Home Owner Guide
We are always looking to add quality holiday homes to our portfolio to meet the demands of our guests. If you have a holiday home and would like to discuss marketing through our company please do call either Clare or John for an informal chat.
OUR SERVICE
As agent we offer two services to our home owners -
MARKETING
Our main role is to market your property for you, producing attractive images to show your efforts and the attractions of your holiday home. Presenting it in its best light and promoting the home on our web site and brochure. We are then responsible for dealing with the holiday maker, listening to their needs, filling in the gaps on details, along with taking the reservations, rental and any other fees for services required. As of 2004 marketing has moved very much to the internet. As such we were one of the first local agencies to utilise Google ad-words. The results have been impressive, placing us as truly in the world wide market, increasing not only our guests from the UK, but a significant and ever growing number from abroad.
MANAGEMENT
Our second service is the optional management of your property. This would involve us in the weekly preparation of your home in readiness for the guests arrival. We can also be responsible for the general care of your property, reporting to you and arranging for any repairs or refurbishment that may be required. This service often suits owners who live away from the area.
INCOME
Income will depend very much on the quality of your property, as much these days as simply the location.
Indeed more and more guests are seeking out the quieter areas of the Lake District, such as the Cartmel Peninsular, Coniston and the Lyth Valley.
However they do demand high quality and, if offered and whether your property is in the better known areas such Ambleside and Grasmere, or set in one of the lesser known areas, your income, with the best marketing, should be high and regular - and that is where we would like to come in.
COMMISSION
Our standard rate of commission is 18% plus VAT for non managed properties and 20% commission plus VAT for properties we are asked to manage, this along with the actual cost of preparation, including the cleaning, linen and laundry, also any charges incurred for third party call outs to faults and repairs. Where a property is assessed to achieve high earnings due to its facilities then a reduced commission may be negotiated.
OTHER CHARGES
There will be a few annual charges as set out below
Registration fee £95.00 per annum
Visit Britain Annual Inspection - Price determined by VB ( 2006 rate £110.00)
Leisure Club - Charged as an annual fee per head and optional
PAYMENT
We make payment by electronic transfer at the end of each month. At this time you will receive all deposits paid, any balances and or full amounts paid less our commission and any other disbursements such as preparation costs.
THE CONTRACT
We do require owners to agree to and sign our contract.
MOVING FORWARD
Should you wish to proceed after we have met and visited your holiday home, we would set about getting your property up and running. The process is quite simple and hassle free where you can leave all the details to us. The first stage is to arrange for photography. This can take one or two days where would would style, light and shoot all of the relevant rooms and exteriors. Following this comes a few days of post production, retouching the selected photographs, setting and writing your web and brochure page - and then it is posted to the web site ready to take your guests.
CHOOSING THE LAKELAND COTTAGE COMPANY - A BIT ABOUT US
You will have rightly researched many companies to market your holiday home. We are by no means the largest agency in terms of number of properties we market, however we do consider ourselves a leader in marketing and getting the job done, namely achieving you, the home owner, a good and steady income from your investment - and it is these facts that should perhaps be one of your considerations.
Our policy is to take aboard only quality properties, at a number whereby each individual owner receives the best attention, each individual property details are fully known and understood by all of our staff and each property is expected to achieve a high level of bookings and income for both the owner and ourselves, your agent.
Many have commented and compared on the quality of our web site, brochure design and photography against other marketing companies, this from both owners and the many calls from holiday makers.
Indeed we did win an award from the Cumbria Tourist Board for the best holiday web site and were fourteenth runner up in the prestigious National Commerce Awards in 2003. Having arrived at our web site you can now judge this for your self.
We achieve this high level of marketing from a background of many years spent in the field of advertising, based in London. Clare was director of a leading advertising agency and, for my self, I spent fifteen years as a professional advertising still life photographer.
We are backed by two friendly office staff, Sue Kendrick who has been with us from day one and Annie Smethurst as of 2006. Both a wow with our guests and are firmly behind our policies, where each give equal care to both guest and owner needs. Each visit every property throughout the year, also attending the Visit Britain Inspection, this to better understand the attributes, qualities and location of each holiday home, allowing them to expand on the published details when speaking to potential guests.
Our IT is run by Keith Hodgson, a whizz with computers and has created all of the technical side of our web site, including our own availability search facility, along with the on line booking system.
Now having read through the basics of holiday letting, we would be delighted to have an informal chat regarding any property you may wish to place on the holiday market.