You’ve invested in a beautiful vacation home in Holden Beach, and now you have a choice: list it yourself on an online travel agency (OTA) like Airbnb or Vrbo, or partner with a local Holden Beach property management company. While there are many benefits to using OTAs, like visibility, a local property management company offers a more comprehensive approach for providing peace of mind.
Reasons to Choose a Local Property Management Company over an OTA
- Personalized Experience & Local Expertise
- Hands-On Property Care & Maintenance
- Streamlined Operations & Maximized Revenue
- Protecting Your Investment
Personal Touch & Local Expertise
Online travel agencies (OTAs) are defined as an online marketplace that typically sells travel-related products, including accommodations, airfare, car rentals, etc. OTAs in the vacation rental space, such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com, are a great tool, but sometimes lack the personal touch and local knowledge that a property management company has.
When trying to find the right option for you, it’s essential to consider your market, seasonal pricing dynamics, and the demographics of the area. A local property management company will get to know about you and what makes your property unique, create a plan that caters to your goals, and provide a memorable guest experience so that guests return year after year.
Hands-On Property Care & Maintenance
OTAs leave the responsibility of cleaning, maintenance, and guest issues to the owner. And if you don’t have a solid plan in place when issues arise, it’s likely the guest experience you provide will suffer. Choosing a property management company over an OTA passes the responsibility of property care and maintenance from you, the owner, to the PM company. For example, when a guest has an emergency (e.g., a broken pipe or a lockout), a local team can respond immediately, minimizing damage and ensuring guest satisfaction.
Hobbs Realty has long-standing relationships with reliable, local contractors, cleaners, and maintenance professionals. This ensures quality work, competitive rates, and quick turnarounds. A local property management company like ours also provides preventative maintenance and inspections - protecting your investment and preventing small issues from becoming major problems.
Streamlined Operations and Maximized Revenue
If you plan to manage your own listings through OTAs like Airbnb or Vrbo, you’ll need to handle time-consuming tasks like responding to inquiries, handling the accounting, and coordinating all of the services needed to keep your property up to standards.
While OTAs are a part of a good marketing plan, a local property management company builds on that with a dedicated website and a dynamic marketing strategy to drive direct bookings. A local PM can offer you:
- Advanced Marketing Tools: At Hobbs Realty, we use a suite of advanced tools such as dynamic pricing, online booking, keyless entry, and round-the-clock customer support to deliver exceptional service. The same set of tools would cost an owner-managed property over $2,000 per month.
- Guest Communication: Our local team handles all guest communication, from initial inquiries to post-stay reviews, ensuring a high-quality guest experience and freeing up your time.
- Compliance and Legal Expertise: We are experts in specific local regulations, taxes, and permits in Holden Beach, ensuring your property is always in compliance with the law.
Protecting Your Investment
With OTAs, it can be difficult to vet guests thoroughly, and you are often left to navigate disputes and damages on your own. A professional property management company builds a reputation for quality, which often attracts repeat guests and enhances the value of your property in the long run.
As the oldest vacation rental management company in Holden Beach, Hobbs Realty is your trusted source for all things vacation rentals and real estate. We are deeply rooted in the community and are committed to providing an exceptional and memorable experience for both our homeowners and guests. Get in touch with our team to learn more about our property management offerings and see the Hobbspitality difference!
Owner Testimonials
Trusted, Transparent, and Guest-Focused Management
Accessibility and communication are great – you have built trust with us and we have recommended you to other homeowners. I also like the “inclusive” maintenance plan. For a time, it felt like we were getting nickel & dimed with many small maintenance issues (I also understand you have personnel costs too). Bottom line – we appreciate the way you manage our guests and our home.
- G. Weber
Always Reliable
Always there when we needed. Hobbs Realty goes above and beyond when guidance or insights are needed about the larger Holden Beach community.
- Diane Lepley
Peace of Mind
I very much appreciate how whenever I call to get help on something, you all not only take care of it, but you also sound happy to do it. As you know, it’s a lot of work keeping up a beach home and we’ve always felt very supported by Hobbs. It’s a huge thing to know when I just ask for help, I can then forget about it because I know it will be taken care of.
- Ann Hulen