Читать книгу Renting Your Recreational Property for Profit - Heather Bayer - Страница 22

Property management and maintenance costs will depend on whether you will be doing your own management and maintenance, using a dedicated property management company, or a bit of both. Chapter 11, Managing Your Property Yourself, addresses this topic in more detail and will help you understand the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.

For the purposes of this book, the term rental management refers to the method you use to look after the rental aspects of the business: advertising; taking bookings; handling deposits, security deposits, and final payments; and looking after the needs of renters while using your property. Property management refers to the short- and long-term maintenance requirements: year-round yard work, storm checking, handling emergency problems, etc.

Once you have decided which method will suit you, you’ll be in a better position to assess the costs involved. It’s usually best to apply a proportion of fixed costs for yard maintenance, which will include mowing and general yard care in the summer and snow clearance in the winter. Naturally, there will be some variation, as the weather plays no small part in these costs. In general, it’s OK to spread property management costs throughout the year on a monthly basis, averaging the expenses. Once you are into the second year of renting, your forecasting will become more accurate as it will be based on actual costs recorded in the previous year.

If you are going to contract with a property management company that has an annual fee spread equally throughout the year — including contingencies such as checking for storm damage and regular security visits — you will be able to assign these as fixed costs. If, however, you intend to use the do-it-yourself method, more care needs to be taken in forecasting costs as many incidentals can be overlooked, leaving you out of pocket. For example, remember to include additional fuel costs incurred when traveling to and from the recreational property.