BYH Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 I have just joined this forum as I am interested to know the experiences of owners renting properties via the internet. Which are the most and least successful sites for owners? Do owners prefer fixed advertising cost or commission payments on successful bookings? And what the reasons for success or failure might be?Another thing I have been wondering about, is given the current financial climate and all the doom and gloom - which appears pretty much global - are those owners who might have previously kept their second properties for personal use becoming more likely to help finance the properties through holiday lets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toni Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Hi Byh and welcome to the forum, I am sure if you do a search on the issues you mention you will find a wealth of information here, I certainly have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BYH Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Thanks for the welcome. Apologies to all for the formatting info! (I cut and paste from word as I use it to spell check and it appears to have dragged this over - I can't see how to get rid of it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Hello BYHIf you use the search facility using some keywords, you will find a lot of the information that you are seeking. For example, a search on 'renting property' found:http://www.completefrance.com/cs/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=renting%20property&f=&u=As for whether people will be trying to find holiday lets for their residence secondaire, I suspect that we shall all be trying to think of ways of generating extra income. However, holiday letting is quite difficult if you are not on hand for the changeovers. You can hire an agent to do it for you but there are problems doing that.The season is very short, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BYH Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 Thanks for the link - I'll have a good root through.... (and thank you to whoever deleted my gobbledygook :))What would you say the season is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 "Another thing I have been wondering about, is given the currentfinancial climate and all the doom and gloom - which appears prettymuch global - are those owners who might have previously kept theirsecond properties for personal use becoming more likely to help financethe properties through holiday lets?"BYHWhether second home owners will go down this route remains to be seen. I think the other question is will the "crunch" affect holiday spending next year? I suspect that bookings for gites may well be down on previous years.[:(]"What would you say the season is?"Usually the school Summer holidays are the peak weeks and people generally manage to fill their gites for those weeks. For the rest of the year it will depend on where you are in France and what you and the location have to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toni Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 We don't live in France but are lucky to have very reliable 'changeover people'. For the past three years that we have rented the house we have regularly got four months rental June-Sept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 By the time you pay for some one to change over , advertise , pay income tax to the french and england is there much left ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscar Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 [quote user="Pads"]By the time you pay for some one to change over , advertise , pay income tax to the french and england is there much left ?[/quote]Not a lot but we used to find that it was enough to cover the taxe d'habitation, taxe fonciere, electricity abonnements and our own ferry costs to France, so for those with a maison secondaire who didn't normally rent it out, this "small extra income" may be just what they need.Friends of ours rent out 3 gites and get ALL school holidays, not just the summer ones; Christmas as well as June and September, so it can be a lot longer than the 6-8 weeks that some people think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannie Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Agree with oscar - it covers all the running costs and pays for our trips several times a year, spending money and general upkeep and improvements to the property plus some left over (if we haven't gone mad).We get some hardy types who stay in the winter months and even had Australians staying one Christmas! Depends where your house is though, if it's a town or near a town the season may be longer.We prefer to have the house occupied even if you can't charge much in Jan/Feb, at least the house is kept warm. Who knows what next year will bring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BYH Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 [quote user="Cendrillon"]"Another thing I have been wondering about, is given the currentfinancial climate and all the doom and gloom - which appears prettymuch global - are those owners who might have previously kept theirsecond properties for personal use becoming more likely to help financethe properties through holiday lets?"BYHWhether second home owners will go down this route remains to be seen. I think the other question is will the "crunch" affect holiday spending next year? I suspect that bookings for gites may well be down on previous years.[:(][/quote]My gut feeling is that next year is likely to be a pretty bad year for tourism on all levels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Oh I dont know ......most people I meet who say I cant afford to pay my bills , still seem to smoke, drink, buy clothes each weekend and go on holiday [Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 I have considered renting out my place ..10 mins from the beach ...must be a demand for it ...but the thought of the boys in blue turning up again and asking my "guests " who they are...how long they are staying ... and how much they are paying me to rent it kind of puts me off ... One visit is enough ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannie Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Ooh, never had that - would put burglars off though and maybe our neighbour who plays the Sex pistols at full volume to new visitors! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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