At many resorts, condo owners have a choice. They can contract with the resort to include their fractional or wholly owned units into the resort rental pool, or they can choose to keep it out of the resort rental pool.
In the past, it was more challenging for these owners to rent their unit without the assistance of the resort. However, services such as VRBO.com, Home Away and AirBnB have effectively leveled the playing field. Condo owners have alternatives to participating in your rental pool.
These owners, who have invested in their vacation units and who are eager to see a return on their investment, are interested in these alternative rental channels because they are looking for less hassle and more money from their units. As a resort property, you would like to keep as many condo owners in your rental pool as possible in order to maximize the revenue potential for your property as well as maximizing the guest experience on property.
Here are five things your resort can do to build strong, mutually beneficial relationships with your condo owners and minimize desertions to the DIY website channels.
1. Provide excellent customer service to your condo owners. This should include timely statements and payments, fair unit rotation and hassle free maintenance. Also basic communication goes a long way, commit to answering emails and phone calls quickly.
2. Resort-only amenities. Whether you have a spectacular pool facility or a members-only golf course, restricting these amenities to resort guests may be one way to both enhance the guest and owner experience
3. Offer affordable, professional and reliable services such as housecleaners and maintenance that make it easy for the condo owner. Many owners find the challenge of managing their own services to be overwhelming, by offering great services they will experience the value that your owner management program offers.
4. Review the terms of your rental contract. Are there rules or requirements that could be updated? Often condo owner contracts contain terms that were reasonable when the contract was first drafted, however would now be considered onerous. Times change, resort environments evolve and your condo owner contracts should evolve as well. Updating contracts can reinvigorate your condo owner community.
5. Offer superior marketing and sales. Cleary explain and demonstrate the value of the marketing and sales services offered by your resort. When groups drive off-season reservations, condo owners in the rental pool benefit from an income stream they wouldn’t have access to from outside channels.
Less hassle and more rental income drive condo owners’ decisions in rental channels for their units. These five things make for an owner-centric business model that will help drive revenue for the resort, and for the condo owner.
Springer-Miller Systems has been helping resorts manage their wholly-owned and fixed-fractional vacation ownership programs for over 20 years. Contact us for more information on how to create a condo owner-centric rental program that benefits your resort and your condo owners.