Our Vacation Rental Management Services
Definitions and Background
Thanks for visiting this page and checking out our offerings in terms of vacation rental marketing and vacation rental management! First, let us start by providing some definition of terms and a little background on our history. In terms of terminology, we refer to "vacation rental marketing" as the marketing of rental properties to consumers for short-term rentals. We use the term "vacation rental marketing" to describe the marketing of short-term rentals since most short-term rentals (at least in Michigan) are rented for group, family, couple, or individual vacations. We do also attract a fair amount of business travelers as well and roughly 15% of our revenue is actually short-term rentals to individuals or groups for business purposes (sales trips in the area, construction work, business conferences / retreats, and other business purposes.) Our vacation rental marketing is done primarily on internet sites as this is where most individuals now shop for vacation / short-term rentals.
We use the term "vacation rental management" as a broader term that encompasses both vacation rental marketing as well as the more traditional "property management" aspects of managing vacation rental properties - cleaning, washing of sheets and towels, maintenance, repairs, lawn care, snowplowing, etc. Vacation rental management also includes managing all aspects of guest experiences including communication with guests, coordinating guest arrival and check-in, handling check-outs, resolving any issues that may arise during guest stays, and managing damage deposits. We prefer the term "vacation rental management" over "property management" (or "vacation property management") as it's really more specific, precise, and all-encompassing of what is involved with vacation rentals, but we recognize that the term "property management" is more common, so we effectively use the terms "vacation rental management" and "property management" interchangeably. We provide services in both vacation rental marketing as well as vacation rental management / property management.
We pursue the marketing and management of vacation rentals from a Christian standpoint and, thanks to God and our faith in Him, this approach has been highly successful! Our venture into vacation rental marketing and vacation rental management started in terms of managing vacation rental properties in Frankfort, Michigan simply as a "side business" starting in November, 2013 for a few properties owned by ourselves, relatives, or personal friends / acquintances. After having considerable success with this venture, starting in 2018 we moved forward with turning this "side business" into a full-time business and our business more than doubled in size in 2018! In 2018 we also expanded our vacation rental offerings in Benzie County, Michigan, to include properties in Beulah and Elberta as well as Frankfort. After expanding our staffing and improving our systems and processes in 2018 to better handle the increased size of our vacation rental management business, we further expanded in the coming years to cover the entire state of Michigan and we now manage properties throughout all of Michigan, including both the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. In 2023, we implemented another major change with the implementation of Hostfully as the new state-of-the-art property management system that we utilize. Hostfully has positioned us to have the technological foundation to even further expand the company and the volume of vacation rental properties that we manage across all of Michigan.
We use the term "vacation rental management" as a broader term that encompasses both vacation rental marketing as well as the more traditional "property management" aspects of managing vacation rental properties - cleaning, washing of sheets and towels, maintenance, repairs, lawn care, snowplowing, etc. Vacation rental management also includes managing all aspects of guest experiences including communication with guests, coordinating guest arrival and check-in, handling check-outs, resolving any issues that may arise during guest stays, and managing damage deposits. We prefer the term "vacation rental management" over "property management" (or "vacation property management") as it's really more specific, precise, and all-encompassing of what is involved with vacation rentals, but we recognize that the term "property management" is more common, so we effectively use the terms "vacation rental management" and "property management" interchangeably. We provide services in both vacation rental marketing as well as vacation rental management / property management.
We pursue the marketing and management of vacation rentals from a Christian standpoint and, thanks to God and our faith in Him, this approach has been highly successful! Our venture into vacation rental marketing and vacation rental management started in terms of managing vacation rental properties in Frankfort, Michigan simply as a "side business" starting in November, 2013 for a few properties owned by ourselves, relatives, or personal friends / acquintances. After having considerable success with this venture, starting in 2018 we moved forward with turning this "side business" into a full-time business and our business more than doubled in size in 2018! In 2018 we also expanded our vacation rental offerings in Benzie County, Michigan, to include properties in Beulah and Elberta as well as Frankfort. After expanding our staffing and improving our systems and processes in 2018 to better handle the increased size of our vacation rental management business, we further expanded in the coming years to cover the entire state of Michigan and we now manage properties throughout all of Michigan, including both the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. In 2023, we implemented another major change with the implementation of Hostfully as the new state-of-the-art property management system that we utilize. Hostfully has positioned us to have the technological foundation to even further expand the company and the volume of vacation rental properties that we manage across all of Michigan.
Our Vacation Rental Marketing and Management Services
We have broken our vacation rental marketing and management services down into 3 different service options. These 3 service options are discussed below. Here are a few specific things to note regarding our service options:
- For clarity, common understanding, and protection for all parties, we do require a signed vacation rental / property management agreement in order to pursue any of these options, but we include a clause that allows clients to end the agreement at any time if they wish to do so. We make this offer because we are very confident in the quality of services that we provide.
