Whether you are just beginning your vacation property rental program or if you want to boost your rental income, we have photographers, cleaning companies, rental companies, free websites, fee websites and ways to get your Hilton Head Property into the short term rental market.  You can make your rental home hassle free or you can run it like a business, either way this step by step guide will help you crank up the rentals on your Hilton Head vacation property.

Step 1 – Choose your level of involvment on your Hilton Head Rental

The internet has changed the way in which vacationers find rental properties.  It used to be the only way to rent a property was to sign a contract with a local Hilton Head rental company.  Now with the internet, a property owner has three choices when it comes to renting their Hilton Head Property.  These choices include signing a contract with a rental company, renting with an internet website or doing  a combination of the two.  What level of involvement do you want in your rental property?

Hire a local Rental Company on Hilton Head(low)

Choosing the best Hilton Head rental company  to manage and rent your property is easier than you may think.  We would be happy to give you a Rental Proforma and a marketing proposal.  Just email us your properties location and specifiy the number of bedrooms and details about your property.  Skip the following steps if you want the rental company to handle everything.

Rent it Yourself with Fee and Free Internet Websites(high)

Rental websites increase rental income.  In fact, you really never know where the vacationer will find a rental property on the web so the more websites, the better the chances are of renting your property.  Hilton Head owners can choose free rental web sites, fee based sites, performance based sites and flat fee rental websites, so whether you have a rental company or you manage it yourself, rental websites can increase your bottom line.

Hire a Rental Company and use internet websites(medium)

Most rental companies will manage a property, but will allow an owner to generate rentals themself.  Some companies will even handle the inquiries from an owners rental website.  Read over the rental contract and find out how this can be structured with your rental company.  While rental companies do  a good job during the summer months,  the owner can help fill in those empty summer weeks and generate more weeks of rental in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall simply by placing their property on a few extra rental websites.

Step 2 ~ Managing your Hilton Head Property from a distance

Managing your property from a distance on Hilton Head Island is easy if you have systems in place.  You will need a cleaning company, a way to get your renter in the front gate and the door, a way to collect the money, a contract and a tax payment system.  We have listed some ideas below.

    • A Property Care Company.   Absenteebythesea.com does our weekly inspections for our rental properties.  They typically charge around $50 per inspection but this is offset by our rental fee.
    • Pay your tax.  South Carolina requires you to pay tax if you rent your property.  If you do this yourself check out hot spot at  http://www.hotspottax.com/ They will do the rental tax and also offer payment solutions for owners.   There is a set up fee, which is waived if you rent through Resortia.
    • Keyless entry system – With a keyless door lock, you won’t have to change door hardware or rekey a lock whenever you get a new tenant. Renters (and you) won’t have to worry about losing keys. We place Kaba Keyless locks on our properties come pre-programmed with two user codes and feature a 19-user code capacity with 10,000 user code combinations to choose from. You can add and delete codes as often as you want or need to in seconds!
    • Rental Websites – You can choose one or all of the following websites

Step 3 ~ Handling the rental inquiries on your Hilton Head Rental Property.

Once you have the rental websites in place and you have updated your rental calendar by checking in with your rental company, it is time to get ready for business. The initial contacts will send you an email and reply time is crucial. Assign this task to someone that is on their computer throughout the day.

  1. The first email will inquire about availability, location to the beach, pool location and other specific requirements the rental guest may have. Prior to recieving this email, set up a draft e-mail that includes a few additional photos of your property, beach and pool information. Simply check availability before responding.
  2. The second email will ask you how much you charge and will you take less? Set your rental at the same rate as the rental company as it makes it far less confusing. We suggest paying for cleaning and taxes from the total, giving the renter approximately a 10% savings which you can explain in your email as most renters pay these in addition to the rental fee.
  3. The third and final email, ask for the order! Your final email let’s them know that if they are interested you would put it on hold and send out the rental agreement. (Ask for 50% with the reservation and the remaining 50% approximately 30 days prior to their arrival.)Once you have a rental guest that has made the commitment, simply call your rental company and block that time(be sure to change your rental calendar to reflect this.) Send out the rental agreement with two postage paid envelopes for the deposit, the 30 day final payment and the agreement. This is a good time to include directions maps.google.com to the rental company and your property.

We are at your service on Hilton Head Island!

As you work through the steps above, we are here to help. We offer a service that is available to help you set these up if you are interested! E-mail Darcey at darcey@hhprandr.com  or call us at 843-785-2242 and she will help you review these programs and if you are interested get you up and running in high gear for future rentals.