Brian's Property Management Trauma!

Brian and Denise came to me in August 2003, looking for a villa with 'class'. They were without a doubt, my most picky clients ever. Brian is a perfectionist, except perhaps when it come to his hairstyle (like I have room to talk), and he had very clear ideas about what he wanted in a villa. Brian presented me with a wishes list; above average furniture package, possible leaseback from builder, pool and spa, not overlooked, two living rooms, fireplace, etc.

Fireplace!!!! Who wants a fireplace in Florida?

We looked at over 40 properties during a rainy week in August. We exhausted the menu in "Perkins". Numerous buiders' representatives were left demoralised - Brian told a KB Homes rep that that her star model home looked like a shed! Even Emerald Island where Brian's hero, Bryan Robson, had bought his vacation home was not good enough. How was I going to please this man?

Eventually we settled on a wonderful five bedroomed property, a Wekiva, built by Beazer Homes, on The Sanctuary at West Haven. This is a beautiful gated community, just five minutes away from the expanding Champion's Gate and just 15 minutes drive from the gates to Walt Disney World. The property took 8 minths to build and Brian and Denise took possession on 1st April, 2004 - All Fool's Day! Only kidding! Brian and Denise have been successfully running the villa for over four years now. they have made useful additions every year; A games room, internet access, a 50 inch TV, a hot-tub, TVs and DVD players in every room and even a Wurlitzer jukebox!!!! The property rents out for inexcess of 40 weeks every year at very good rates. Repeat bookings and client referrals plus an excellent website (complete with awful backing music) ensure that Brian and Denise do not have to rely on anyone else to get them bookings. It sounds too good to be true.

So what is Brian's Property Management Trauma?

I'll let Brian tell you himself.....

......I remember back in 2004 when we first got our villa, my first question was who will look after our home, how much will they charge and will they get bookings? I didn’t have a clue. 4 years on and 4 Management companies later – I have more than a clue. I now know exactly what I want and hopefully I’ve now found it.

Going back to 2004 – Dave Baker, my Realtor, suggested several companies and told me to do some research. What did I need?

· Bookings

· Villa to be looked after

· Low maintenance costs

I was introduced to several companies and I plumped for a rather largish company that gave me bookings and “said” they will look after our home. Well, the bookings they got were extremely poor - the rates and they didn’t look after the home very well – truth is they didn’t look after our home at all well. They lasted 5 months.

Why?

· Poor in PR

· Extremely poor rates for bookings*

· Bad in Communication

· No liaison with guests

· Forgot to put pool Heating on

· Forgot to clean the villa

· Didn’t clean properly.

The Management companies that get bookings usually give you extremely poor rates for the week(s) and they usually give you the bookings that you/anyone can get, Christmas, Easter, Holidays, etc. My first experience was Easter – 2 weeks $1000. Easter I charge and get £750 per week ($2900 2 weeks)

So much so and after speaking to other home owners I decided to get my own bookings and get a Property Management company that primarily looked after the home.

Where do I start?

· Look at other like minded villas and get a feel for charges

· Get a website

· Get literature designed and printed

· Advertise on other sites to “sell” our villa

I then again started to look at other management companies and my remit had changed.

If they can get a “few” bookings but mainly look after our home and pay the bills.

I appointed another Management company who promised to look after our home and get a “few” bookings.

Did they?

No.

The two single biggest factors between homeowner and Management Company are;

· Trust. Without complete faith in your MC, you have nothing

· Communication. If there is a problem you need your management company to react and quickly.

My second Management Company were “ok” for a while. I did very well with bookings and the MC gave me the odd one. They were reasonable with communication usually replying within 24 hours but more often or not within 48 hours. This was not good enough. They lasted 6 months.

Why?

· They didn’t clean home to standard I expected

· Their communication was terrible

· They did not liaise with guests

The search for Management Company Three.

My remit had completely changed;

· Look after our home to the standard needed and I require.

· Look after our guests

· Communication within 24 hours.

· Pay the bills.

I interviewed several Management companies I was getting a dab hand at this.

I knew all the questions to ask;

How quickly do you respond to my emails?

Can the guest get through to you quickly?

How thorough are your cleans?

How long have you had your cleaners?

Is the villa checked by you AFTER cleans?

Is trash disposed after cleans?

What are your charges?

Do you employ separate people to look after lawn/pool/repairs?

What do you do if there is a problem?

How many homes do you manage?

Do you meet guests on arrival?

Do you regularly do touch up to carpets and paintwork?

Do you charge for a visit to the villa to put the pool heat on?

I knew what I didn’t want;

· A company with more than 35 – 40 homes

· A company that ‘Says’ that will get bookings – then don’t.

I also requested that they shouldn’t go into the house when guests are in.

I appointed Management Company three, a reasonable sized company that seemed and were “Professional”, so much so that they lasted two and a half years.

By far the best so far!

However, Over the last 9 months things started to go wrong. Guests complained, bills weren’t being paid and costs/repairs were spiralling. This is another big complaint of many homeowners, that with some management companies, repairs can cost a fortune.

Search for Management company Number Four.

My remit had changed yet again. I was learning;

· I now wanted to pay ALL bills, Electric, Cable, Water, HOA, Sales Tax, Tourist Tax, Tangible Tax, Rates, etc., etc.

The Management Company had to;

· Look after guests and meet on arrival

· Change lock code for each guest

· Keep costs reasonable

· Cleans to be as thorough as possible with same cleaners

· Communication within 12 hours, 24 most

· Touch up – to keep home looking new

Hopefully I have now got it right. The last six months have been great.

· No problems.

· I pay all the bills

· I get all the bookings.

· They look after the guests and do a splendid job.

Watch this space!!!!

If anyone wants to know about Property Management or how to get on the first rung of the ladder with Bookings – then contact me. If I can do it – anyone can!!!!

Brian Mann, Bolton – 01204 491 403. Or email; brianmannmufc@hotmail.com

website for Brian's villa; www.thesanctuaryflorida.com