Income Tax Rates

Do you own a rental home in a vacation hot spot? Do you want to rent out your home as a vacation rental? If you do, you should hire a property management company. But be warned, not all property management companies are created equal. Below is a list of five services that the property management company you hire should have. I am going to use a vacation home in Spain as an example but you can apply these same concepts to anywhere in the world your vacation home is located.

1. Excellent Customer Service

Your guests will remember you by the service they receive during their stay at your villa rental, apartment or vacation rental. The property rental service you choose should offer excellent customer service and be able to provide testimonials from satisfied property owners. Your guests should arrive to a clean villa, home or apartment.

You want to find a property management company that gives tenants a welcome packet that includes a map of your rental property and the surrounding area. Make sure that they handle collecting rent in a professional manner and that they handle maintenance requests quickly. The property management company should also handle your renters questions regarding turning on the utilities and phone in a friendly manner.

2. Cleaning

The property management company you select should have a quick turn over rate when it comes to cleaning and getting your house back on the market between renters. If your rental home is in Spain and you live in the U.S. or England, you will need a local to the area property rental service that takes care of scheduling the cleaners. For your vacation home, cleaning must be done between guests' stay. Furthermore, the yard must be maintained year round and so they should schedule gardeners. Make sure that these services are provided by the property management company.

3. Keys and Other Necessities

If you live in the U.S. and your vacation home is in Spain, you want to make sure that the rental company you hire will take care of all the legal requirements in the area in which your vacation home or apartment is located. For example, they should take care of paying the property tax on time, paying the cleaning service and other vendors on time, providing you with monthly financial statements and accounting, take care of switching over the utilities, etc.

Another area of importance is inventory. The furniture and other valuables in your apartment or villa rental must be kept on an inventory list and checked physically each time a guest departs. If you live in another country but own rental property in an area of Spain such as Costa del Sol, Marbella, Benalmadena or any other area, then obviously you're going to need someone locally who can check your inventory for you. Choose a property rental service that provides these types of services to eliminate worries while you are away.

4. Building Refurbishing and Major Repairs

You want the property management company you hire to have their own in-house maintenance people. This way you are dealing directly with these people by proxy of the property management company. Any defunct work or work not done falls squarely on the shoulders of the property management company you hire. There is no excuse like we called in the work but the plumbing company is really busy and they said they can not get to the repair until next week. The best and largest property management companies have their own in-house maintenance divisions.

5. Marketing Your Vacation Home or Apartment

Check to be sure the property rental service will promote your apartment for rent or Spain holiday rental. Promotions will increase your number of rentals and profits each year. A property rental service may handle your advertising in local, national and international venues. If they have a website, they may promote your holiday rentals at the site. If you own a vacation rental near golf courses, then make sure they will advertise your rental from the angle of "golf holidays."

Keep these things in mind when looking to hire a property management company. By picking the right property management company, you will have an enjoyable and profitable owner experience.