Rafleys makes renting out your vacation rental easy – and we fully understand that homeowners have lots of questions. We try to be as informative as possible so we’ve put together a list of questions, which are most frequently asked by you!
What services to contract?
Rafleys gives you a benefit of choosing a plan which suits you best. From online property management for only 5% of booking price to full service management, which includes on-ground services and traveller support 24/7 for 25% commission. Give it a try and find the best management plan for your property to rent.
How to get started?
Getting started is easy and risk-free. We can activate listings of your home for rent in just a couple of days, if all the needed information and documents are provided. From that point, the advertising online takes place and the reservations start to come your way. There are some important details that need to be taken care of, such as:
- availability calendar updating,
- the adjustment of prices,
- minimum stay,
- deposit adjustment,
- getting the needed details for the Junta de Andalucía standards for renting,
- editing of inventory, instructions and house rules sheets.
We advise and help our new owners in the starting process making it as easy and troubleless as it can be. One of Rafleys´s agents will be assigned to you in order to assist you in the process of preparing your property for vacational rent.
Furthermore, we can recommend a wide range of professionals in different fields on Costa del Sol, whose quality of services we trust. Please refer to our webpage at “Partners”.
What kind of apartment is good for short term rentals?
Although it all depends on the personal values, most tourists want to come to a centric, sunny place with terrace, good views and easy access to the beach or swimming pool. Your guests will expect a fully-functioning home when they arrive, complete with furniture, appliances, cookware, glasses, cutlery, internet, TV, air-conditioning, first-aid kit, etc. as well as a standard supply of bed linens, bath and hand towels and typical consumables like light-bulbs and batteries.
Air-conditioning is a must, as well as heating. Junta de Andalucía sets it by law (a fan will not do). Make sure also, that your apartment has enough power supply to support the use of electrical devices installed in your apartment.
We are committed to work with you to make sure that you have everything in place. Internet connections is essential and is required at every home. Nicely decorated homes tend to command higher rentals and we always encourage owners to have a home that shows well.
We have some interior designers to recommend if your aim is to upgrade your apartment or villa for a more profitable rent.
Cleaning fees
If you are on a Rate PREMIUM, the post stay cleaning services are included, as well as post stay laundry services.
If you want us to arrange a pre-stay cleaning, or cleaning after your own use of the apartment or villa, we can arrange it for an additional fee.
Rates BASIC and PLUS do not include cleaning. Owners can arrange the cleaning themselves, use their own cleaners or ask Rafleys to arrange a cleaning for a separate fee.
If Rafleys´s post stay cleaning and laundry are going to be frequently contracted, we can agree on a fixed rate. Rafleys will pay for the cleanings and then bill the owners as part of your monthly statement.
Prices
First, we set an initial price for each unit for each time of the year. Holidays and peak periods may be set higher, and off-season prices could be set lower. Our high-tech vacation rental software sets these initial prices based on comparable home prices in the area and changes it every day due to the market fluctuations. It also considers several factors like characteristics of the home (size, amenities, location, recent remodels, etc.)
Once we agree on the minimum wanted prices with the owner, we start to monitor your conversion rate. We watch the performance of your unit and make frequent pricing adjustments. No pricing is ever set permanently at start – the key is to monitor and adjust pricing up or down based on actual market demand. We monitor conversion rates of your rental at initial pricing and adjust up or down according to how well the rental is booking. It is an ongoing process that is always a top priority. The more money our owners make, the more we make – so we try and do everything we can to maximize the revenue.
Security deposits and damage
Guest pays a damage deposit for your property to the website and it is kept until a couple of days after your guests departure. If we register any damage of the property we immediately report damage and replacement funds are sent to the owner’s account. If the check out is not done by Rafleys, the apartment must be checked for damage and photographs must be made of all the damaged items. Rafleys will use the photographs to claim the tenants for a refund. We also need your invoices for purchased items instead of damaged ones to determine the exact amount of damage. If the damaged item has been replaced by a new one, we also need the invoice showing the exact amount of the repair or replacement to claim the deposit.
However, owners should expect that from time-to-time normal wear-and-tear will happen outside the policy. Owners should expect every now and then they might have to replace a fork or knife, do some touch-up painting, replace a sink or shower fixture, etc. All homes experience periodic maintenance. Everything from small appliances, to plumbing fixtures, furniture and electronics eventually wear-out. If a guest drops a blender and it smashes on the floor, the damage protection kicks in! But if a guests is using a blender that is several years old and it just stops working, it is not replaced as part of the damage protection.
If a rug is dirty from regular foot traffic, it is not replaced as part of the damage waiver. If a guest spills an entire bottle of red wine on a rug, the damage claim kicks in. If a guests sits down on an inexpensive couch and a leg breaks off, it is generally not their fault. If a guest spills pasta sauce all over it, then the damage deposit claim applies. The damage deposit applies to most furniture as well, however it does not apply to things like fragile antique seating or dining tables, inexpensive plastic seating, furniture that is clearly old, worn, visibly weak or rusted. These are all items we highly recommend removing from a home for safety purposes. And while we love inexpensive furniture from Ikea or other discount stores, it is known not to be very durable. The damage deposit does not apply to furniture that is not designed to hold up to regular guest use, particularly MDF or plastic.
Also, unless your home for rent has a special insurance for short term rentals, we do not recommend having expensive or exclusive pieces of furniture or decorations. Keeping it simple and practical is the best choice.
Payments
Travellers usually prefer to pay online with their credit card. Rafleys charges the corresponding amount, substracts the commissions and sends the rest to the owner. The payment to the owner is done at the end of each month and corresponds to all the bookings whose date of departure belongs to that month.
The owner always knows what she or he will receive. Automatic e-mail is sent to the owners through Lodgix, where the whole amount of the reservation is shown. This whole amount includes Rafley´s commission, so in order to know exactly the amount that will be recieived for each booking, the commission of 5, 10 or 25% has to be subtracted from the amount in the information e-mail.
At the end of the month you will receive an e-mail explaining what you have received with bank receipt and “owner statement”- PDF file listing all your bookings with the corresponding amounts.
