Our recommendations for setting date ranges for high and low seasons are:

We are considering updating the pricing module to try and make it easier to use and to provide more flexibility and facilities.  We’d be very keen to hear what you woudl like to see in the pricing module.  Would you like to see :

monthly prices

weekend pricing – if so what days would it apply – Friday, Saturday and Sunday?

last minute discounts

We are often asked about legal requirements for safety.  These are surprisingly limited for self-catering properties – just the need for an annual gas safety certificate.  We have looked, and not been able to find, any legal requirement for a certificate of safety for your electrical installation, or electrical appliances.  Nor have we found requirements for smoke alarms or fire extinguishers.

In our view properties should have regular safety checks on the electrical installation, appliances should be PAT tested, smoke alarms should be installed and fire extinguishers should be available, especially in kitchens.

We’d be pleased to hear if anyone has identified other regulations

We regard problem guests as those that upset neighbours, leave the property damaged or very dirty, or are just unreasonable.   There are guests who will hold noisy parties, be offensive to owners or neighbours and we suspect some have operated as prostitutes out of holiday let properties.

Sometimes we can spot a  problem, because a landlord has said they have had a problem with a given guest and if we see them trying to book again, we will tell the landlord who is at risk.  It’s not always easy as the same people will try  and book under different names.  At other times, people can be unreasonable during the enquiry process – in which case we get worried, and will warn potential landlords.

After a complaint from a neighbour, we became suspicious of single ladies who were being booked under other names.  They were invariably bookings with an arrival in the next day or few days, for a week often with a possibility of an extension of an extra week.  We suspect these people were running some form of business, which contravenes the terms and conditions of our properties.  Now, we simply don’t take these bookings.

What do you regard as a problem guest?  Have you any hints and tips for us or other landlords in spotting them?  How do you deal with people who cause difficulties?

Self Catering is a very ‘hands on business’. As noted, you have to organise to meet the guest (in some form or fashion) at the apartment – which can be done in a variety of ways. The damages deposit is probably a similarly tricky task. Although it is very common practise to ask for a damages deposit before a guest arrives; there appear to be a minority of guests that are quite hesitant about this process. How do we make this part of the process less painless?

The most popular method of taking the damages deposit is to ask it to be paid in cash on arrival. Of course the first question from the guest is: ‘How do I get it back?’ Many of the guests expect the refund to happen just as they are leaving the flat. Is this practical? Not only does it involve the landlord returning on each guests’ departure, but it also means that if a guest were to ‘hide’ a problem, it is unlikely that it would be spotted on a quick inspection of the property. Making this procedure time consuming and not even cost effective. I had one guest move a picture on the wall. When I noticed that it had been moved, I returned it to its original spot, only to find a large hole in the wall. I would have never spotted this on an inspection with the guests on the day of their departure. So guests that book through me, are told (in advance) that a damages deposit is refunded within 14 days of departure. Although most guests are fine with this condition; there are a small minority that complain, and a handful that will not book. I feel it is worth it, as it has limited my exposure to a financial loss. I was wondering what does everyone else do?

Are there landlords that accept some form of credit card waifer, as is commonly done when you book a hotel room? Are there any other suggestions with regards to damages deposit. Although it seems like a very small part of the whole self catering experience; to me it appears to be one of the more time consuming and controversial issues I have with my guests.

Look forward to hear how everyone else handles this matter.

It’s no problem if you post keys out, or have a key box. We’d be interested to hear from people who use these, so please do share your experiences in the comments.

It is more difficult if you normally meet your guests. We do know that some landlords leave keys with local businesses like restaurants or pubs. Does anyone leave the keys under the mat or plant pot? I’d worry about that approach!

Do you make a late meeting charge? We have done this for meeting times of after 8pm. If you do it, how much do you charge and when do you apply the charge? We’ve not had any problems in collecting this charge which is usually collected on arrival. Has anyone had any problems collecting such charges?

See http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article7093593.ece.

Frustrating for people who have made decisions based on the scheduled change, but overall it should be beneficial for owners of holiday let properties.  We just don’t know how long this will last.

