? Here is everything you need to know about how we re reinventing vacation renting.

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "? Here is everything you need to know about how we re reinventing vacation renting."

Transcription

1 New to? Here is everything you need to know about how we re reinventing vacation renting. 1. What is Marquis Rentals? 2. I m familiar with vacation rental sites such as AirBnB and Homeaway Why should I work with Marquis as opposed to handling my property rental needs on my own? 3. Is my property a fit for Marquis? 4. What makes Marquis different? 5. How will you promote my property to travelers? 11. How are security deposits and property damages handled? 12. Can I still enjoy my home for personal use? 13. What are Marquis fees? 14. Can I use a broker to simultaneously market my property? 15. Do you take photos and videos of my property? 16. Are there any start-up costs that I should be aware of? 6. How will you determine pricing for my property? 7. How do you handle traveler inquiries? 17. How can I track the performance of my property? 8. How do you screen potential guests? 18. What are my obligations to Marquis? 9. How are payments handled? 19. Do you offer on-the-ground services? 10. Do you handle guest communication? 20. How long does it take to get my property listing up and running?

2 1. What is Marquis Rentals? Marquis Rentals is a vacation rental marketing and management company whose goal is to make the vacation rental process as seamless and streamlined as possible while optimizing rental revenue for homeowners. By leveraging all of the latest technologies and marketing channels, our ability to execute is unmatched, evidenced by our 100% homeowner retention rate. 2. I m familiar with vacation rental sites such as AirBnB and Homeaway. Why should I work with Marquis as opposed to handling my property rental needs on my own? The simple answer is Execution. Over the past couple of years, renting a vacation home has transitioned from being the alternative way to stay to the preferred way to stay. As such, the number of listings have continued to increase, making it more challenging for the average homeowner to get their property seen and ultimately booked. In addition to the increased competition is the change in how AirBnB and Homeaway determine the positioning of each listing on their websites. No longer can a homeowner purchase packages to boost their listing s position. The new algorithm requires the homeowner to be a lot more hands on as a listing s position is now determined by the homeowner s response time to inbound inquiries, overall quality of the listing, number and rating of traveler reviews, and Book Now functionality, which requires the homeowner to set pricing for each day of the year. Managing all of these factors is a fulltime job, and we know you don t have that time, so Marquis Rentals does it all for you, guaranteeing your property maximum exposure to travelers coming through these channels. Reaching more travelers will command more bookings leading to more revenue. 3. Is my property a fit for Marquis? Not every property is a fit for the Marquis Rentals Network. While we do welcome properties of all shapes and sizes, we have a no tolerance policy for mismanaged homes. We hold each property that we represent to the highest standard and expect that every traveler is provided with a property that is of the same or better quality as it is represented on our platform. This means that prior to a traveler s arrival, your property must be clean, safe and as-advertised.

3 4. What makes Marquis different? In order to understand how we re different, it is important to understand our purpose. We believe that there is nothing more enlightening than travel. We believe that seeing the world and meeting new people is the route to happiness, and we look to partner with homeowners who share that same belief. By helping homeowners rent out their properties, we are facilitating discovery and through that, happiness. Our mission is to make travel accessible to everyone and in order to do that, we know we need to make the process of renting a vacation home an enjoyable and stress-free process for all. That is why we provide homeowners with as much flexibility as they need to be comfortable renting their most prized possession. This flexibility is evidenced through the following three features, which set us apart from the rest: No exclusivity Consistent with our goal to facilitate travel, we allow you to work with brokers as long as they do not utilize the same marketing channels that we use. Keeping our homeowners happy is our number one priority, and if that means other parties facilitating bookings too, we are perfectly fine with that. No start-up costs We understand that plans change, and we don t want you to feel obligated to rent out your property because of the large amount of start-up costs incurred to get your property s listing set up and distributed. We do, however, want to be there for you when you decide that you would like to rent out your property. Our performance-based business model closely aligns our goals, creating a great environment to form lasting partnerships, and not just short-term profits. No minimum night requirement Whether you want to rent your property for one night or every night, we work to accommodate every homeowner s varying needs and desires. You just tell us when you want to rent your property and we ll do the rest. 5. How will you promote my property to travelers? In addition to the Marquis Rentals website, your property will be advertised on over two dozen international vacation rental listing websites including Homeaway, VRBO, and all of the other websites that are part of the Homeaway suite. We also promote your property to a network of thousands of travelers, which is growing every day, and of course, we utilize social media to maximize exposure. 6. How will you determine pricing for my property? One of biggest differentiators between us and other property managers or marketing companies is the way we price your property. We have built a proprietary algorithm that incorporates real-time pricing data from competitive properties (data that is not easily or practicably obtainable by the average homeowner) and accurately produces a rate for each and every day that your property is available. This technology gives you a huge competitive advantage over your neighbors and will help maximize rental revenue and occupancy.

