Listing My Property Q&A
Questions About Listing Your Investment With Us
Treating your property as if it was our own, is one of the core principles that is the foundation of our management style. Inspecting the property before and after each rental, never allowing a property to go empty more then 10 days without us inspecting and using our experience to make sound thoughtful decisions on repairs and maintenance needs leads us to being your eyes in your property on a regular basis.
As the trend continues to head toward online booking, our state of the art website offers your guest an easy process to check availability, view properties, receive a quote and finally make a booking with easily understandable steps. We accept credit cards and checks online to continue to make the process seamless for the guest. We also have a local office staff that is familiar with the Island and your property available to answer any questions that the guests may have during their stay.
We interview and hire a locally licensed-bonded cleaning company to clean and care for your property. They supply clean daily linens with each cleaning and adhere to professional cleaning standards that keeps the property ready to entertain rental guests and for your own personal use. The cost of the departure cleaning is paid for by the incoming paying guests. You only pay for your personal use and the annual spring cleaning.
Owners will receive the rental income monthly. Using the calendar month, we formulate the statement, review the statement, and then release it by the 15th of the following month. Once the statement is posted to your owner portal, and the funds are direct deposited to your bank account, you can review the statement and all past statements from the comfort of your home. The statement will cover all rental arrivals during the month and any expenses and maintenance costs that may have occurred during the month. At the end of the year you will be able to generate an annual statement for your taxes.
Experience and longevity on the Island has allowed us to develop relationships with locally licensed and bonded companies that supply timely repairs when needed. We schedule the repairs, receive the invoice, review the invoice, and then bill your account- with NO up charging on the repair invoices. For larger repairs we consult with you after receiving quotes and then proceed and coordinate to make sure its handled per your request.
The one charge that is involved with every rental is our commission. Commissions are based on many factors including bedroom size, location, condition of property, potential income production of the property, just to name a few. We provide a local full service program to our owners, using extensive experience in the Hilton Head Island market to customize a program that best fits your needs.
Q: How will my property be advertised?
A: Our search engine optimization (SEO) experts use specific techniques to target the ideal vacation customers and bring them to our sites. We use specific keywords and phrases throughout our websites, among other techniques, in order to acquire more hits from searching Internet customers. Hilton Head Rentals consistently ranks within the top five sites in searches for over 200 keywords/phrases on Google, AOL, MSN, and Yahoo search engines. We also list all of our properties on VRBO, AirBnB, HomeAway, Booking.com, Expedia & Hundreds of other travel websites.
Q: Should I expect the same number of bookings throughout the year?
A: Because of the island's 'warm paradise' reputation, most vacationers tend to visit in the warmer months. This means that, while your unit may receive more bookings during the summer, it is normal to expect lower occupancy during fall and winter. We do, however, target off-season rentals to our "snowbird" visitors.
Q: Do I need to set up a landline for my property?
A: No, Hilton Head Rentals does not require residential telephone service for each property.
Q: Do you limit the number of occupants permitted in my property?
A: Yes! Each property clearly states the maximum number of guests allowed, and we will not permit exceptions.
Q: Are guests allowed to smoke in my unit?
A: No. Hilton Head Rentals does not allow smoking in any properties. This is clearly stated in our Guest Rental Agreement.
Q: How do we determine what rate to rent my property for?
A: Suggested rental rates vary from property to property based on many factors such as location, proximity to the beach and/or pool, amenities, view, condition and more. A property with all-new appliances, recent renovations, flat-panel TVs, and a private pool tends to rent for more than a dated property lacking modern conveniences. Also, rates vary from season to season: vacation, sport, fall, and winter.
Q: How do you decide which property to book first?
A: Hilton Head Rentals does not play favorites. We do our best to find the perfect match for each of our guests. Our websites rotate featured properties in every category for equitable exposure.
Q: How will my property be protected from guests' damages?
A: Our Guest Rental Agreement is very explicit to protect our properties from more than normal wear and tear. Hilton Head Rentals is proactive when it comes to protecting your property! We require the guest's credit card number as security before they enter your home.
Q: Can I book my own property?
A: Of course! We have a convenient login system for our owners to view their properties' availability to avoid double bookings.
Q: When do I receive compensation?
A: Detailed income statements are mailed no later than the 15th of each month and include all transactions from the previous month. At the same time, you also receive your rental check for every booking that departed before the end of the statement period.
Q: How does Hilton Head Rentals take care of maintenance problems?
A: We have solid working relationships with reputable local maintenance professionals who are qualified to fix any problem, as quickly as situations arise. For significant issues, we immediately contact you for approval.
Q: Do you allow pets?
A: Unlike other rental companies, we do have a few pet-friendly properties. We always require notification of intent to bring an animal at the time of the initial reservation, as well as a pet deposit.
Q: Why should I choose Hilton Head Rentals over any other rental company?
A: There are many reasons. Our owners enjoy the most comprehensive benefits offered by any vacation property management company on Hilton Head Island. Our trademarked technology enables us to advertise and promote your property locally, nationally and internationally more efficiently than any other company on Hilton Head Island. Our team members regularly update your property's individual web page to attract the most attention from vacation-planning consumers. We're in constant contact with our owners, requesting feedback, as we strive to improve every aspect of our business. Most importantly, we develop friendships with our owners and respect and care about them as well as their valuable properties. Our property owners aren't strangers adrift in our system, they are our friends and we treat them as such. We'd love to get to know you, too!
OK, I’m ready to join the Hilton Head Rentals family, what’s next?
Getting started with us is quick and easy. We can get a property that is available to us ready within a few days. We will take professional photos, develop your personal listing descriptions, set the pricing for the start up, and load into our custom reservation software. This can take a little longer based on availability of the property.
If the property is currently on another vacation rental program we will work with the other company to make the transition smooth. After you advise them, we would like a list of rentals that are already reserved so that we can block those dates. We will fully manage them and the old company will still be paid their contractual commission. We will work with your old company to finalize cleaning costs and make sure that taxes are paid.
