July 26, 2016
5 Tools for Renting Out Your House Remotely
Thanks to the many tools and services that have popped up in the vacation rental industry, it’s easier than ever to manage vacation rentals or your Airbnb from afar. With the right system in place, you can go about your life knowing that your guests and your property are taken care of, and let the money roll in.
When looking for tools to help manage a vacation rental remotely, it can get pretty overwhelming.
To provide your guests with the best possible experience and to protect your property, there are 5 types of services to look for:
- Guest communication and check-in
- Cleaning
- Repairs
- Security, and
- Home automation
Here are the tools that can help with the 5 things you need:
1. Thumbtack
Things break. It happens. And usually, it’s easily fixed. Unfortunately, if you’re not in the area, it can be a huge pain to manage repairs.
This is where services like Thumbtack come in handy.
Thumbtack is a website that allows you to hire professionals for practically anything you can think of: repairs, house painting, carpet cleaning, anything!
It’s straightforward: You tell Thumbtack what you need, and within a few hours you’ll receive up to 5 quotes for the work from professionals who can help.
You can view customer reviews and ratings and ask them any questions about their experience or your project before confirming a quote.
While you could do this yourself with a phone book (or Google), one of the great things about Thumbtack is how centralized it is.
Everything is streamlined for your convenience and all of the information you need is right there on the site. It’s a necessity for any busy property manager or Airbnb host who doesn’t want to spend a ton of time finding a plumber who will charge a fair price and do a good job.
2. TaskRabbit
Along the same lines is TaskRabbit, a service for hiring people to do odd jobs.
When managing a vacation rental property from afar, the trickiest part is dealing with all of the little things that need to be done. Sometimes you just need someone for simple tasks like mowing the lawn, dropping off toilet paper, or replacing a few lightbulbs.
For these types of straightforward tasks, TaskRabbit works very well. In addition to helping with everyday types of tasks, TaskRabbit also has professionals who can help with things like plumbing or painting, similar to Thumbtack.
3. Handy
People expect vacation rentals to be pristine, just like hotels. This can be difficult to guarantee, however, when you’re managing a vacation rental remotely.
While you can always use an individual house cleaner as opposed to a service, the unpredictability and randomness of check-ins and check-outs make this difficult. You can’t always guarantee that your cleaner can make it in time.
Handy offers cleaning services in many cities in the US, Canada, and the UK.
Just book a time, their cleaning people will come, and your place will be ready for your next Airbnb guest. They can also hook you up with professionals like plumbers, electricians, and general handymen, similar to Thumbtack.
4. Parakeet
Parakeet is a suite of home automation tools aimed at helping you provide a smooth experience for your guests while saving you money and making sure your property is constantly monitored.
Their flagship product is keyless entry locks, which allow your guests to let themselves in with a specialized code that automatically expires once the guest leaves.
For many, having keyless locks is preferable to coordinating messy key drop-offs or other solutions that people have come up with, and it is much safer.
Parakeet also has a smart thermostat, as well as door, window, freeze and flood sensors, so you can check in on your Airbnb from afar.
A common problem in the vacation rental world is guests accidentally leaving the air conditioning or heat blasting when they leave, and so the ability to control the thermostat remotely can save you a ton of money on wasted electricity.
Sensors will alert you if anything is awry, so you can prevent theft or damage to your property before it happens.
5. Rented.com
Even with local help from companies like Handy or TaskRabbit, managing your vacation rental remotely is a lot of work. Between coordinating bookings, cleanings, check-ins, home maintenance, and more, it’s common to find self-managing homeowners spending 10 hours or more per week on managing their rentals!
In that case that you want to offload all of the work and hassle, Rented.com lets you find and choose a professional to manage your vacation home for you.
If you just want to make some passive money without having to deal with platforms, guests, or maintaining your property, then Rented.com is for you.
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All in all, it’s a great time to manage your Airbnb remotely. The industry is booming, more and more consumers are staying in vacation rentals, and tons of companies are offering services and tools to make your day-to-day easier than ever before.
With the help of tools like these, you can get back to your life, and let your vacation rental properties take care of themselves.
What part of managing your home remotely do you find most challenging? Let us know in the comments below.
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