short-term lets Archives

How to Choose Between Long-Term and Short-Term Lets

Posted on 14 April 2022 - 12:00 pm

Letting your property can be a lot of work. It is best to decide whether a long-term or short-term letting period is right for you.

When done right, letting out your property can be very profitable, but it’s also very time-consuming. There are a lot of differences between each letting model and this can affect your legal responsibilities and your potential income.

Keep in mind that one letting model is not necessarily better than the other, they just require some different steps. Different types of letting are appropriate depending on what you hope to achieve with your property. So, doing your research ahead of time is a good start!

The team at Keey has broken down this task into three options to help you determine which is best for your situation.

Teams
Description automatically generated — Different rental types work better for different people.

Short-Term Rentals

There are many upsides to managing a short-term rental property.

Short-term rentals are characterised as a rental period shorter than six months. However, most tenants will prefer a period of one night to a few weeks when choosing this option.

In conjunction with the popularity of Airbnb, this option has opened up more possibilities than ever before for a low-cost and low-commitment business model. It provides a lucrative opportunity if you can guarantee high occupancy and high rates.

However, there are also downsides to this option. Statistically, short-term lets can achieve 30% higher rates and yields than long term lets. With a short-term let, however, your property might be vacant more often as you will experience a turnover of tenants. Due to a high turnover rate, it’s pretty unlikely that you’d consistently run at full capacity.

Managing a short-term property is also more demanding of your time and effort. So, you may need to hire a host management service or sacrifice more of your time to constantly seek out new tenants to ensure the successful running of the homestay property.

Read Now: What to Know Before Investing in a Property for Airbnb

Long-Term Rentals

As a more traditional landlord, you can decide to let your property on a more long-term basis. This would usually be between six or twelve months.

When you have tenants in the property on a longer-term basis, you tend to have a more stable experience. You have a consistent income every month, so you have less to worry about when it comes to earning a living. Renting out your home in this way is also beneficial as the tenants will cover the energy bills, and demand for long-term rental properties is at an all-time high.

However, entrusting your property for an extended period means you need to trust your tenants. It is vital to screen people before they rent the property to make sure the risk of damage is low. This includes regularly inspecting the property to assess any issues and making sure the tenants are satisfied and continue to be a good fit for the property.

Read Now: How to Manage Multiple Rentals – Long-Term Lettings

Flexible Letting Models

There is a lesser-known third option when letting out your property. A flexible letting model is a combination of short-term, medium-term and long-term rentals to maximise your revenue and letting potential.

By taking a wide range of bookings, you can maximise occupancy rates and create the most profitable solution.

With current restrictions on short-term stays due to the ongoing pandemic, you can fill up any available gaps in your annual calendar with medium and long-term rentals to ensure a steady, hassle-free source of income throughout the year.

Read Now: 5 Things You Shouldn’t Do As a Landlord

To Sum Up

Now that we’ve looked at short and long-term letting options and how to use these methods to your advantage, it’s time to move forward and apply them to your business plan. Keep in mind the distinct pros and cons of each, so you can potentially combine them to get the best of both worlds when renting out your property.

If these options appeal to you and you want assistance planning the best method for your letting business, Keey can help you. Contact us to find out more about our flexible letting models and hospitality management services.

How To Hire a Cleaning Service For Your Airbnb

Posted on 21 March 2022 - 12:00 pm

Hiring the right Airbnb cleaning service is vital to receiving positive reviews and an Airbnb super host status.

Below, we’ve put together a short guide on why you need an Airbnb cleaning service. It includes how to find the right service for your property, and what questions to ask in the hiring process.

How To Hire a Cleaning Service For Your Airbnb — Airbnb hosts need high cleaning standards to earn five-star reviews and remain successful!

Why Do I Need an Airbnb Cleaning Service?

While Airbnb’s are quickly becoming a more popular option over hotel stays, guests still expect the same level of cleanliness, which is best achieved with a professional cleaning service.

And if you’re hoping to become a Superhost, you’ll want your Airbnb so clean that your guests notice and mention it in their reviews.

Hiring an Airbnb cleaning crew can be simple, affordable and even automated once you’ve set everything up.

What Services Should a Cleaning Crew Provide?

Often as a host, you won’t have the time to manage both the property and the cleaning.

