Keyholding Charges

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Some guests of ours are looking into buying a holiday property in

France. Obviously this does not entirely fill me with joy as they are

repeat customers of our gites and if they have their own place then

they very likely won't be back again. And they will probably let their

friends use the place too, who have also rented from us. But that's

life.

Nonetheless, they have asked for advice on a number of points and, for

various reasons, I would like to provide them with full and complete

information. One thing I have absolutely no idea about is keyholding

charges. From what I gather, they are thinking in terms of someone to

check the property once a week, gather up any post and to provide a

contact point in case of emergency. Light gardening would be on top for

a couple of hours a week. This sort of thing really isn't our game and

I can only guess at rates.

My questions: what would be a reasonable figure for keyholding (per

week) and what would be a typical hourly rate for light gardening? They

would want everything totally above board.

Thanks.

[alnmike]

Jon, I suspect you will get many and varied replies.

I pay €11 an hour for cleaning between lets, and local emergeny issues - usually plumbing!!  (But this is not for gardening. I have a gardener and pay €15 per hour). For key holding I pay an annual 'retainer' which covers weekly checks when not rented. I think the main challenge is getting someone reliable and available when you need them and you will have to pay whatever rate they want? There are a couple of companies that offer these services, that advertise in the Living France. I suspect what area their accommodation is will affect the charges too.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Thanks Al - would you mind telling me the amount of annual retainer?