Are we mad to be buying a holiday let?

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
Norfolk Canary
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Post by Norfolk Canary »

smallblondehippy wrote:
Norfolk Canary wrote:I doubt Airbnb would work unless you do changeovers yourself as the cost would be too high. I read a lot of complaints regarding websites like Sykes etc. I use an agent who is local to the area of our place. They are five minutes walk away in fact. When we first joined them their IT nouse wasn’t the best and their website wasn’t the best but they have improved a great deal and all the places on their books are now marketed via a few other holiday sites. It does give peace of mind having actual ‘humans’ locally as they can deal with any issues more effectively. It is also great being able to leave dealing with the bookings and money to them and just getting a direct payment every month. The owners area of their website allows me to download all the money transactions between any dates which helps at tax return time. We intend to retire near our holiday let in a few years but we are likely to stick with the letting agent set-up so we are free to enjoy our retirement.
I am thinking along these lines too. There are several sites that are specific to the peak district which I would prefer. However, do local agents bring in the same number of bookings that a national site like Sykes would?
I guess that is difficult to quantify. Best to have a chat with your local agents and ask about their marketing and whether their properties are linked to other websites such as HomeAway like ours are.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

viewtopic.php?t=29372

Take a look at the above thread and the links. If you are still not convinced, do a search on Sykes on this forum.
Norfolk Canary
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Post by Norfolk Canary »

zebedee wrote:viewtopic.php?t=29372

Take a look at the above thread and the links. If you are still not convinced, do a search on Sykes on this forum.
If your contract is with an independent letting agent who chooses to also market via other online sites I expect any problems with those online sites will be their problem, not yours.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

A lot here mange to undertake the hosting.
AirBnB only advertise,like many other portals.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
declanja
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Post by declanja »

A fundamental question is why buy a holiday let? You are going to pay an agent to organise bookings. I wonder will it be more profitable than just renting long term? I doubt it will but I don't know the market in the UK. In my mind the only advantage of having an unprofitable holiday let is the ability for personal or family use. As you live relatively close by, will this be a factor? Best of luck in your decision and read this forum from cover to cover for advice!
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

The fact that you are considering Sykes, and that number of bookings is the key, rather suggests that you haven’t done much essential research into the business.
Are you fully clued up on all the legal requirements to which you’ll have to conform - a really good place to start is here

But in all this the key question is why you want a holiday let. Very high up the list of reasons has to be providing your Customers with the maybe once a year dream experience that they want - and that’s a significant responsibility to take on. If that’s what you care about, and what will give you a buzz, you’ll be good at it. If it doesn’t sound like something that appeals (and there’s no reason why it should) you’ll hate it.

Just coming on this forum and asking the questions shows you’re looking to discover the pros and cons and decide whether being a part of this industry is for you, and you’ll get lots of sound advice from people who’ve got the T-shirt. Nobody has the single answer that’s Right For You, we’re all individuals. Good luck with whatever you choose.

BTW, somewhere in this thread ASTs were mentioned. It might be worth pointing out that a lot of people who’ve been FHL owners for years are now switching to AST - and, of course, many are not!
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

smallblondehippy wrote: I am thinking along these lines too. There are several sites that are specific to the peak district which I would prefer. However, do local agents bring in the same number of bookings that a national site like Sykes would?

Don't confuse bookings (occupancy) with profit. Agents that claim they can get you high occupancy often do it by offering rock bottom prices (one of the culprits features heavily already in this thread)

Fewer but higher priced lettings can ring in a much higher profit with less wear and tear on the property and your nerves.
Running Chrissy
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Post by Running Chrissy »

smallblondehippy wrote: There are several sites that are specific to the peak district which I would prefer. However, do local agents bring in the same number of bookings that a national site like Sykes would?
We started up last year in Cornwall and are with a regional agency. I have found them to be great to work with and were super helpful while we were buying and renovating the cottage, well before we signed on the dotted line.

They have been invaluable during Covid as both of us work full time and there was no way we would have been able to handle all the cancellations and enquiries ourselves.

As others have said, occupancy is only part of the equation. In my opinion it's better to get an agency you trust, get along with, and would like to use as a holidaymaker.

Like you, we are in this for the long term investment but are also hands on at a distance, if that makes sense. We have a lot of contact with our trusted housekeeper in the village and visit every couple of months for maintenance.
Making a start in North Cornwall 🌊
smallblondehippy
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Post by smallblondehippy »

We started up last year in Cornwall and are with a regional agency. I have found them to be great to work with and were super helpful while we were buying and renovating the cottage, well before we signed on the dotted line.

They have been invaluable during Covid as both of us work full time and there was no way we would have been able to handle all the cancellations and enquiries ourselves.

As others have said, occupancy is only part of the equation. In my opinion it's better to get an agency you trust, get along with, and would like to use as a holidaymaker.

Like you, we are in this for the long term investment but are also hands on at a distance, if that makes sense. We have a lot of contact with our trusted housekeeper in the village and visit every couple of months for maintenance.
A local agent is definitely something we would be interested in. How did you find your local agent? How has your first year gone? It sounds like you had a real baptism of fire with covid coming along.
Running Chrissy
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Post by Running Chrissy »

We had heard of the local agent already as they are a well established south west regional agency. But we also considered two other agencies.
One we felt was too small and the other promised huge returns but it became clear that they wanted full control. We would have had to get all our cleaning and linen done through them and would only have been able to visit six weeks a year, with only one week in the summer.
Whereas the agency we have chosen allow you as many personal booking as you like. I should stress that we are not taking six weeks a year but there's a difference between that being our choice and it being someone else's rule!
We also just liked the way they operated eg the people that they hire are very pleasant and experienced.

They have also brought in the bookings. We started last summer and were immediately booked for the peak season. We did have to discount a couple of weeks but we had solid bookings from when we opened at the end of July through to the end of October. We then got a sprinkling of ones during the winter including Christmas and New Year. So we were very pleased to be recouping some of the refurb costs immediately.

They are not on Trip Advisor nor on other listing sites so I was wary that they may not be able to compete but it does not seem to be the case at present (we have set up our own social media and website so that we have our own presence on google etc however)

It's mostly gone well with only a couple of hiccups, the worst was a dog peeing on a rug at the end of someone's stay and no-one realised until the underfloor heating went on for the next guests! :shock: But that was dealt with promptly by the housekeeper and we billed the previous guests for a new rug (Ikea £100 job thankfully).

Good luck with what you decide, we were really pleased that we got agents' opinions v early on, before we even started the renovation so they could give us tips.
Making a start in North Cornwall 🌊
Running Chrissy
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Post by Running Chrissy »

We want to be as 'hands-off' as possible and for the let to just cover its costs. It's already a holiday let and if the figures the current owner have given us are correct it should 'just' about cover its costs.
Just re-read your original post and one thing worth mentioning is that our laundry has put its prices up since reopening after lockdown so if it was only just breaking even before then you may find that it no longer does. Also, you will want a fair amount for maintenance as things need fixing more urgently than at home (or so we have found anyway)[/quote]
Making a start in North Cornwall 🌊
Pengman
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Post by Pengman »

We want to be as 'hands-off' as possible and for the let to just cover its costs. It's already a holiday let and if the figures the current owner have given us are correct it should 'just' about cover its costs.
If the figures you’re being shown, or your own figures, show it ‘just’ covering it’s costs, then don’t do it would be my advice. What would be the point?
I came, I saw, I bought it.
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