Owning a vacation home to rent out is becoming a very popular way to add to your nest egg. Many people are thinking about their retirement years. Having that extra income can mean the difference between a good retirement life and a great one. You will want to make sure everything goes right with the project, and our Mid Cape property management team can help you with that. Here are some ways we make sure your property is safe and heavily booked, whether you live here on Cape Cod or someplace far away.
The Fixer-Upper
One great choice for a rental property is a house that needs a little love—or a lot. You can buy a fixer-upper and put in some sweat equity. You can paint, decorate, patch the wall someone put a hole in when they moved out, pigtail some wiring extensions, fix some plumbing, switch out the water heater…wait a minute! What?
Let’s come to a screeching halt here. If you have electrical work, plumbing, water heaters (or other water lines) to worry about, and even some kinds of wall repair, you need experts. You may even need help with the painting and decorating, both specialized skills. For instance, you might like purple, but a purple living room will not attract guests!
At Foran Realty, our Midcape property management in Massachusetts will hold your hand through this process. We will help you figure out what needs to be done and how to get the work completed. We will help you identify decorating trends that can help your property stay solidly booked. You don’t need to do it all yourself!
The New Mid Cape Property
Some buyers prefer to purchase a brand-new house if they have the funding available. Well, that’s great! But when it’s time to choose the carpeting, wall colors, or whether to upgrade the kitchen and bathrooms, those decisions can eat up future profits or make the property less desirable. Let us help you make choices. Whether you’re buying a new condo, townhome, or detached home for your vacation rental property, we can guide you on all phases.
Out-of-Town Owners
If you don’t live on Cape Cod, how do you know what areas are good for purchases? You can check school ratings, crime reports, and amenities in the vicinity, but there are other things you should think about. We live here. We know if the restaurants are good in the neighborhoods, where there are little-known attractions that can help sell your property, and what areas are worth the investment.
Listing and Marketing
Listing a property looks straightforward. Describe it, post photos, done! Well, not so fast. How do you know what angle to take the photo so that it shows a room at its best? What areas of the yard should you photograph, and should you include the one where the neighbor’s dog keeps photobombing over the fence?
Marketing is not an easy decision. You may be a marketing professional in another field but marketing your own vacation home can be a nightmare. You have to decide on a rate, find rental platforms to post in, make sure yours is a better ad than the others, and maybe get a calendar in there to help you make automated bookings. We’re going to screech to a halt again because now you’re getting into coding a website!
All you have to do is let Foran Realty manage your property. We will handle the photos, have experts write attractive descriptions, and let a computer science major code the booking app. Actually, the coding part’s already done, so we’re just waiting for you!
Setting Up Credit Card Payments
Take it from us, handling payment something you should want us to do, too. There is a lot to this. You don’t need to worry about your site security, credit card fraud, and the ongoing and enormous fees you will pay for being a small business. Let us handle booking and payments, too! Taking another thing off your plate means you can enjoy the years leading up to retirement, too.
Emergencies
Let’s say you have done all your work and booked the home yourself. Good on you! But one night you get a call that something is wrong at the house. Whether you live across town or in another state, this isn’t easy to deal with. Even if all they need is another towel, Amazon can’t even make that delivery in time! As we mentioned before, we live here. We’re available to take care of those phone calls so you don’t have to.
As you can see, there are many things to consider—and things that can go wrong—when investing in vacation rentals. Let our Midcape property management in Massachusetts do what we do best: take care of the details! Contact us to see how we can work together to manage your property.