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FAQ's for Owners
Here in the UK we look after securing and processing rentals and the financial side of the management of your home. Your main queries will relate to these issues so we are the best placed to answer your initial questions. You have been assigned a designated email address for your queries owners@orlandohrh.com
How your home account is run
Our management software (Ciirus) is live, once a booking is made both the owner view and our view will be updated immediately so you can see at a glance what bookings are placed in your home at any time. You must check this system to ensure that the home is free before accepting a booking as once a booking is confirmed in the system we are unable to move this.
Logging onto Ciirus – the property management software
http://webapp.ciirus.com/PropertyManager/BookingsManager/ViewBookings.aspx
Input your User Name and Password as advised in the Ciirus welcome email (if you have not already received this then please let me know)
You are now in the Ciirus System.
View Owner Account
Each month when I have finalised the owner’s accounts you will be able to view them by:-
Select – Property Details from the top tool bar
Select – Owners Account from the left hand side
The last completed month should appear. To change the months select from the drop down menu and click refresh. You can only view the previous month as the owner accounts are posted around the 15th of each month.
Provisional Bookings
When we first accept a booking into your home we will indicate that this booking is not confirmed yet by writing PROVISIONAL/ in front of the guest name. This means that a reservations has made but we are still awaiting the payment to secure the booking. We give 72 hours for them to make contact to confirm the payment method. If they are paying by check then we have to wait for the check to be received before the booking can be confirmed. Once the booking is confirmed we will remove the word PROVISIONAL.
To view a booking rate
Select – Bookings Manager from the top tool bar
The schedule should show
Click on the desired booking to view the rate
Select the View Owner Rate button from the above the booking list
A pop up screen will show the amount due to be credited to your owners account.
General Booking Information
Most bookings are credited to your owners account based on departure date.
Owner Bookings
When you place an owner booking into the system we will be responsible for paying the Sales and Tourist tax on the amount you have input on your behalf. You will be responsible for collecting all the payments associated with the booking including any security deposit you are going to take. After the guest leaves the home if you haven’t heard from us within 7 days then it is safe for you to return any security deposit taken.
The amount you take is totally up to you however all we ask if that you don’t advertise the home at lower rates than what we are advertising – otherwise it is pointless us advertising your home. The rates that we advertise at include any commission and the sales and tourist tax which total either 11%, 12% or 13% depending upon your county. Sales Tax is 7% and Tourist Tax will range between 4%-6%
For example if your home is in Polk County where Tourist Tax is 5% and you charge a renter $1200 and you input this amount into the Ciirus system then Ciirus would automatically calculate that sales and tourist tax is included in this amount and would generate the figures for me to pay. You would see a deduction on your owners account for the sales and tourist tax in the month that the client leaves the home. On a $1,200 booking in Polk County this would be $53.51 & $75 respectively.
Should you not input a figure for the booking then no sales and tourist tax will be paid.
All taxes are remitted at the end of the month for bookings departing within that month. You must ensure that any figures input the system are correct as once the taxes are submitted the counties will fine you for altering them.
Placing a booking of your own / inputting your own stay
To add your own private booking select add booking and input all the details – we must have number of guests and contact details – telephone number is preferable.
Remember that we are responsible for paying your Sales and Tourist Taxes on all bookings including your private bookings. The figure that you place into the system for your private bookings must be in dollars and must be added before the guest leaves the property. Taxes are submitted on a monthly basis based on the departure date of the booking.
NOTE: A recent updated saw the addition of making a booking Tentative with an expiry date. This is a good feature as when the expiry date is reached if you have not confirmed the booking then it will automatically delete from the system. However you must remember to convert the booking to confirm to stop this being deleted.
Taxes
We pay and file returns for all sales and tourist development tax taken on bookings each month so there is nothing for the owner to do here apart from input a figure into the Ciirus Property Management software when adding a booking. Whatever the owner adds will be used to pay the relevant taxes. If zero is added then no sales and tourist development tax will be paid.
You will also have Property Tax to pay to your local county. This is what would commonly be called rates / council tax in the UK and Ireland. This can be paid monthly or as a one off payment annually around November time. If you have a mortgage your lender will normally act as your Escrow agent and make these payments for you. This amount can be checked when viewing monthly or annual mortgage statements and is normally around 1.25% of the property value. If you don’t have a mortgage its your responsibility to make sure this is paid.
