Holiday Cottage Start-up

lagoslife

Trouble with that is that many of the agencies demand "exclusivity" in that they either won't allow you to promote elsewhere, or allow you to but they insist that all bookings go through their system

This is very important and something that must be clarified with any letting agent.

Using a combination of an agent and getting your own bookings through rental portals/websites is the way to go when starting out. After a couple of years the agent could be dropped depending on repeat business, how well you market your holiday home.

Saying that, a lot depends on the location/quality of the property.

jexygirl

hello again!
Re: flooring
The cottage we took just outside stirling had tiles in the porch/hall and laminate in the kitchen area so easy to clean muddy boots etc. and then carpet in the main living areas. TThe same for one that we took on a farm in Derbyshire.
Both layouts lent themselves to a perfect option as the kitchen was straight after the porch and open plan onto living room, so if you are thinking about it, think about how people will use the space - even without dogs, muddy boots onto a beautiful cream hall carpet isn't going to be the best option

I can't speak for everyone, but, as a dog owner, I make sure my dog does not do anything he doesn't do at home. He sleeps in his bed, he isn't allowed on furniture, and would also not be left on his own in the property.
I think these are standard criteria set out in most letting agreements - also, the places we go to, usually charge slightly more for the pet - ie. around £25 per pet for cleaning, whether needed or not (one cottage owner contacted me after we left as she wanted to refund the pet cost as the place was cleaner than when we had arrived and asked for tips!).

Jex

xantian15

If you setup your own website, you will get very few visitors unless you market it which will cost a lot. You can use a website like ebay to market it or may other generic websites. But the best results would be a agent who knows the area and already has an established customer base and a popular website.

fluffyb

We have the same dilemma. We are in the process of buying a brand new house just yards from a sandy beach and with uninterrupted views to the rear over farm land.Completion is due in early June and we hope to catch peak season so doing all our homework now!
First of all, we have decided to accept 1 dog mainly because this opens up our target visitors, but also because our son has a dog and he will be staying there occasionally with his dog so we would not be able to advertise it as pet free in case there were people with allergies. From doing our research it does seem that allowing a pet does increase bookings.

After contacting a couple of small local cottage agencies and also Cottages4you, we have decided we will try holiday.lettings and our own website first of all.

We appreciate that agencies can reach more people but we are both lucky enough to be 'semi retired' and so have the time to put in ourselves on marketing the property. If we are wrong we will go with an agency but the 20% - 23% + VAT has put us off :eek:

Nenen

fluffyb wrote: »

We have the same dilemma. We are in the process of buying a brand new house just yards from a sandy beach and with uninterrupted views to the rear over farm land.Completion is due in early June and we hope to catch peak season so doing all our homework now!
First of all, we have decided to accept 1 dog mainly because this opens up our target visitors, but also because our son has a dog and he will be staying there occasionally with his dog so we would not be able to advertise it as pet free in case there were people with allergies. From doing our research it does seem that allowing a pet does increase bookings.

That sounds wonderful - if you don' mind me asking, where is it?

fluffyb

Nenen wrote: »

That sounds wonderful - if you don' mind me asking, where is it?

On a lovely development in East Sussex. It is a beautiful beach it is and its very popular with families and bird watchers,artists,photographers, watersport fans etc etc

Horace

xantian15 wrote: »

If you setup your own website, you will get very few visitors unless you market it which will cost a lot. You can use a website like ebay to market it or may other generic websites. But the best results would be a agent who knows the area and already has an established customer base and a popular website.

Marketing a website doesnt cost a lot, I use wordpress which looks like a website and it incorporates my blog and I try and keep it updated (it is always a work in progress). It takes time, I add tags to my posts too because tags are searchable on Google and my site gets found, I also add my URL to Twitter when I update my site and then tweet about it so it gets read. I also have an RSS feed and ping out to other search engines. Although I have paid for my hosting and domain, the work is mine and I get quite several hundred hits a month. If you keep the site interesting by blogging then you build a loyal following who hopefully will tell their friends.

Best to have your own website than get stung by an agent who may give more emphasis on their site to someone who has paid them more. Best not put all ones eggs in the same basket.