4 7. How do you handle traveler inquiries? Our Travel Concierge team, who is available by phone, text and 7 days a week, including nights and weekends, receives all inbound inquiries and responds to them in a professional and timely manner. We shield you from having to manage, organize and respond to any questions that travelers have, but we document all conversations and are happy to share all correspondence at your request. You will only hear of traveler inquiries if we are not sure of the answer to their question, if they are ready to move forward with the booking and pass the vetting process, or if you request to see them. It is important to note that every member of our Travel Concierge team is intimately familiar with the location of your property and can speak to the surrounding area and all the beauty and amenities that it has to offer. Being able to provide advice and recommendations to travelers is crucial to converting leads into bookings. That s why hiring people who have no familiarity with the area does not and will never work for us, a feature that differentiates us from most companies. 8. How do you screen potential guests? We know how important it is to appropriately vet potential travelers. That is why we utilize our Know The Traveler checklist for every traveler that we speak with. Using this checklist as a guide, we will consistently collect pertinent personal and group information that we will relay to you when the traveler is ready to move forward with the booking. Some of this information includes: number of people in the group, the age range of the group, the purpose of rental, where they are coming from and additional context surrounding the group dynamic that can only be gauged through phone conversations. 9. How are payments handled? As part of the onboarding process, we link your bank account to our payment processing platform so that all payments are collected digitally and are deposited directly into your bank account. This includes all traveler payments including the rental fee, cleaning fee, utility fee, security deposits and any other ancillary charges. Through our Owner Portal (which you are provided access to during the onboarding process), you can easily issue security deposit refunds and remit payment to Marquis Rentals for marketing fees. Prior to travelers booking your property, you are free to set your own payment plan but we will provide recommendations based on your target market. We also give you the flexibility to set your own cancellation policy but are happy to steer you in the right direction in this arena as well. You can change both at any time.

5 10. Do you handle guest communication? We manage all pre- and post-stay communication with your guests. This includes inquiry responses, booking confirmations, payment notifications, and review requests. When the traveler makes the final payment, we introduce the traveler to your designated local contact who will coordinate directly with the traveler with check-in instructions and any issues that need in-person attention. Once the traveler s stay concludes, Marquis Rentals reaches back out to the traveler to request a review, which is then published on all of our partner websites, enhancing your listing s position. 11. How are security deposits and property damages handled? To protect yourself in the event of property damages incurred by a traveler, we strongly encourage you to charge a fixed refundable security deposit, which is collected prior to the traveler s stay and is held in your bank account until the traveler checks-out. At that point, it is at your discretion to refund all, partial or none of the pre-paid security deposit. In the event that the cost of damages exceeds the amount of security deposit collected, Marquis will work with you to collect any additional amount to cover the damages. The traveler s credit card remains on file and can be charged in order to cover the difference, which is clearly outlined in the booking agreement that the traveler signs. 12. Can I still enjoy my home for personal use? Of course! You can use your property whenever you would like except on dates where your property is already booked by a traveler. We do, however, require that you let us know as soon as your property becomes unavailable so that we can adjust your property s calendar accordingly. Should we have to turn down a booking because the calendar was not accurate, it will severely damage your listing s position on our partner websites and the rental revenue your property can generate will likely suffer as a result. 13. What are Marquis fees? Marquis Rentals charges a marketing fee of 20% of the rental revenue that we generate for your property. The marketing fee does not include cleaning fees, utility fees, security deposits or any other ancillary charges. For example, if the rental revenue from a booking is $10,000, the cleaning fee is $250, the utility fee is $500 and the security deposit is $1,000, the Marquis Rentals marketing fee will be $2,000 (20% x $10,000).