- Due to geographic and financial constraints, option #3 is available only for year-round vacation rental properties in northern Michigan. Options #1 and #2 are applicable for vacation rental properties anywhere in Michigan.
- We tithe at least 10% of our company profits to Christian charities with most of these funds going to support student activities and operational costs for New Covenant Christian Academy, a Christian school in rural northern Michigan.
Option 1 - Complete Vacation Rental Management for Your Vacation Rental Property Anywhere in Michigan
With this option we provide full Internet marketing of your vacation rental property all across the Internet, including direct marketing on this site as well as marketing on VRBO, Airbnb, Booking.com, and Google Travel. To accomplish this, we use a state-of-the-art property management system, Hostfully, to manage properties. Hostfully allows the creation of vacation rental listings across multiple marketing channels using a common property database and pricing structure for consistency of information across channels. Hostfully also allows for owner portals where property owners can view the master calendar for the property, look at reservations, and block out dates for themselves. Hostfully also has great monthly reporting functionality that we employ. In addition to the use of Hostfully, we also now employ drone photography for all new listings to allow for great aerial photos that highlight the location of a property and surrounding attractions.
This management option also includes complete turnkey vacation rental management / property management of your vacation rental property anywhere in Michigan. In terms of vacation rental management / property management, this service option includes all aspects of guest management including guest check-in, guest check-out, and all communication with guests. We also handle all cleaning of your vacation rental property as well as preparation for guests (turning lights on, turning up the temperature, opening windows, and/or other actions as appropriate for the season). We manage lawn care and snow removal as well. We can even handle renovations and improvements of your property based upon your direction and, if desired, we can put all utilities in our company's name and pay utilities out of the rental funds. To handle our vacation rental property management services, we employ a professional team of honest, experienced, and high-quality property managers who handle both cleaning as well as maintenance and minor repairs. We pay them a reasonable and respectful wage and handle all payments to our personnel as well as any payments to third parties as needed.
From a financial standpoint, we handle all financial transactions including payments from guests, management of damage deposits, repairs, state of Michigan usage taxes (in accordance with Michigan law), cleaning expenses, laundry expenses, and supply expenses. As already mentioned, we can also handle any or all utility payments. (We do prefer owners to handle property taxes and insurance.) Owners can specify prices themselves or else leverage our experience and allow us to handle pricing of their vacation rentals to help maximize rental income. We strongly operate under the mentality that the home belongs to the owner and they can do what they want with it. We try to accommodate the wishes of vacation property owners as much as possible.
Our commission for this service option is 20% of gross revenue (excluding taxes, credit card fees, and any commissions from other websites) for the first year and then 25% of gross revenue after the first year. Note that these commissions do not include the cost for cleaning, laundry, and any repair or maintenance work that is needed. In benchmarking ourselves against other vacation rental property management companies in Michigan, this commission rate is very competitive when compared against our competitors. We manage all finances and then, after each calendar month is over, we provide the property owner with the net income for the month in additional to a detailed monthly report that is automatically prepared by Hostfully.
If you have a secondary home (whether luxurious, humble, or anywhere in between ;-) anywhere in Michigan and are interested in possibly renting it out for vacation rentals for all or part of the year, we would love to talk with you and discuss the services that we can provide in terms of marketing and/or managing your home for vacation rentals. We are open to working with any and all property owners who truly have a passion for providing clean, comfortable lodging at a fair price and who have a strong desire to provide a positive experience for guests while also earning significant income from vacation rentals.
This management option also includes complete turnkey vacation rental management / property management of your vacation rental property anywhere in Michigan. In terms of vacation rental management / property management, this service option includes all aspects of guest management including guest check-in, guest check-out, and all communication with guests. We also handle all cleaning of your vacation rental property as well as preparation for guests (turning lights on, turning up the temperature, opening windows, and/or other actions as appropriate for the season). We manage lawn care and snow removal as well. We can even handle renovations and improvements of your property based upon your direction and, if desired, we can put all utilities in our company's name and pay utilities out of the rental funds. To handle our vacation rental property management services, we employ a professional team of honest, experienced, and high-quality property managers who handle both cleaning as well as maintenance and minor repairs. We pay them a reasonable and respectful wage and handle all payments to our personnel as well as any payments to third parties as needed.
From a financial standpoint, we handle all financial transactions including payments from guests, management of damage deposits, repairs, state of Michigan usage taxes (in accordance with Michigan law), cleaning expenses, laundry expenses, and supply expenses. As already mentioned, we can also handle any or all utility payments. (We do prefer owners to handle property taxes and insurance.) Owners can specify prices themselves or else leverage our experience and allow us to handle pricing of their vacation rentals to help maximize rental income. We strongly operate under the mentality that the home belongs to the owner and they can do what they want with it. We try to accommodate the wishes of vacation property owners as much as possible.
