Remote Holiday Home Management 101: How to Run Your Investment Successfully in 2023

With the ever-growing popularity of applications for short and long-term homestays, such as Airbnb, over 77% of Brits have been inspired to invest in a holiday home. Not only can owning a holiday home promise a potential investment return, but it also offers you and your family the chance to enjoy the facilities whenever you want.

However, managing a remote holiday home is challenging. Whether you live just around the road or hundreds of miles from your investment, it’s essential to have a solid management strategy in place to ensure your remote holiday home is being run smoothly. But how can you achieve this if you cannot be on-site twenty-four-seven? 

Fortunately, our interconnected world has made managing holiday stays in different cities (and countries!) more manageable and arguably more beneficial. From hiring the right property manager and utilising technology to keeping a list of reputable tradespeople and fostering open lines of communication – running your investment successfully has never been easier! 

To help you achieve this, we’ve created this comprehensive guide on remote holiday home management in 2023, which will help you effectively oversee your investment from a distance – keep reading to find out more. 

Hire A Reliable Property Manager

Whether you live in the neighbouring city or are hundreds of miles away, you will not be available twenty-four-seven to oversee your investment. Therefore, hiring a trustworthy and reliable property manager to manage your remote holiday home when you’re unavailable is essential.

Whether you choose to hire an individual or outsource one from a property management company, you must conduct thorough research and ask for recommendations from others with rentals in the area. A reliable property manager should possess various qualities, some of the most essential being responsiveness, robust rental marketing strategies, and excellent communication skills.

These qualities are needed to ensure that your rental property is in safe hands when you cannot attend the property in person and to handle related tasks such as managing bookings, communicating with guests, cleaning, regular maintenance and ensuring that each guest leaves with a smile on their face and eager to return. 

Plan Seasonal Maintenance Around Off-Peak Periods

Whether you own a beach-side condominium in Spain or a coastal cottage in Whitby, your investment will be subject to seasonal fluctuations and off-peak periods, naturally creating gaps in your property’s booking calendar. 

While from a business perspective, these gaps might mean less return, from a property manager’s perspective, these gaps are ideal for focusing on property maintenance since you can determine when the property will be empty to schedule much-needed work. 

Whether the property could do with a makeover from a team of local painters and decorators or if it needs some general improvements by local contractors, off-peak periods are the perfect times to focus on these little jobs and get them out of the way. 

Fortunately, you can easily handle property maintenance, upgrades, etc., by keeping a list of reputable contacts in your investment area and getting in touch with them whenever a job needs carrying out. 

You can build this list of contacts using online directories like MyBuilder.com, which can put landlords, property managers etc., in touch with various reputable tradespeople in their area, from plasterers and electricians to painters and decorators near you. 

Consider visiting their website to find out more, read customer reviews, take advantage of their handy online resources etc. and see how their website could help you build a list of reputable local painters and decorators, plasters and electricians, and many others. 

Utilise Technology For Remote Monitoring

Fortunately, our digital age has made it much easier for remote property managers to run their investments even with miles of distance between them and the property. Smart home systems and accessories have been instrumental in this success, highlighting the urge for modern-day landlords and property managers to leverage technology to simplify remote holiday home management. 

Some of the best technology to harness include smart home devices such as security cameras, smart locks, and thermostats. These tools can be controlled remotely via your smartphone and give you real-time access and control over your property, allowing you to monitor guest arrivals, adjust temperature settings, and improve security measures. 

Additionally, you could also use a digital home manual or guest portal that provides essential information, house rules, and local recommendations, which can save prospective guests time/effort trying to find this information out on their own – ultimately enhancing the guest experience and making them much more likely to return. 

Establish Clear Communication Channels

Maintaining open and transparent communication channels with your property manager is essential for remote management. You can ensure this with hundreds of miles between you by organising regular check-ins through phone calls, video conferences, or emails to discuss property updates, guest feedback, and necessary repairs or maintenance. 

One way to make this more successful is to utilise technology like the gadgets mentioned in our previous point to track reservations, bookings, and finances. Additionally, ensure that you have a dedicated emergency contact available around the clock to handle any urgent situations that may arise.