6 14. Can I use a broker to simultaneously market my property? Not only do we allow homeowners to work with brokers to simultaneously market properties that we represent, we actually promote it. Ultimately, our goal is to get your property booked for the right price and to the right people, regardless of the channel the booking comes through. However, we do not allow the broker or third-party to market your property on the same channels that we do in order to avoid double bookings and confusion in the marketplace. 15. Do you take photos and videos of my property? We do! Once you sign the Promotion Agreement our Content Director will coordinate with you to organize a professional photo and video shoot of your property. We do not stage your home and require that it is depicted in the same light as it will be when it is actually rented. 16. Are there any start-up costs that I should be aware of? There are absolutely no start-up costs that are borne by homeowners joining the Marquis Rentals Network. All start-up costs including photography, videography, listing subscriptions, and listing creation are borne by Marquis Rentals. Our business model is performance-based, meaning we only generate revenue when we facilitate bookings for you. 17. How can I track the performance of my property? At Marquis Rentals, we believe transparency is key. That is why we provide you with your own account to Marquis Rentals once you join the Marquis Rentals Network. When you are logged in to your account you are directed to the Owners Portal where you can track various information about past and current bookings, including tools that allow you export information directly to Microsoft Excel.

7 18. What are my obligations to Marquis? We don t ask for much, but in order for this partnership to work, we do need you to commit to the following: Alert us as soon as your property becomes unavailable for any reason Honor all bookings that you have already accepted Respond in a timely fashion to any questions we have about your property Keep a clean, safe, and as-advertised property Honor the booking instructions that you provide us Have a local contact to handle issues that need in-person attention 19. Do you offer on-the-ground services? We do! Through our exclusive partnership with Refined Cleaning Magic, we now offer on-the-ground services including: Home cleaning (on an as needed basis, spring/fall, holiday, post construction, move in/out) Concierge services (reservations, activity bookings, recommendations) Check ins/check outs Handyman services Laundry service Window cleaning Replenishment of household essentials (Inventory control) Carpet/upholstery cleaning Professional organizing Power washing Event Planning Painting Wait staff Property watching Using our property management services is completely optional so you are welcome to use a local contact instead.

8 20. How long does it take to get my property listing up and running? It usually takes about 5 business days from the time you first reach out to us to the time your listing goes live on our platform and our partnership websites. Marquis Rentals Onboarding Process STEP 1 Complete the Property Interest Form Our interest form consists of basic information that we use to generate a Property Analysis for your home. A Property Analysis is our assessment of your property, indicating the amount of rental revenue we expect to generate for your property. STEP 2 Sign the Promotion Agreement After reviewing the Property Analysis, sign the Promotion Agreement. The Promotion Agreement is the contract that governs the relationship between the homeowner and Marquis Rentals. STEP 3 On-Site Media Once the Promotion Agreement is signed, we will work with you to create your property s listing. We will set up a time to visit your property to take high-quality pictures and video, which typically takes about 3-5 hours. STEP 4 Complete the Payments Form The Payments Form includes some personal information that we need to collect in order to link your bank account to our payment processing system. This will allow travelers to remit payment through our website using credit or debit card, and all funds will be directly deposited into your bank account. STEP 5 Verify Payment Information Verify your bank account by confirming the amounts deposited into your bank. The deposits will be two amounts of less than one dollar. STEP 6 Approve Final Listing Approve the final listing. Once you verify that all of the information shown in the listing is accurate, your property s listing will go LIVE and will be distributed across all of our partner websites, including our own at STEP 7 Answer Any Questions As we start to field traveler inquiries, we will undoubtedly be asked questions that we do not yet have the answer to. When these questions arise, we will need your help answering them. As time goes on, we will need your assistance less and less.