If you are looking to boost your wealth, one of the most valuable nuggets of wisdom to follow is to turn your dormant assets into sources of passive income. When it comes to sources of passive income, financial experts agree that real estate is one of the most reliable. You can turn it into a rental, and you can use the income generated from that to cover regular utility costs, or even the mortgage if you haven’t completed payments for that yet. Alternatively, you can simply save the rental income to fortify your finances.
Therefore, if you have a holiday home in a gorgeous location (such as Palm Jumeirah in Dubai) that you don’t get to use frequently, the best way to prevent it from being merely an additional expense is to start offering it as a guest rental for tourists and holiday-makers. This way, you can use it when you want to, while it also becomes a profitable asset.
Are you sold on the idea of making passive income with your holiday home? If you are, here are some of the best tips for transforming the house into an attractive guest rental property.
1. Partner with a property management company.
This is the most important tip to follow if you have a property that you don’t get to visit often, but you want to make sure it is appropriately maintained. Property management companies will ensure that your holiday home’s needs are always taken care of. This way, should guests come, you can rest assured that they will find it in the best condition.
Also, if you intend to rent out your extra home for long-term arrangements, a property management company will serve as trustworthy representation for you. This is a vital advantage, mainly if you spend most of your time traveling or you live abroad majority of the year.
They’ll cover everything from the handover to comparable pricing, marketing and tenant management. But, that’s not all, you can trust them to look for various opportunities for you to optimize the profit-making ability of your property. They will likewise study the different trends that lead you to significant savings from the fees you regularly have to pay as a property owner.
2. Decorate the space to evoke a particular lifestyle.
Once you have covered the administrative requirements, move on to decorating your home to impress guests. Think of a particular lifestyle that you want them to have while staying at your abode and decorate the space according to that lifestyle.
Invest in high-quality, durable pieces that are visually appealing. Likewise, install all the necessary appliances and furniture for comfort, convenience, entertainment and recreation. Make sure that the house has a complete set of dinnerware and stemware.
Say, your holiday home is spacious enough for a big family, so consider adding a home theater system, a pool table, and a barbecue grill or fire pit for the outdoor space. These can automatically provide your guests with the impression that they will have a grand stay.
3. Provide your guests with assistance.
Make your guests’ stay even more convenient by setting out area maps, transit schedules, and brochures of attractions in the city. Place all these in a folder. Even if it’s easy to research the information offered by these materials online, it’s sometimes easier for people to use these tangible sources of information.
Besides those, make sure to prepare a list of your home’s particulars as well. These are the address, the alarm code, key contact people and even instructions on how to use the different appliances in your home.
You can also provide a list of relevant laws to follow in the area and information on traditional practices. List down the address and phone number of the best grill restaurant in Dubai, other popular dining establishments, and private car rental companies. All of these will prove helpful for foreigners who may know very little about the city.
4. Include a cleaning service.
One of the best ways to keep your home in pristine condition even with guests around is to include a cleaning service in the rental arrangement. This will preserve not only the quality of your property, but also the comfort of your guests.
Find a reputable cleaning service that you can entrust your home to. Typically, if your house is a unit in a luxury apartment building, the concierge already has a list of the best cleaning services that you can hire. Not only do these cleaning services perform an excellent job, but they are completely trustworthy for the regular upkeep of the property as well.
5. Deck out the bathrooms.
Make your bathrooms as visually appealing, comfortable and relaxing as possible. It will help to give them an upgrade if the present style is a little too generic or basic, especially when compared to the rest of the house. Check out trendy bathroom designs and accessories for the renovation.
Also, furnish guests with a standard set of bath and hygiene essentials even if they are likely to bring their own. It’s best to use a single brand for soap, hand wash, shampoo, conditioner, and bath bombs. Set out some aromatherapy candles too, which are perfect for long, hot soaks in the tub. Don’t think of this as a useless effort because holiday guests will surely remember the attention to the details displayed.
6. Pay attention even to the seemingly trivial things.
An important principle to uphold when offering your place as a holiday rental is that there are always ways to improve even the most trivial things. The way you pay attention to the small things is a smart demonstration of your commitment to quality.
So, offer extras such as timely magazines for bedside reading and books. Keep a stash of other essentials, too, such as batteries, a first aid kit, breath mints and clothes hangers. You may also lend out a bike, scooter or skateboard.
A lot of people consider houses as investments that only accrue expenses, but that certainly is not the case if you turn it into a short-term or a long-term rental provision. And, while it entails putting in a considerable amount of work and money to do this, you can trust that it will be worth it in the long run, especially when business picks up during the peak seasons.
Author Bio
Mark Tolland is the Founder and Managing Director at Abode Property, a boutique real estate brokerage firm providing top-notch, personalized services to discerning landlords looking to sell or let out their premises in prime locations of Dubai like Marina, Downtown and The Palm. The firm also advises global HNIs looking to rent or buy a prized asset in Dubai and prides itself in upholding high service standards, ethics and accurate advice.