Automating a cleaning service will free up your time and energy to focus on securing bookings and giving your guests the best experience.

Airbnb cleaning services should offer these essentials between all guest stays:

Making all of the beds
Cleaning and putting away any dishes
A thorough wash of the toilets, showers, and bathtubs
Emptying all bins and recycling
Sweeping, mopping, and hoovering
Wiping down counters and high-touch services such as door handles and light switches

Read now: Top Tips: How to Promote Your Airbnb

Important Additional Services to Consider

Above are the baseline of services a cleaning crew will offer. But to go above and beyond for your guests, look for services that offer these additions either within their flat rate or as add-on packages:

Deep cleans: Once a month a cleaning crew does a thorough clean of the entire property that includes hard to reach or often overlooked places.

Washing linens: Having your cleaning crew take care of the laundry service can be helpful instead of sourcing this separately.

Help with property damage: If the crew notices damage to the property, they will communicate it to the host, take photos, and potentially create a temporary solution. Having your cleaning crew take photos of the space between every guest can be a great way to keep track of any damages.

Report inventory: A cleaning crew can agree to report back to the host when the inventory on supplies is low.

How Do I Find an Airbnb Cleaning Service?

When hiring an Airbnb cleaning service, you can choose between a personal cleaner or a professional management service.

A personal cleaner offers a more customisable experience, as you’ll be training one person to know the ins and outs of your property. However, if you are dependent on one person this can be problematic when they are sick or take holiday.

Working with a property management service is great for high-quality and dependable scheduling but will likely be more expensive.

Both options have their benefits and it really depends on the needs of your property.

There are many options online for you to choose from. For example, we at Keey provide full-time management that includes a professional housekeeping service.

Read now: 6 Subtle Tips for Cleaning Your Airbnb

Cleaning Service For Your Airbnb — A cleaning service can save you time and energy!

What Questions Should I Ask When Hiring an Airbnb Cleaning Service?

When hiring an Airbnb cleaning service make sure to ask the following questions so you both know each other’s expectations and to see if they’re the right fit for your property.

What are the scheduling requirements and notice time for the cleaning crew?

It’s important to work with a service that is organised and has a strong scheduling system in place. This is especially important for remote hosts who use self-check in.

Does the cleaning crew have experience working with short-term rentals?

Short-term rentals often have last-minute bookings, so ideally, you’d want to work with a cleaning crew who is familiar with this and used to the schedule changes.

What is the turnaround time?

A general rule of thumb is that a three-bedroom house should take 90 minutes for a cleaning crew to do a standard clean between guest bookings.

Who will provide the cleaning supplies?

Usually as a host you’ll be expected to buy the cleaning supplies in bulk and then store them in a locked cupboard for your cleaning crew.

Are employees screened?

Remember you’re giving the crew access to your personal property while you’re not there to supervise so it’s important to know each employee is trustworthy.

Will you pay a flat fee or by the hour?

Working with flat fee’s is better for budgeting as a host, usually a one-bedroom house for a basic service would be £150 per visit.

Read now: How to Impress Your Airbnb Guests

Hiring a cleaning crew for your Airbnb is a great way to free up time and become a better host for your guests. Once you find the right cleaning service for your property, you can relax and watch the positive reviews come through!

For further advice on how to manage your Airbnb and hire a great cleaning crew, contact our experts at Keey today.

7 Things You Should Know About Owning a Short-Term Rental Space

Posted on 28 June 2021 - 11:00 am

The idea of owning a short-term rental is becoming increasingly popular, with the use of online rental sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com, it’s easy to become a host and list your short-term letting property.

They are also a great alternative to hotels and are becoming highly sought after when choosing short-term accommodation. Short-term rentals are also increasingly being seen as an excellent investment tool, and if you’re reading this, you might already agree.

increasing diagram — Short-term rentals can help stabilise your income throughout the calendar year.

If owning a short-term rental is such a great idea, why isn’t everyone doing it? Well, let’s take a look at what you should know about owning a short-term rental:

First of all, what is short-term letting?

Short-term letting can be any length of time from 1 day up to 6 months. With sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com, short-term typically means anything from 1 day up until 1 month.

There are many reasons as to why guests might need to book a short-term stay:

Temporary accommodation
Travelling for work
Holiday makers
Getting to know the area better

Those are all great reasons for the guest, but what about for you?

