If you are considering investing in a holiday cottage in Cornwall or indeed a group of properties, we aim to provide you with sufficient information to be able to make a balanced decision. Whilst self-catering holidays represent a growing sector of the UK holiday market, it is also a demanding business with pitfalls for the unwary, but with immense potential for profit and job satisfaction.

Equally, if you are seeking advice on how best to improve your existing letting business, you have contacted the right people.We will provide you with honest answers to pertinent questions about the holiday property business.

1.Why look for a letting agency?

It makes good financial sense to place your property in the hands of a good letting agent for several reasons.

A committed marketing organisation should achieve higher booking levels than you could ever manage by promoting your property yourself. In exchange for a reasonable commission, you save on the prohibitive cost of going it alone (producing you own brochure in full colour, advertising in the press, postage etc). An efficient letting agency will employ a team of professionals to handle brochure enquiries and bookings and to collect payments, thus saving you time and enabling you to concentrate on your holiday cottage itself, or your other interest if you plan to be an "absentee landlord".

Knowing what to charge to achieve the highest occupancy and income levels is another decision best taken with the advice of an experienced company.

Guaranteed payments and no risk of bad debts from cancellations give additional peace of mind. Reducing stress is as good a reason as any for joining an agency. But which one?

2.Why choose Coastal & Country Holidays rather than any other agency?

Simply because we believe we provide the best service there is.

Your Cornish self catering holiday cottage will be marketed extensively and effectively to obtain the maximum number of bookings over the longest possible length of season.

And we are experts at taking the headache out of the paperwork too. Our administration service is widely acclaimed as second to none by existing owners and customers.

Those parts of our programme are fundamental. However, we go several steps further than other agencies and give you the most comprehensive all-round support.

3.What features attract maximum bookings and what puts holidaymakers off a return visit?

Customer expectations are rising all the time. Banish all thoughts of furnishing and equipping your holiday cottage with odds and ends from the attic, a mis-match of cutlery and crockery and second hand appliances. In short, today's holiday cottage dweller expects comfortable furniture in every room and a kitchen equipped with the kind of appliances they already have or would like at home. Provide those high standards and visitors will respect your property and treat it with care.

Style

You should aim to create a style that reflects the character of your property without going totally over the top. Four poster beds are immensely popular but floor-to-ceiling colour co-ordinated decor is expensive and can be difficult to maintain. It is unlikely to generate sufficient income to justify your investment.

Gardens

Keeping gardens in peak condition is essential. A private area, garden furniture and maybe a barbecue are all good selling features. No badly paved paths; ponds are definitely unsuitable ... even certain plants can be dangerous.

Bathrooms

If your property sleeps six or more, your visitors will expect two toilets. Bathrooms should be tiled and well decorated.The answer to the shower versus bath debate is a compromise. Shower-over-bath may be the best answer for whilst the younger generation prefers a quick shower, older people and babies enjoy a long soak, and older people represent the biggest share of the cottage holiday market.

Bedrooms

A combination of doubles and twin bedded rooms are best. Good, solid beds, new, well-sprung mattresses, freshly laundered duvets and bedding.

Thinking of saving space by installing bunk beds? You could be restricting bookings to school holidays. Adults won't normally entertain the idea of clambering into a bunk.

Heating

Modern efficient central heating or night storage heaters is mandatory if you are to have any hope of winter bookings.Visitors love the romance of an open fire, but as supplementary heating only any property without central heating is at a disadvantage. Holding fuel bills down and keeping freeze-ups and damp at bay requires more investment in double-glazing and roof insulation.

Other factors

If their holiday starts badly with a frustrating search for your holiday cottage, customers may never return.The house sign must be clearly visible from the road and ideally should be illuminated at night.

Exclusions are a risk

Whilst imposing some restrictions on the type of holidaymaker you will accept might make life easier for you, each restriction reduces potential occupancy levels. Nearly 40% of British families take their pet on holiday and you are ruling out a large number of potential visitors. The same goes for smokers. Even in today's climate, a party of four adults will usually include a smoker.

4.What safety regulations should owners be aware of?

As a property owner you must comply with legislation affecting self-catering accommodation businesses.There are strict fire safety regulations regarding upholstery and laws governing electrical and gas appliances. Then there are requirements such as fire extinguishers and smoke alarms. In addition, there are innumerable common-sense precautions property owners must take.

Because the holiday booking contract is between the cottage owner and the holidaymaker, any accident on your premises will be your responsibility.Therefore, you must have public liability insurance (a condition of acceptance by Stratton Creber).

5. Can Coastal & Country Holidays owners holiday in their own properties?

Certainly. Unlike many other agencies we are happy for you to use your holiday cottage for an agreed number of weeks a year. But please remember, making your property unavailable means losing income, and the potential for repeat business.

