We'll buy a house in Languedoc and let it when we aren't using it.
Wouldn't it be lovely if that were all there was to renting out your vacation home in France? Just make the decision and sit and wait for all those bookings. Seven years ago, in Languedoc at least, that was about all there was to it. Spread the word among family, friends, and colleagues, place an advertisement in French Property News, and you'd be so busy you'd be turning people away.
How things have changed. Now, owning and renting out a vacation home is a business like any other. The competition is fierce. You need an effective marketing plan, and a realistic business plan. Pay no attention to real estate agents who assure you that a three-bedroom house will comfortably sleep 12, you'll be able to rent it for 1000.00 a week and it will be booked for 20 weeks a year.
I'm assuming you're approaching this the way most of us do, buying a property you love with the idea that you may rent it out to cover ownership costs, and maybe make some money. Once you own it its time to figure out how to go about renting it. One of the first things you'll want to do is decide how much rent you're going to charge.
Establishing a price.
Deciding how much to charge seems difficult but really isn't. Do your research. Do an internet search for vacation rental and the area where the house is. Look at the properties that are advertised. Compare amenities and features, you'll see a pattern emerging.
Read the property rental ads in French Property News. This will help you when it comes to writing your own ad as well as giving you an idea of rents. You'll have a very good sense of the market and will be able to establish your prices.
All-inclusive rent or rent plus
The gîte tradition in France includes renters supplying their own bedding and towels, and cleaning the property before they leave. The first time I rented a house in France it didn't occur to me that I would have to bring bedding. Thank goodness the people I rented from realized that I was unlikely to be flying from Canada complete with sheets and towels. As for cleaning, what a horrible way to end a vacation, cleaning a house. It's so much easier for the renter to know that the price is the price. No paying extra to rent linens, for cleaning, for electricity or heating fuel. Of course, if you include cleaning you have to find someone to do the cleaning.
Cleaning, changeovers, care taking
It's essential that you have someone reliable to look after your house. It's easiest if you can find one person who will do the changeovers, cleaning and laundry, arrange the key exchange, be an emergency contact for your guests, and take care of routine maintenance.
Often estate agents will be able to recommend someone. Check the forums and classified sections of web sites devoted to life in France and the services ads on web sites devoted to France. You can often find people that way.
Expenses
The obvious expenses are changeovers and advertising. The less obvious ones are things like general maintenance. I painted my hallways in May. By the end of September and 9 weeks of rentals, they needed repainting. After three seasons of renting I needed new bed linens. Wine glasses are a consumable; we went through 30 one summer.
Remember that although you only pay for changeovers when the house is rented you will need to pay for care taking all the time.
The initial cash outlay can be a shock. You need two sets of bedding for each bed, 2 sets of towels for the maximum number of renters you can accommodate, cutlery, crockery, pots and pans, the aforementioned wine glasses, garden furniture, the list can seem endless.
Don't forget things like books and music and some rainy day toys for children. A television and VCR or DVD player are nice but only if you want it for yourself. I never had one and it wasn't an issue.
Completely discretionary, but a lovely touch, is something to welcome your guests. Flowers, a bottle of wine, bread and cheese, local olives. Not expensive but you do need to consider the cost.
Predicting revenue
One of the most difficult things is to predict how many weeks your house will be rented. There are so many variables. In the south of France the season is July and August. Eight weeks. Mid season is May, June, September and October. Another 16 weeks. If I were feeling optimistic I would estimate a possible 12 weeks rented, realistic - eight weeks, or pessimistic - 6 weeks. If you have a property with no outside space and it isn't in a 'destination' it's possible that it won't rent at all.
If, having looked at all the information, you decide that you will rent your property you need to advertise. People tend to start thinking about holiday plans in January so try and have your advertising in place by then.
Advertising and marketing your vacation property
There area number of ways to advertise, some you pay for and some that just require a bit of time. Take advantage of them all. You never know where that rental is going to come from.
On the surface one of the easiest things to do is place your vacation property with a rental agency. They take care of the advertising, filed inquiries, take bookings, collect deposits and rent and pay you. They charge you a percentage of each booking.
Internet advertising is a must. I always had my house advertised on two rental sites as well as on my personal site. Remember the Internet search you did to establish the price? Do it again to see where to advertise. You want to pick a rental site that shows up in the first two pages of your results.
Personally I'd pick the ones whose ads appealed to me the most.
Make your text appealing, describe the area and amenities. Include pictures that show the house well. Don't include a long list of penalties in the ad. You can explain the cancellation and damage deposit policy on a rental form.
You can make your own web site. Almost all ISPs include free space for a personal web site and tools to help you make it. If you find it intimidating, get one of your children to help you. I actually made a rental site because people kept asking me to put their houses on my personal site.
There are a number of possible venues for print advertising but my experience was that print advertising was expensive for the return. I never did any.
Take advantage of any opportunity to let people know that you have a house to rent in France. Ask your family and friends to tell all their family and friends. Maybe send an e-mail that describes the house and ask them to send it on to people they know that may be interested.
If you work somewhere with any kind of bulletin board, post details of the house. Many companies have bulletin boards on their intranets.
If you're self-employed use an e-mail signature about the house. Mine was very simple, Rent my house in the south of France for your next vacation, followed by a link to my ad and my phone number.
Design a postcard sized 'brochure'. Carry it with you and give it to anyone who asks about the house. A lot of people will ask if you casually mention that you just bought a house in France.
Leave cards or flyers where people will find them. My dentist was fascinated by my house hunting and once I had the house he let me leave cards in his waiting room.
Is it worth it?
Yes. It's better for a house to have people in it than for it to stand empty. Even just covering your costs puts you ahead in this respect.