Your US accountant will file your annual tax return to the IRS and these returns cover the whole year. So the returns run from 1st January – 31st December. We will normally provide your accountants with an annual statement upon request and they will use this to complete the majority of the information required. They will also send a work sheet to the owners for any information not covered in your annual statement such as any HOA payments, utility bills, items of furniture or details of money you have spent on the property during the tax year etc . Flights and car hire should also be added which can be offset against any profits. This sheet normally takes about half an hour each year to complete and any queries you have on this sheet are normally directed to your accountant. Its important that your return is filed each year as any losses can normally be offset against potential capital gains should you choose to sell the home sometime in the future.
Advertising
Below is a list of the sites/tour operators/channel managers we work with in the industry. If you are advertising your home yourself it may be worth advertising on sites not listed below.
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Abritel |
Flipkey |
Travelmob |
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AirBnB |
HomeAway Worldwide |
Trip Advisor |
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Aluegue Temporada |
Homelidays |
Vacation Rentals (VR) |
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Arbritel |
Lesiure Link |
Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) |
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Bookabach |
Red Awning |
VR360 Florida Villas |
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Booking Pal |
Rentals UTD |
VR360 Homes |
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Booking.com |
Roomorama |
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Expedia |
Stayz |
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FewoDirekt |
Top Rural |
Booking Extras / Amendments
Booking Extras such as BBQ must be advised to the reservations team via email reservations@orlandoholidayrentalhomes.com otherwise they may not be ordered.
Any amendments to bookings arriving with 7 days must be emailed to reservations as the reports are printed off at the beginning of the week and amendments would not be picked up
Late check out / Early Check in – see further details below. You must also advise us of these via email as we have to re-schedule cleaning teams etc. Failure to do so would incur a clean fee reschedule charge.
Arrival & Departure Times
Arrival Time is 4pm
Departure Time is strictly 11am
Early Check In / Late Check Outs
These must be advised to us via Email as we have to manually change the clean date. When granting a late check-out this also means that your home cannot be rented out the day that the renter leaves as the home will not be cleaned in time for a 4pm check in. At least 48 hours’ notice is required to grant a late check-out.
Bookings less than 7 Days
On bookings of less than 7 day we will charge the renter the clean fee and apply this to your account – this fee will show in the total of booking that you will receive. The clean charge will also appear on your owners account.
What is supplied by the property management company?
Each vacation home is self-catering. We supply some basics such as a roll of kitchen paper, 1 roll of toilet paper and bar of soap per bathroom, 2 dishwasher tabs and 2 bin bags. All other supplies can be purchased at the nearest convenient store.
Welcome Packs
Welcome Packs are now provided by The Vacation Grocer. You may like to add the details below to any private bookings that you do.
WELCOLM PACKS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH http://www.thevacationgrocer.com/ input code OHM for exclusive discounts
BBQ Hire
We use an external company for this and the cost is $60 plus tax per week . Please send all requests via email only.
Double Cleaning Charges
Double cleaning charges will be applied to the following departure days if a clean is required
Christmas Day, New Years Day & Easter.
Booking Colour Code
Most bookings are priced in US dollars
£DB/UK – UK Bookings – see colour above.
All these booking will show in Sterling. I convert the booking over into Dollars at the end of the month that the booking left the home in. Once converted to dollars *P will show in front of the clients name and the amount in ciirus will be dollars.
Short Stay Cleaning Fees
On bookings less than 7 days we will charge the renter the clean fee. This amount must be added to the rental amount input into Ciirus in order to generate the correct Sales and Tourist Tax to remit to the authorities. A clean must also be charged to the owners account - again to ensure the correct data is recorded. We do not take commission on the cleaning fee so in effect you are not being charged for the clean fee as it has been included in the total amount of the rental paid over to you. The renter is paying the clean fee.
Monthly Trash Removal Charge
After each renter leaves a trash contractor will visit the home and remove all of the trash so that the home is clear for the next renter. Bookings obviously do not always leave on a trash day so this is necessary as the arriving guest will not accept having to dispose of the previous persons rubbish. If you are renting your home then we charge you a fixed monthly trash removal charge of $15 per month, this means that if you have 0 or 4 renters departing in the month then you are only paying the 1 fee.