6.What kind of income can you expect?

Whilst running a self-catering holiday business can be thoroughly rewarding, it requires sustained effort from both the owner and the letting agency. No matter how effectively we market your property, unless you act on the advice we give, your property will not perform as well as it should.

Getting the price right is one decision you would be ill-advised to take without an objective, expert opinion. Price it too high and your property will be under-used. Set it too low and the gap between income and running costs narrows dangerously.

To be assigned to the top price bracket your property must reach the highest standards of quality in all categories from location, size, appearance, fixtures and fittings, right down to the fact that you have log fires, beautiful linens and central heating all included in the price.You will have taxes and insurance to pay. There will also be cleaners and gardeners to pay, fuel bills, repairs and maintenance.

There is a huge market for simpler but comfortably and tastefully furnished properties. Sensibly priced, this type of property could bring in an extremely worthwhile income.

Make visitors welcome all year round, make your property available for the increasing number of people who want to take a short break, often at the last minute, and you can boost that income substantially.

7.What financial security have I got?

This can be a difficult one if you are going it alone. Under the protection of Stratton Creber you will receive a statement and payment monthly.You are even protected in the event of a last minute cancellation so your financial security is assured, relieving you of the stress and strains.

Please don't delay

It is essential to begin the planning and marketing of your Cornish self catering holiday cottage as soon as possible to allow us to achieve optimum results.To include your property in our main annual brochure we need to receive full details no later than July 31st for inclusion in the following year's brochure. If you miss that deadline, don't worry we can include your property and promote it on our Internet sites. However, you will achieve lower bookings in your first year that you would if your property had been included in the main brochure.

We offer a full range of services to suit all needs, but if you feel your require something extra, we are always willing to help. Please feel free to discuss this with us,We have been successfully managing holidays from this branch for over 30 years and are always striving to achieve higher standards both in terms of service and quality.

We hope you will take advantage of the peace of mind that Stratton Creber Coastal and Country Holidays can bring and look forward to managing your property.

Booking service

If you choose to use our services as a booking agent, we will charge only 15% + VAT commision on all rents booked by ourselves plus a brochure entry fee of £75 + VAT if applicable:

Full colour brochure

Our first class and highly acclaimed brochure is published once a year in October.

Website

Over 50% of enquiries are now generated via the internet and our attractive, user friendly website www.coastalandcountryholidays.co.uk has proved highly successful and can be found on all major search engines and appropriate website links. Our website also has an instant, online booking service for those looking to book holidays via the internet 24 hours a day.

National and European advertising

We advertise regularly and extensively in national newspapers and keep a close watch on which sources are most effective.We also advertise on the Continent and the numbers of overseas visitors increases every season.

Administer booking enquiries

All enquiries are dealt with immediately and we offer a credit/debit card service so that bookings may be processed without delay.

Receive payments

All payments will be received and processed by our office.We will monitor deposits and balances of payments on your behalf and notify you accordingly.

Cancellation insurance

For your protection as well as that of the holidaymaker we operate a cancellation insurance scheme for every booking at competitive rates.

Monthly accounting

All monies collected on your behalf will be paid over to you at the beginning of the month following that of the holiday.

Electrical and gas checks

We arrange an annual gas test and regular electrical appliance test for all our properties.

Compliance checks

According to the now very stringent compliance laws, we will check your property for compliance with Fire & Safety Regulations and advise of any non-compliant furnishings and equipment for your safety and that of the holidaymaker.

Full management service

Our full management service incorporates all that the booking service offers with the following additional advantages to allow you freedom from the everyday running of your holiday home together with peace of mind. For our full management service we charge 22% + VAT commission on all rents received plus our £75 + VAT brochure entry fee if applicable.

Personal service

We offer a personal service to your tenants. Our staff will be happy to ensure all your tenants have a good holiday and will see to their needs and special requirements.We also offer a 24-hour mobile call out service for problems out of hours.

Key handling

We will be responsible for the handing out and collection of keys. On full payment of rental the key arrangements are made with the tenant.

Cleaners

Should you so wish, we can organise a cleaner and pay them on your behalf.We will notify your cleaner of booking dates and ensure that the cottage is always ready to receive the next tenant. If you decide to offer your tenants a linen service included in the rental, the cleaners will take in the fresh linen and remove the dirty laundry each changeover.We will arrange for your linen to be laundered.

Maintenance

We will arrange for minor repairs eg electrical appliance repair, plumbing, etc on your behalf and will advise you of any action taken. Larger jobs are referred to you for instruction before a contractor is employed.

and finally ...

8.Your next move?

Arrange for our representative to call at your holiday property and answer any questions you may have.

Please phone: 01503 265903
or Email:

www.coastalandcountryholidays.co.uk
34 Fore Street, Looe, Cornwall, PL13 1DT