Self Catering – 10 steps to guest management

Here is a set of steps that a self catering landlord should follow to help ease the workload involved.

1. Advertise (this will be a blog in its own right; and important for the success of your investment
2. Pricing the self catering accommodation
3. Guests Book Accommodation
4. Organise to meet Guest for their arrival
5. Guest Arrives – Meet & Greet
6. Take Damages Deposit
7. Guest sign Ts & Cs
8. Guest Departs
9. Prepare apartment for next set of guests
10. Refund Damages Deposit

As I noted I will discuss forms advertising in a blog on its own, however, suffice to say that you may have the most wonderful self catering apartment, but if no one can find it you won’t get any bookings.  As a self catering landlord it is important to ensure that your property is advertised and its photos help make the final sale.

Pricing your accommodation is a very important task.  Firstly you should compare the market, find other similar holiday/self catering apartments in your area.  See how they are priced, and see how well they are booked.  If you have an apartment in London you should be aiming for 70% capacity.   For self catering letting, the overheads for running the apartment and changing over between guests is high – so you will need to consider this cost when setting prices.  Most landlords have a minimum stay period – as a changeover is expensive, so there is no point in letting a property for 1 night – as you would probably not take home any profit from a 1 night stay.  Most self catering properties have a min. of a 3-4 nights stay, while it is not uncommon to ask for a 1 week stay.  Again, I will discuss pricing in another blog, as there are several more points to consider.

Once a guest decides to book your property, you will need to have a process in hand to document this booking.  You will need to take a deposit (non-refundable); and schedule in the arrival and departure.  As it gets busy, you need to ensure that you don’t miss meeting a guest on their arrival, and also to ensure that you don’t do any ‘double bookings’  If you only have one property, you should easily be able to manage this with a simple spreadsheet.  But if you own more than a few, it may get a bit more complicated, and you may want something a little more sophisticated.

Meeting and greeting guests is a nice personal touch – which is not always necessary.  You do need to consider how the guests are going to receive the key for the property.  If you are going to meet and greet the guest at the property – don’t forget to advertise this as one of your features. Damages Deposit (again a subject for another blog); but don’t forget to take one.  In essence, the guests tend to take more care in your property when they know you are holding a damages deposit for them.

Terms and Conditions are a necessary component of Guest Registration in self catering.  You may refer to a version or our terms and conditions which will give you some guidance as to what the guest is agreeing to.  I would suggest that you modify them as per your requirements. The final 3 steps all involve letting the guest leave the self catering apartment, getting the apartment ready for the next set of guests, and the refund of the damages deposit.

To summarise, this is a brief set of guidelines on how to manage your guests.  Please feel free to contact either Lenore or Janet at self-catering-online.com where we would be more than happy to help with any further advice you may need on these matters.

We had an excellent day at the event; the presentation was well attended and generated lots of very interesting questions. Individuals were especially interested in having the flexibility of no six month commitment on their property and having full access themselves.

London holiday lets seminar

On Tuesday evening Janet will be giving an abridged version of the short-term lets presentation at a property seminar run by David Lawrenson, the well-known property expert and author.  Have a look and we hope to see you there!

Having successfully established our web-site in Edinburgh, we now have facilities to advertise London self-catering property.  We’ve done lots of research and discovered that it is very difficult to find self-catering accommodation in London.   Several guests in Edinburgh had mentioned how difficult it was in London, compared to Edinburgh, Paris Rome and other major cities – which we were quite surprised about.

I took my daughter and some friends to London last year and wanted a holiday let apartment.  I discovered exactly what people meant.  There were no dedicated web-sites.  The only advertising sites were global sites – which are really geared up to provide information about Villas for beach type holidays on the Mediterranean or Caribbean.  I had to send out lots of messages – most of which resulted in no reply.  I just couldn’t search on availability, see details and prices and book with any confidence.

This was actually an even worse service than visitors to Edinburgh had before we set up.  Hence us making London our latest destination.