind the costs for all this.

Expect breakages / replacements as a matter of routine and don't assume you will be getting the breakage back off the guest from their security deposit, unless it is very obvious. Our routine breakages seem to be garden reclining chairs and it's impossible to prove who did it. The guest who's just left? Or the one who now teels you it's broken.
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

Another thought - whilst ironing!
Stay in your own place. Then you will find out what you've forgotten to provide, what works / what doesn't. Get friends to stay in it and ask them for honest feedback. Look at what the competition is doing - at the very least read their ads/websites.

I don't know whether you can access it if you are not on their site, but HomeAway has a very useful checklist for what to provide - sometimes it's a bit OTT - I think they recommend an inordinate number of towels/face flannels - but for example it never occurred to me to provide a pizza cutter because we never eat pizzas. We know from what goes in the rubbish bin that our guests, on the other hand most definitely do eat pizzas.
Lilyofthevalley
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2020 9:48 am
Location: Cornwall

Post by Lilyofthevalley »

Agree about avoiding bed bases with slats - they certainly get broken by large guests (a couple in their twenties in our case), and if it’s only one or two slats that get broken, guests don’t necessarily let you know - too embarrassed perhaps. Some divan bases have faux-leather covers on the sides, so are easily cleaned, but you can also buy elasticated divan base covers (Beldorm do them - suede velvet type effect) so you can choose a colour to go with the decor. We have screwed our double headboard to the wall in one of our bedrooms so it’s not attached to the divan base. Cant do that with the zip’n’link twin beds though because they have to be moved, but it’s not been a problem so far.
newtimber
Posts: 1945
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Brighton
Contact:

Post by newtimber »

Lilyofthevalley wrote: We have screwed our double headboard to the wall in one of our bedrooms so it’s not attached to the divan base.
You have to have an immovable divan if you do this as otherwise when people lean up against the headboard, the bed moves away from the headboard and everything falls down the gap.
Post Reply