Our commission for this service option is 20% of gross revenue (excluding taxes, credit card fees, and any commissions from other websites) for the first year and then 25% of gross revenue after the first year. Note that these commissions do not include the cost for cleaning, laundry, and any repair or maintenance work that is needed. In benchmarking ourselves against other vacation rental property management companies in Michigan, this commission rate is very competitive when compared against our competitors. We manage all finances and then, after each calendar month is over, we provide the property owner with the net income for the month in additional to a detailed monthly report that is automatically prepared by Hostfully.
If you have a secondary home (whether luxurious, humble, or anywhere in between ;-) anywhere in Michigan and are interested in possibly renting it out for vacation rentals for all or part of the year, we would love to talk with you and discuss the services that we can provide in terms of marketing and/or managing your home for vacation rentals. We are open to working with any and all property owners who truly have a passion for providing clean, comfortable lodging at a fair price and who have a strong desire to provide a positive experience for guests while also earning significant income from vacation rentals.
Option 2 - Full Internet Marketing of Your Vacation Rental Property Anywhere in the World!
This service option entails the marketing of your vacation rental property (located anywhere in the world) all over the Internet! From our years of experience with marketing vacation rental properties on the Internet, we have developed a strong understanding of which sites add value and which sites are worthless. The universe of vacation rental websites on the Internet changes rapidly and we are continually trying new sites that emerge to see if they are beneficial to us. At present, we utilize direct marketing from this site as well as marketing on VRBO, Airbnb, Booking.com, and the subsidiary sites operated by these companies.
With this option, we handle the marketing of your vacation rental property all over the Internet, field sales calls, process reservations and payments, manage damage deposits, and provide you with the net income (minus our commission) from each reservation. We also manage the task of keeping availability calendars synchronized across the Internet by making certain that if a vacation rental reservation is obtained for certain dates on one site, then those dates are marked as being unavailable on all other sites. Thus, we save you a great deal of time and aggravation while also likely greatly increasing the presence and visibility of your vacation rental property on the Internet and significantly increasing your number of reservations and sales revenue! This is particularly beneficial for individuals that are trying to market and manage vacation rental properties as a side endeavor while still having full-time jobs. Our vacation rental Internet marketing service is also highly beneficial for individuals that have vacation rental properties, but who are not particularly computer savvy or who simply do not enjoy the tedious complexity of marketing and maintaining consistent information for their vacation rental property (particularly pricing, photos, and calendar availability) all over the Internet.
With this service level, after each new reservation is received, we update our master calendar for your property and inform you of the new reservation. We let you handle the actual check-in and check-out of each guest and the management of their stay as you wish. We also provide you with the net revenue for each reservation on a monthly basis. (We do this via electronic deposits directly to your bank account.) Thus, an additional benefit is that your rental income is received from a single source in a consistent manner as opposed to the complexity of receiving income from all kinds of different sources in different manners and in varying timeframes. In terms of pricing, we can either utilize precise pricing specified by you (at any level of seasonality or day-specific detail that you wish to use) or we can handle pricing ourselves and utilize our experience to vary it as appropriate to maximize revenue for you.
We have been very successful in our years of vacation rental marketing and management and we would love to work with you to market your vacation rental property on the Internet! The nature of this work allows us to manage the marketing of any vacation rental property in the world! With this option, we do all of the work of maintaining consistent information across websites, maintaining consistent availability calendars across websites, managing payments and damage deposits, and keeping up with and utilizing all of the new features which all the major websites are continually coming out with. With this option, we do require that you allow us to fully handle the marketing of your vacation rental property on the Internet so that we can maintain complete consistency of information across websites, particularly in terms of calendar availability for your vacation rental property. (Most websites significantly punish property owners if reservations are placed for dates on which the vacation rental property is not actually available and a reservation cancellation is required.)
Our cost structure for this service option is 10% commission on gross revenue (which excludes credit card fees, taxes, and/or any sales commissions charged by websites as applicable) for the first year and 15% commission on gross revenue after the first year. For those that are familiar with the complexity of fully marketing a vacation rental property all over the Internet, we trust that you will agree that this commission rate is very reasonable.
With this option, we handle the marketing of your vacation rental property all over the Internet, field sales calls, process reservations and payments, manage damage deposits, and provide you with the net income (minus our commission) from each reservation. We also manage the task of keeping availability calendars synchronized across the Internet by making certain that if a vacation rental reservation is obtained for certain dates on one site, then those dates are marked as being unavailable on all other sites. Thus, we save you a great deal of time and aggravation while also likely greatly increasing the presence and visibility of your vacation rental property on the Internet and significantly increasing your number of reservations and sales revenue! This is particularly beneficial for individuals that are trying to market and manage vacation rental properties as a side endeavor while still having full-time jobs. Our vacation rental Internet marketing service is also highly beneficial for individuals that have vacation rental properties, but who are not particularly computer savvy or who simply do not enjoy the tedious complexity of marketing and maintaining consistent information for their vacation rental property (particularly pricing, photos, and calendar availability) all over the Internet.
