I manage all of the them myself as I live in the same city.

I handle all inquiries, contracts, payments, etc. myself. I sub out my housekeeping and have a handyman for yard work and minor repairs when needed. Works well for me, since I'm 1200 miles from my rental. Certainly cheaper than the 20-30 % most prop. management, cos. charge,  and I have total control of who I rent to and my expenses.

I do both.  Until recently I worked only through an agency which is five minutes from my house.  I like the owner, who gives me very good service, and I have been able to select my preferred cleaning crew from among her team.  However, I am the one producing most of the leads/renters, so I decided to start doing some hands on management myself.  It's not economical for me to pay for all of the marketing that I do and then hand over the leads and a big percentage to someone else to finish the job!  My husband and I are now handling contracts, cleaning and check in/out ourselves unless my agent has produced the lead and closed it. 

I originally used a rental agency but had bad experiences with them and decided to manage on my own.  I have learned a lot and have actually tripled my income.  I've actually decided to try and help others in creating a website for their houses, setup rental contracts, pre arrival documents, software, paypal etc.  I created a website so home owners could find me and pick my brain.  http://www.vacationrentalhelper.com.  My two houses are Ski & Glee (www.skiandglee.com) and Cloud 10 (www.deepcreekcloud10.com).

If anyone here needs a hand, feel free to let me know,

Rick

I work for people that manage their own, in the Sarasota, St.Pete FL area, they handle the booking and payments, I just maintain the condo's. Meeting renter for check-in, check property on check-out...I also oversee the repairs, and remodeling, Some owners even have me accessiores and furnish their rentals, take the photos for them to up load, I have been in the interior design and construction field for over 20 years, but do not charge the Interior Designer fee...but their rentals look like a magazine....with all the finishing touches..I do take photos and note all damages or missing items. There is a price list of items, in the info book, if a renter take something with them. All my people own higher end rentals.c

It works out well for everybody---my cleaning lady charges $65 for a 2 BR 2 Bath to clean.

You can find me on Face Book--Rede4 Change Home Owner's Rep

www.rede4change.com

I manage all of my properties myself. nce you get the hang of one or two, the footprint is the same for others. I pride myself on having good orgaizational skills and have prepared a check list prior to guests arrival (all documentation required), check list on following up on the cleaning service and check list at departure.  Using a simple eraseable calendar on the wall, one for each home, I am able to keep track of all our rentals. This might be antiquated, but works very well as you can see at a glance what is or is not open.

Marilyn

www.hamptonhouseproperties.info

www.facebook.com/hamptonhouseproperties

Hi,

I have 4 vacation properties and do all the inquiries, contracts, payments, etc.  I hire a housekeeper for the cleaning.  I go to the houses at least monthly to bring supplies, decorate, do repairs and check that the housekeepers are doing a great job.  I have tried having the properties managed by companies but they never got them rented much and charged 30-40 percent.  I also think the quality of my renters is better.  The management company never noticed when things were missing or small damages.  It is a lot of work but I make a lot more money and I have repeat guests that I never had before.  It took me awhile to decide to just do it but I'm so much happier now.

We manage our ourselves and we live 11 hours from our home. We have a staff of very good people to take care of issues as they arise. I do all the bookings and guest relations issues and my husband takes care of all building maintenance issues. We also run another business together so we work well as a team. We do go to the house at least quarterly and work on upkeep/maintenance. Right now we are doing a complete inventory and deep cleaning. I don't know how people can keep their homes nice if they never set foot in them. Our staff is great, but they don't see things the way we, as owners, do.

Our VR is a condominium on St Thomas.

As a VR  guest, in the states, we have always had a reservation/property manager involved, and they ran from fair to very good.

Because on St Thomas, however, they seem to run from fair to downright abysmal and abusive in order to maintain a reasonable standard we have little choice but to DIY with help from the condominium management and a local person. In addition, we go down at least twice a year and work hard for ten days to two weeks.If we could (and we soon will be able to) we would do it twice as often.

I was once told that there is a store someplace in the orient that has a sign: "for courteous and efficient service, please serve yourself".

Steve