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There are many holiday rental management companies who are only too willing to rent your holiday property in Cyprus for you but for a fee of course. 

How do you decide which is the best company to choose to rent your property? Well I suppose that would depend on the level of service you are looking for.

Using a Holiday Rental Management Company   If you are looking for a completely hands free approach you can just tell the rental company who will be letting it out for you that you want certain dates in the year for yourself and your family and they can rent out the rest.  

Be aware that they may work on a rotary system whereby they rent out the properties on their books in list order and the property one at the top of the list may get 7 nights booked the next property number two on the list may get 14 nights booked and property three may get 2 night booked and so on. 

If they have 40 properties in their portfolio and yours happens to be the property that only gets 2 nights booked you may have to wait a while until your property reaches the top of the list again. This probably won’t be a problem during the high summer season but it may not be so good in low season. 

Some companies can charge an annual fee as well as a commission for each booking but this may be because they will be translating your advert into other languages and advertising in major travel brochures and websites around the world.  Check out what they are actually offering you for their fees and decide which company suits you best. 

Renting Your Property Yourself  

If you are looking to rent some or all of the holiday lettings yourself then you will need to have a good cleaning and meet and greet service available. You may find that some companies offer both levels of service. They may be willing to offer the whole package of advertising, booking and rental service and a second level of service whereby you arrange all your own advertising and booking and they just meet and greet the guests perhaps arranging for an essentials pack on their arrival and arranging for the key handling, cleaning and laundry and any maintenance necessary for your property. 

Should You Charge A Waiver Fee  

If you take the more hands on approach of advertising and you are booking it yourself it is worth bearing in mind that you should take a waiver fee from each lead guest usually in the form of taking the credit card details of your customer at the beginning of their stay as a waiver insurance or a sum of money which you will be happy to refund at the end of their stay provided there is no damage or missing items.

Make it quite clear to them that if there is any damage caused during their stay the amount charged from their credit card will be to cover the full cost of any damage repairs or replacements or at the very least the full cost of any excess you would have to pay on your insurance. This is the same as if you were letting it out through a Holiday Management Company and seems to be common practice. 

Do You Need  Accidental Insurance Cover  

You will need to insure your property and it may be a good idea to pay an additional premium to cover accidental damage which includes any caused by tenants staying in your property so check that the insurance will cover this. 

Utilities and Bank Account  

You will have to pay for the Electricity and Water on your property and the contracts for these utilities will need to be put into your name and set up to be paid by Direct Debit.  Although in some cases you may be able to pay the electricity through on line methods.  The Utility Companies in Cyprus will not send invoices or bills to a UK address and will only send them to the property in Cyprus, which may be a nuisance if you are renting the property out on either a short term let or a long term basis.

You will be expected to pay a lot of your bills by Direct Debit so you will need to have a Cyprus Bank Account and depending on which Bank you use you may find they will only send statements if you pay a monthly fee and that there may be no online banking facilities. 

Advertising Your Property for Free  

If you are advertising your property yourself then it may be worth looking at using some of the websites that offer free advertising and free classifieds online. If you have your own website or webpage even better as these adverts may allow you to put a link to your website in too which will help to drive customers your way. 

You may be thinking of putting small postcard adverts in your local shop windows but don’t expect them to generate much business if any.  

Décor of Your Property 

And finally whether you are renting through a company or advertising it yourself make sure that the décor in the property will be appealing to as many people as possible.  

You might like day glow pink walls with blue blinds and green furniture but not everyone will have the same taste so try to keep colours neutral and toned to maximise your rental potential, and if you are on a complex with 25 other similar properties try to make yours stand out better perhaps by buying a slightly more expensive furniture package rather than the cheapest one available. 

Maybe you will only need to add a few expensive looking classy accessories but don’t put in any family heirlooms of course and make sure you dress it well for the photos you take for your adverts.