With this service level, after each new reservation is received, we update our master calendar for your property and inform you of the new reservation. We let you handle the actual check-in and check-out of each guest and the management of their stay as you wish. We also provide you with the net revenue for each reservation on a monthly basis. (We do this via electronic deposits directly to your bank account.) Thus, an additional benefit is that your rental income is received from a single source in a consistent manner as opposed to the complexity of receiving income from all kinds of different sources in different manners and in varying timeframes. In terms of pricing, we can either utilize precise pricing specified by you (at any level of seasonality or day-specific detail that you wish to use) or we can handle pricing ourselves and utilize our experience to vary it as appropriate to maximize revenue for you.
We have been very successful in our years of vacation rental marketing and management and we would love to work with you to market your vacation rental property on the Internet! The nature of this work allows us to manage the marketing of any vacation rental property in the world! With this option, we do all of the work of maintaining consistent information across websites, maintaining consistent availability calendars across websites, managing payments and damage deposits, and keeping up with and utilizing all of the new features which all the major websites are continually coming out with. With this option, we do require that you allow us to fully handle the marketing of your vacation rental property on the Internet so that we can maintain complete consistency of information across websites, particularly in terms of calendar availability for your vacation rental property. (Most websites significantly punish property owners if reservations are placed for dates on which the vacation rental property is not actually available and a reservation cancellation is required.)
Our cost structure for this service option is 10% commission on gross revenue (which excludes credit card fees, taxes, and/or any sales commissions charged by websites as applicable) for the first year and 15% commission on gross revenue after the first year. For those that are familiar with the complexity of fully marketing a vacation rental property all over the Internet, we trust that you will agree that this commission rate is very reasonable.
Option 3 - Housecleaning and Laundry Service Only
We recently added this option based upon discussions with other vacation property owners in terms of how we could help them. With this option, we simply provide cleaning and laundry service. This option is great for individuals that enjoy marketing their vacation rental property(ies) on the internet and enjoy interacting with guests and managing guest experiences; but who do not enjoy or are unable (perhaps due to distance or health constraints) the more physical aspects of vacation rental management in terms of cleaning vacation rental homes and laundering sheets and towels.
With this option, we manage all of the cleaning and laundry for the vacation rental property and we simply bill the property owner each month for our cost for cleaning and laundry plus a management fee of 50% of cost. If desired, we can also handle the purchase of necessary supplies (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, light bulbs, etc.) for the vacation rental property and include the cost for these items (plus a 50% management fee) with our monthly bill.
With this option, please note that we have the technological capability to automatically read-in reservations from major booking sites (such as VRBO, Airbnb, and Booking.com), so we automatically know when properties need to be cleaned. Property owners do not need to manually communicate reservation information to us, except possibly for reservations that are obtained outside of major booking sites.
With this option, we manage all of the cleaning and laundry for the vacation rental property and we simply bill the property owner each month for our cost for cleaning and laundry plus a management fee of 50% of cost. If desired, we can also handle the purchase of necessary supplies (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, light bulbs, etc.) for the vacation rental property and include the cost for these items (plus a 50% management fee) with our monthly bill.
With this option, please note that we have the technological capability to automatically read-in reservations from major booking sites (such as VRBO, Airbnb, and Booking.com), so we automatically know when properties need to be cleaned. Property owners do not need to manually communicate reservation information to us, except possibly for reservations that are obtained outside of major booking sites.
Referrals
Note that we also provide referral bonuses of $100 to $300 (depending upon the type of vacation rental marketing / management agreement reached) for anyone that connects us with a property owner who enters into a vacation rental marketing or vacation rental management agreement with us. If you know of anyone that would be interested in our vacation rental marketing and/or vacation rental management services, we would greatly appreciate it if you would share our information with them.
Next Steps
We hope that one or more of these options is appealing to you. Again, if you have a heart for vacation rentals and sharing your vacation home with others in a quality and professional manner, we would love to talk with you!
If you would like to further discuss how we can help you market and/or manage your vacation rental home, please call us at (231) 383-1180 anytime, send an e-mail to [email protected], or please feel out the inquiry form below if you would like to have us contact you.
Best wishes!
Eric R. Haan
General Manager
Agape Vacation Rentals
If you would like to further discuss how we can help you market and/or manage your vacation rental home, please call us at (231) 383-1180 anytime, send an e-mail to [email protected], or please feel out the inquiry form below if you would like to have us contact you.
Best wishes!
Eric R. Haan
General Manager
Agape Vacation Rentals