The Advantages of Short-Term Rentals

1. Flexibility:

With short-term lets, you have a lot of freedom and flexibility when it comes to what dates your property is available for bookings. You can choose how much or how little you wish to rent out your space.

This could be the ideal situation if you wanted to live in your property for part of the year, but won’t be occupying your space all year round. You can rent your property out while you’re not there, giving you that financial freedom feeling and ensuring that your overheads are covered when you’re not around.

2. Better Profit Than Long-Term Lets

When maximising your bookings, you could actually be making more money than long-term rentals.

The Telegraph suggested that short-term lettings charge around 30% more than long-term lettings, so, as a short-term host, you can make more money, faster.

3. Quick Turn Overs

You should expect to have a lot of guests coming in and out of your property with short-term bookings.

It can be a positive thing, as you’re likely to experience less wear and tear on your property because you can frequently keep up with small repairs before they turn into bigger problems.

As a host or landlord, you have the right to refuse a booking if you are unsure of the occupant. However, the great thing about offering short-term stays is that your vetting process doesn’t have to be super lengthy and super thorough, unlike long-term rentals.

If you have a negative guest experience, you don’t have to worry too much as they shouldn’t be around for too long.

Read now: How To Vet Your Airbnb Guests Before Approval

4. A Better Alternative to A Hotel

Short-term stays are primarily targeted at holiday makers or workers who want more of homely and exclusive experience, compared to a hotel.

Airbnb is a great way for guests to really feel that they are getting great value for money, because often, it’s cheaper to stay in a short-term rental than it is to stay in a hotel.

Not to mention, Airbnb’s offer a unique stay with lots more privacy and space compared to the hotel industry.

Read now: How the Luxury Hotel Industry Can Help Airbnb Hosts.

The Disadvantages of Short-Term Rentals

5. Is it worth the risk?

Possibly the biggest disadvantage to short-term letting is its risk factor.

Your risk factor will vary from rental to rental and will heavily depend on what you need from your rental’s income. You could possible only be renting your space out for a bit of extra cash or maybe you need your mortgage and overheads paid for.

Unfortunately, short-term letting cannot ensure income consistency, as some months your space may be fully occupied and other dates you could find that your property isn’t being booked up enough.

If you’re an experienced host and find that you have this problem, it could be worth taking a look at your pricing strategy.

6. It’s a full-time business

Assuming that you want to rent your property out all year round, you could find that it’s more effort than you first imagined.

Maybe you wanted a passive and relatively hassle-free source of income, unfortunately, running a rental property, especially a short term let, requires quite a bit of effort, organization and time.

To manage your property successfully, you will have to be nearby for your guests, as the main port of call if something goes wrong or they need assistance. Your space will require regular maintenance (general checks, repairs and cleaning), quite possibly after every guest stay.

If you choose to maintain your space yourself, then expect a relatively time filled schedule. However, you could possibly outsource help by hiring cleaners and or a maintenance team to help you manage your time. Although, these will come with a fee, decreasing your overall profits.

Check out The Essential Guide to Property Rental Management.

It’s not impossible to have a hassle-free income with short-term renting. You could outsource to a management company that specializes in caring for your property, optimizing your rental’s prospects and helping to increase your bookings.

Read now: Benefits of Hiring A Management Company.

7. The other issues:

There are a few other strings attached when it comes to short-term rental that can be a bit of a disadvantage: coping with your neighbours, keeping your guests happy and dealing with negative reviews.

Although, some of these disadvantages aren’t only specific to short-term rentals but can also apply to long-term rentals too.

The Overall Score

With most things in business, there’s always going to be advantages and disadvantages about any decision-making process.

It’s a no brainer! If you already have the space and it’s unoccupied, you certainly should strive for financial freedom or maybe even just a financial break.

Short-term rentals offer great rewards and a high income, especially when compared to long-term rentals. However, it’s important to note that the risk factor can be high if you have specific targets and goals you need to hit with your revenue each month.

Read now: 5 Simple Tips to Jumpstart Your Property Business

Do you need help with reaching your short-term property’s full potential? Speak to one of our advisors today at Keey, to find out how we can help you succeed.

Tag: short-term lets