Pricing is a vital yet tricky aspect of managing a holiday let. Set your prices too high and you can deter guests from booking. Go too low and you’ll be missing out on income – and potentially underselling the quality of your property.
So, how should you price a holiday let? Decisions about pricing can depend on numerous factors, and it’s important to get that final call right. Read on as we discuss how to price a holiday let with seven key considerations to keep in mind.
1. Location
We’ve all heard the saying that “location, location, location” matters most when you’re buying a house. That’s just as true for holiday homes. Owners have the ability to change some of the other aspects of their rental house. You can increase a property’s value by redecorating, for example. But location can never be changed, and it can have a massive impact on the appeal of your holiday house.
Here are some details about location that can be particularly enticing to guests:
- Proximity to London
- Distance to a beach
- Waterside views, including views of lakes or rivers as well as the sea
- For chocolate box village cottages, proximity to village features like pubs
- Peaceful, remote locations or locations in forests.
As you can see, a drawback in location for some guests might be desirable to others. In particular, both quiet and busy places can be enjoyable for different guests. So, be sure to really highlight the charm of your location in your marketing, and be sure you’ve identified the correct audience for your property.
If your house’s best feature is its private fishing spot, perhaps it’s not best portrayed as a party house. But to families who want a quiet getaway together, it’s perfect. If you market your house that way and highlight its value, you’ll be able to price it appropriately.
2. Time of year
Holiday house prices should never be static. They can vary widely depending on the time of year and the type of property. A house in Wales near a popular event like the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod will be priced higher during the event. Likewise, beachfront properties are typically priced higher in the summertime.
It can be hard to know exactly how to price a holiday let based on how rental costs usually fluctuate in a particular region. You can do a lot of research yourself or work with experienced holiday property managers who know all the ins and outs already.
Keep in mind that you can also take action to make your property more valuable at certain times of the year. For example, if you decorate your house beautifully for Christmas, you can advertise it as the perfect spot for a Christmas getaway.
On the flip side, you might also decide that your seasonal holiday home just isn’t profitable in the off-season, so you could close bookings and find another use for the property during that period.
3. Size
The scale of your property also has a huge effect on its price and your target market. A mansion will naturally have higher rental rates than a little cottage.
What details matter here? The number of bedrooms is a major one, but it’s not the only thing to keep in mind. Consider the size of the living spaces too:
- Are they large enough for everyone at a big family reunion to gather together?
- Does your house have a sizeable kitchen, or even two kitchens, that make catering for a party of 40+ attendees easy?
- How about the size of the grounds? More acres can mean more value to guests who want to walk in nature or bring dogs.
It goes without saying that the size of your holiday home also affects your costs, which we’ll cover briefly below…
4. Your costs
While holiday houses can be profitable, they also require your own financial input. You’ll have all the costs associated with your own residence, like heating and maintenance, as well as additional costs like cleaning and laundry in between each guest.
So, when you’re deciding how to price a holiday let, you’ll have to decide what price points are necessary to offset your costs. What complicates the issue is that some aspects of homes that attract guests, such as log fireplaces, also bring their own expenses. You’ll need to decide whether these attractive elements pay for themselves or not.
5. Features
That brings us to another crucial consideration – your rental home’s features. Some amenities in holiday homes are so special and exciting to guests that they can significantly affect bookings and rates. For example, many guests love:
- Swimming pools, especially heated ones
- Hot tubs
- Home gyms
- Cinema rooms
- Games rooms
- Tennis courts
As always, you should consider your target audience when thinking about the features of your home and what you might add. For example, a dedicated party house could have more appeal and value with party-appropriate decor like colourful LED lights.
6. Other special aspects
In addition to amenities, some homes simply have luxurious, unusual or original qualities that make them particularly cool and attractive to guests. For example, there’s something unique about a house constructed from a converted priory. And you won’t find that many holiday houses built in a genuine Napoleonic-era fortress.
These unique aspects truly help guests make memories for a lifetime, so it’s no wonder they can add value to your home.
7. Comparable locations nearby
We’ve already mentioned that holiday home owners may want to research holiday home rental prices in their area. In fact, that’s a crucial part of deciding how to price a holiday let.
If your home is in an area with lots of comparable holiday houses, you might have to lower prices to be competitive – or add special features to make your house stand out. That’s why it’s so important to know what the market in your home’s location is like.
Work with kate & tom’s to make holiday letting easy
Rather than dedicating endless hours to market research and watching how prices shift in your area, why not work with experts who’ll take care of it?
As experienced property managers, kate & tom’s know exactly how to price a holiday let based on location, season and other essential details. We’re also specialists in letting luxury and unique holiday homes, so we know how to showcase your house’s appeal and truly let it shine in advertising and marketing.
In fact, kate & tom’s are dedicated to making holiday rentals easy for holiday house owners. Let us take care of the details from start to finish.
How does partnering with kate & tom’s work? If you’re curious, we’d love to chat with you. Just get in touch with us at [email protected].
