Building a vacation rental inventory for your management company follows many of the same techniques that real estate agents use for obtaining new listings. It’s all about building your professional and personal contacts, networking, farming, salesmanship, and performance.
Search Engine Rankings
Maintaining a high rank in the search engines is crucial to successful property recruitment. New prospects will want to see that their property can be found through a basic keyword search. If you’re not showing up in the organic search results you may want to consider a pay-per-click campaign. Develop a “property management” page on your website with information about your rental program.
Farming for Rental Listings
If you’re not already in real estate sales you may want to partner with a local agent or broker. Real estate agents can request a neighborhood “farm package” from one of the title companies in your area. Farm packages have a wealth of information you can use including a list of absentee owners in your service area and ready-to-use mailing labels.
Develop a postcard mailer that introduces your company and lets prospective owners know that you’re “Looking For A Few Good Partners”. Don’t send a big package of information in an envelope, it will just get thrown away. Design an attractive yet simple postcard with a brief message and a few bullet points that represent the best of your rental program. Mail your postcards to your service area every 3 to 6 months.
I also recommend sending a “just listed” card to the neighbors of newly listed rentals. It’s a great way to establish your brand in the neighborhood and let the neighbors know there’s a rental nearby for their overflow guests. If one of those neighbors needs the services of a property manager chances are you’ll get the call.
Working with real estate agents.
Start attending real estate related events and open houses and get to know the successful agents in your area. Not every agent is tied in with a rental agency and if you offer a finder’s fee you may be surprised how many agents will send you referrals.
Finders fees aren’t appropriate in every referral situation and should be considered on a case by case basis. Anyone that sends business your way really just wants to know that you’re going to take care of their referrals by providing excellent service.
Find additional rental properties for your existing customers.
Rental property owners are investors. Most investors are very interested to know when another good vacation rental comes on the market. If you’re not an agent you can still partner with someone who’s in the business and receive a referral fee out of the sales commission.
And don’t forget about your guests. It’s very common for a guest to fall in love with an area after staying in a vacation rental and decide to purchase a rental of their own. Make sure your guests know that you provide real estate services as well as property management, even if you just refer them to an agent.
Networking and word of mouth.
It never pays to be a secret agent. When you’re out at community functions let the masses know who you are and what you do. I once sponsored my daughters soccer team and the advertising on the jerseys was responsible for one of my most profitable listings.
Try to think outside the box. Get involved with a local charity or sponsor something in your community. I know a manager that writes a column for his local newspaper and the exposure has earned him expert status. If you have an opportunity to speak at a seminar or meeting, take it. The more people who know you and what you do the greater chance you have of being mentioned when someone needs a rental manager.
Be Selective.
Before you commit to a new rental listing inspect the property thoroughly. Are the beds top quality? Is the decorating attractive and fresh? Will the property be delivered to you in perfect condition? Are there any red flags like difficult access, out-dated appliances, or code violations? Marginal properties can drag down the rest of your business with negative reviews and increased liability.
If you want your inventory to continue growing you must keep your promises and go above and beyond the call of duty. This can be difficult when you’re building a business but the consequences can be devastating. The two largest vacation rental companies in one local market both have “F” ratings with the Better Business Bureau and an abundance of negative reviews, mostly service related. If additional properties will dilute the quality of your service it’s time to build your employee roster as well.
Networking, cold calling, mailings, and good ol’ word of mouth are your best bets for building a vacation rental inventory. Just remember that growing pains are part of every business. You never want to be so big that you lose the ability to provide a quality service.
Doug Meeder is a consultant and advisor to the vacation rental industry with over 20 years experience as both a rental property owner and the founder of several successful vacation rental management companies. If you would like more information on building your vacation rental business, please call Doug at 909-856-2124 or e-mail him at dkmeeder@hotmail.com.