Property Management – Frequently Asked Questions
1. Rental income is very important to me (to assist mortgage and running overheads), what are your strengths in this area and can you provide examples?
We promote each villa equally to direct bookers and to multi-national tour operators. We have a live time availability system which allows both tour operators and direct clients to book 24/7 365 days per year. This gives us an advantage over other management companies that are only open from 9am to 5pm and do not have a live time system. This is especially true for reservations coming in from clients living in different time zones.
2. Being realistic for a home within a 30 minute drive of the Walt Disney World resort and what number of weeks can I expect?
The statistics here depend on whether or not you are prepared to market your villa in addition to the services that we provide. the market is relatively soft at the moment and a fair estimate would be somewhere between 20-28 weeks of bookings, however, even with state of the art reservations systems and highly effective marketing strategies there are some economic factors that are out of our control that can affect this estimate, such as weather and the price of air travel. Our occupancy rate for 2010 over all of our properties was 50% of available nights booked, which breaks down to an average of 26 weeks.
3. I want great rental & good maintenance – where do you score?
In reference to maintenance, we at Fairways pride ourselves on how speedy and professionally we respond to any maintenance issues. Any charges that may occur due to villa maintenance will be broken down and sent to you on your monthly statement, available to view via your unique owner login on our website.In regards to rentals, our highly targeted marketing strategies put us in the forefront of many booking agents’ minds when it comes to placing bookings. We have very good relationships with all of our tour operators and have a repeat booking rate of over 90% for clients that book directly with us.
4. Will you personally be managing my villa or do you franchise any part of your service?
We do not franchise out any part of the business. We do subcontract our cleaning, pool care and lawn care services; however, strict quality control procedures are in place to ensure that high standards are up kept.
5. I was referred to your company by a realtor – do you pay them any referral fees to them?
We do not pay any referral fees to any realtors. We do refer real estate requests to select brokerages, because after extensive research and consumer feedback, we have found that they specialize in their specific profession and are one of the premier realty brokerages in the local area. Realtors refer to us for a similar reason as we are considered a local leader in property management.
6. How far away are you if there is a problem for one of our guests?
The correlation between distance and effectiveness of management is very important to us, so we will not take on any home that is unable to be reached within a 30 minute drive from our office. Our office is located 1 mile south of I-4 on U.S 27.
7. How many villas do you manage in total?
In total, we manage approximately 100 homes, spanning across Osceola, lake and polk county.
8. How often do you inspect the property and how will your findings be communicated?
We inspect every property prior to the arrival of a guest and again upon a guest’s departure. If an inspector is in the neighborhood and a home has been vacant for a while they will stop by to ensure that everything is fine at the home. We write to owners within 24 hours of a departure to let them know the result of the inspection, unless the departure is over a weekend or public holiday and then you can expect an e-mail within 60 hours of departure. If it turns out that there were any damages or problems the villa inspector will let you know what they are and what they will be doing about them.
9. Can you give me a realistic expectation of income?
Income is something even harder to estimate than weeks booked per year. Please see the sheet outlining our rack rates to give you an estimate of potential income. Please note that our tour operators do receive up to 35% off these rates. We have three separate sets of rates, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Please enquire for a list of amenities associated with each type of home.
10. What cleaning and tax costs would be incurred?
The cleaning fee for your home can be found in our contract. The rates quoted are inclusive of all applicable taxes. We also provide a valet trash collection service upon the departure of a guest to ensure that you do not receive any HOA violation fees for trash being left out on the driveway. The cost for this is $4.50 per departure. Please note that a full list of our costs can be found on pages 13and 14 of our contract.
11. How will you handle my money?
Own reservations – do you want a commission? Is this option unlimited for me?You will have an escrow account with us to which all monies from reservation will be credited and charges such as bills or maintenance will be debited. We do not take a commission on owner bookings. We will not limit you on the number of bookings you place or the time of year that you can book your home.
12. Where do you get your bookings from / What rates can I expect from Tour operator bookings against Private bookings/ When will I be paid/ What protections are in place, if a cancellation occurs and the rental is not fulfilled?
We get our bookings from a number of multi-national tour operators and direct guests. We have strict contracts in place with each tour operator to protect each booking as fully as possible. booking cost. Each tour operator has a slightly different cancellation policy, though the one listed above is most common.
13. Tell me about your marketing program, what, who, how, when. Please provide examples of success. Can I speak with any satisfied owners for a testimonial?
I hope that throughout this guide I have described some of the various ways in which we market our homes, in addition to those listed we also take advantage of the use of our website, search engines, web portals, various other internet based programs, magazine advertisements, brochures, discounts to specialty groups such as military personnel, attendance to tourist and convention meetings/seminars. Our strategies are developing and changing all the time depending on the climate of the market at the time. We are also a preferred accommodation partner of the Polk County sports and marketing department making us one of a handful of vacation homes suppliers for various year round sports tournaments that come to the area.
14. Where is your business going, where do you see yourselves in the next 12 months?
The next 5 years? Fairways property management is growing at a steady rate, we have a built an excellent reputation, that stands for integrity and professionalism and pride ourselves on guest and owner satisfaction, so it is important to us that we grow steadily and are able to manage any growth, without detriment to our existing clients who have supported us from our inception.
Within the next 12 months, I would expect us to continue to hold a high ranking locally in property management and prove that we can consistently deliver what we state. Within a 5 year period, I anticipate our villa inventory to have increased along with our supporting services which will allow us to effectively manage and maintain the additional properties included in our portfolio. In addition, it would be necessary to increase the number of tour operators that we work with and also the countries serviced by these operators. Statistics show that tourists to the central Florida area from asia has increased by an average of 130% each year, so I certainly see plans to increase our exposure in may new territories in the coming years.
15. Please provide a commission rate that you will take from the GROSS booking fee.
We take a 15% commission on any booking that we generate for you. We do not take a commission on any owner bookings… after all you did all the hard work.
Provided courtesy of Fairways Property Management
Unit 109 Ridge Center Drive, Davenport, FL 33837 | Tel: (863) 420-3535 | Fax: (863) 420-2004 | Email: sales@fairwaysflorida.com | Website: www.fairwaysflorida.com