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Want to Rent your Seapointe Village Property on your own?
I've had many folks tell me they'd like to rent their Seapointe Village condo or townhome on their own but do not know
how they can do it. They ask me how those of us listed on SeapointeVillageVacationRentals.com handle all the details if we
live so far away from Wildwood Crest, NJ, such as the logistics of getting the keys to tenants, etc. It actually is quite
easy. I've laid out the steps below to help you see just how easy it is.
Listing your Seapointe Village Property
First thing of course is to get your Seapointe property listed on this site. Be sure to spend a bit of time on this so that you will
spend less time later
describing your Seapointe Village unit to each prospective renter. I will help you with what goes on your listing. Make sure there are
good pictures of the inside of the unit as well as the views from the unit. You may want to put information regarding linens,
check in/out times, if you accept less than a week rental, etc. Email all digital pictures and what you'd like your ad to say to
seapointevillage@yahoo.com. I will review it and help you with it if you need some help.
Sign up and acquire a loginid and password and a property id with HomeAwayConnect.com. They will give you a free calendar to use
so you can show what is rented or unavailable to rent. We will put this link on your listing so potential renters can see what is
available.
Before the Season Starts
Prepare a contract. If you list with this site, we can email you our contract that you can change, add to, etc.
You also need to get a good cleaning service. This is one of the keys
to successful renting. The cleaning service will check on certain things for you each week. You should have the same person
clean your place so they know when something is wrong or out of place. Aside from damage, etc. we ask our cleaning service to
check that the beach tags were left in a jar on the kitchen counter.
If not, they should call you. In your contract you can
have the following phrase:
All four beach tags must be left in the designated place posted in the unit. Our cleaning service will check for the four tags.
Any beach tag loss should be replaced immediately by you, by going to the management office located near the front door in the lobby.
They will charge a fee of $25, but if you do not have it replaced yourself, our cleaning service will do it and charge you $50 for
their time.
In addition, we also have in the contract that if any badges are missing when renters arrive, that they should call us immediately upon
arrival in case our cleaning service forgets.
Once you find a cleaning service you like, by all
means pay him/her above the
going rate. You don't want to lose them. After all, you are keeping all the commissions you would pay a realtor, so what's a few extra
dollar a week when you are saving thousands of dollars in commissions.
You also need to have recommendations on hand for a good plumber,
handyman, etc. Please see a list of potential cleaning folks, electricians, plumbers, etc. This
is not an endorsement or recommendations. Please do your own due diligence.
Make 4 copies of your keys to have on hand. One to keep for yourself, one for current renters, one to mail to the next renters. The
fourth copy is in case the renters take longer than necessary to mail back the keys (another reason for a good contract).
Get your unit ready!
Before the season starts is the time to get your Seapointe Village place in good working order. Repair anything that needs to be repaired.
Have a heating/air conditioner contract with a reputable place. The contract gets you a servicing each year and quicker service if
something did happen to it while someone is renting. The contract is worth it to have, because if it goes out just once while you have
renters there (depending on the renters), you may have to reimburse them somehow if you can't get someone there quickly to fix it.
Also have a spring cleaning done including cleaning your rugs, etc.
Think about replacing any appliances that are old. Is it worth it to try to get one or two more years out of it if it dies while you are
renting? Also have a contract ready before the rental season starts. (I can mail you mine). This is another key to successful renting.
You need to make sure that your renters leave on time, don't arrive early (at least not earlier than your cleaning lady can complete the
job), return your keys, beach tags, etc. A good contract will help to ensure that.
So now you have received an Email inquiry to rent your Seapointe Village Property
Ok, so now you are ready. See the steps below for what I do when I get a potential renter call or email me.
- Check your email and phone messages everyday (I check at least twice a day). Renters are eager for answers and if they don't get
them quick from you, they may move on to find another place. If an email or phone call inquiry seems serious, I always call them. Ask
for a phone number if they don't leave one. The reason I call is to get a feel for who wants to rent my home. We also find our renters
also care for our place better because of the personal contact.
- EMAIL (don't use snail mail) any potential renters a contract with a due date for the deposit. Some folks change their minds and you
could be sitting and waiting forever. Don't change the status of your listing on this site until you receive the deposit. If someone else
wants your unit while you are waiting for the deposit, I would inform them that you are waiting for a deposit, and if not received by a
certain date, it would be available again. I usually give 4-5 days from the time I EMAIL the contract to get a deposit back. Dues dates
are posted in the contract. In the
winter months, I give a bit longer of a timeframe. I also supply dates for when the final deposit is due. I take 50% of the rental for
the deposit and the other 50% plus the security deposit 30 days prior to the
rental. The final payment must be a cashiers check or money order. The initial deposit could be a personal check as long as there is
plenty of time for it to clear.
- Fill out a form for a parking tag and bring it (or mail it) to Jim Yost office along with the fee for your building. We usually wait
until we have a bunch of rentals and get the parking tags all at once.
- Mail the keys and the parking tag (and any other items you wish like driving directions, information on parking within
Seapointe, etc.) to your renters early in the week of the rental. Make sure your renters know this is what you will do in case they do
not plan on being home the week before so you can make alternate arrangements. Supply a return envelope (bubble envelope) for the keys
and have your contract state when they are due to be back or a new key charge (or new lock charge) will be applied to their security.
NOTE: do not put anything identifying on the keys in case they get lost in the mail.
- Mail back their security only after your cleaning lady informs you all is well (how you do it is up to you - our cleaning person
lets us know immediately if something is wrong like missing beach tags, etc.) AND the keys have been returned.
- Voila! Simple?? Yes! Of course there will be little things that happen. We had a shower head that was leaking once and our plumber
came and fixed it pretty quick. A microwave also died and our handyman went out and purchased one for us and installed it for us.
We have learned since then that Crest Appliances will do the same.
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Lastly, be careful of scams. Here is the biggest one that I see every year.
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