Deep Clean
We would recommend a deep/spring clean at least once a year. A deep clean is an additional in-depth clean of the entire home and is normally twice the cost of a normal clean, although the cleaners would be going into an already cleaned home to do this.
A deep clean generally takes a couple of days to complete. In the kitchen all appliances are pulled out and cleaned, all dishes, glasses, pans and cutlery are taken from the cupboards and washed. Inside, outside and on-top of all cabinets are cleaned as well as any knickknacks on display. All draws are cleaned and baseboards are brushed and wiped. In the living room and bedrooms all patio door are washed down and tracks wiped, baseboards are washed and internal doors are wiped down. All fans and light fixing are dusted. All furniture is dusted inside and out any comforters are taken to the dry cleaners (additional dry-cleaning charges are applied). Blinds and curtains are dusted along with any high ledges and knickknacks on display. All plants are washed or dusted, and furniture moved and vacuumed. Windows are cleaned inside. In the bathrooms the shower curtains are washed or replaced, baseboards and inside and outside of cabinets are washed. All bedding, pillows and towels are assessed and replaced where necessary.
Normal Departure clean
Upon guest departure at 11am the cleaners will go into the home to prepare it for the next guest check in time of 4pm. During these 5 hours they will do a basic clean of the home . This includes the washing of all bed linen and towels, making up the beds with fresh bedding, clean bathrooms and kitchen and wipe down services, mop and hoover floors. It does not cover moving of furniture or beds to hoover under, washing of windows, washing of crockery, glass wear or cutlery that is already in the drawers/cupboards. All homes are supplied with Toilet Tissue (1 in each bathroom), toilet strips, small bathroom soaps, trash can liners in all internal rooms, trash liner in kitchen garbage and foil in oven (if required). We also provide 1 roll of kitchen roll, spare toilet roll in each bathroom and 3 spare trash bags.
Pest Control
Our pest control is conducted by a fully licenced pest company. They will spray our homes 3 monthly, should any pest problems occur during this period the pest company will attend the home free of charge to take care of any additional spraying or laying of traps as required. We charge a monthly pest fee to spread the cost equally over the year.
A/C Filter Check
Each month out team will check on the A/C filter in your home and replace when needed. They will vary between 1 month and 3-month filters depending upon occupancy of the home.
Lawn Care
On most development this is provided by the HOA. On the development that do not have a lawn cutting service we will have a contractor take care of this. They will be responsible for basic landscaping and cutting of the lawns when required. In the summer months the lawn is cut more often than in the winter months. Tree trimmer and replacing mulch will be completed when required and is charged on an individual basis.
Monthly Trash Removal Charge
On some developments there is a daily trash service, so the Trash charges does not apply. However, on the developments that only have the county service then after each renter leaves a trash contractor will visit the home and remove the excess trash so that the home is clear for the next renter. Bookings obviously do not always leave on a trash day so this is necessary as the arriving guest will not accept having to dispose of the previous person’s rubbish. If you are renting your home then we charge you a fixed monthly trash removal charge of $15 per month, this means that if you have 0 or 4 renters departing in the month then you are only paying the 1 fee.
Fire Extinguishers
You are required to have a tagged Fire Extinguisher on each floor of your home which must be tested and re-tagged annually. When your home first comes onto management, we will place the required number in your home. Each year around June/July we will arrange for them tested and re-tagged.
Emergency Equipment
You home will require hard wired smoke alarms and emergency lighting which must tested annually. When your home first comes onto management, we will arrange for these to be tested and installed where necessary. Each year around July/August we will arrange for them to be re-tested.
Pool Filters
Pool Filters are required to be changed at least every year if not more frequently, depending on how heavily the pool is used. When guests use the pool, bodily fluids and oils are deposited in the pool, including, sun lotions, oils, skin, sand etc, the function of the pool filter is to filtrate the water and pump it back into the pool, during this process the filter will cling onto this debris. During the weekly pool service, we will wash out the filter. This will wash most of the debris off but over time these oils, hairs, lotions, and bodily fluids will have a detrimental effect on the life span of the filter element.