help with house rental

[Joanna 8]

we live in UK and own a small town house in the 'centro storico' part of loreto aprutino. Having taken 4 years to refurbish the property we would like to rent it out as a holiday let. We are having some problem however finding anyone who is able to carry out 'weekly changeovers' / act as contact etc.. We feel we can't be alone in needing such a service, does anyone have any suggestions
Jo

[adriatica]

these people used to be quite active on here and were very helpful... hopefully still in business and if you contact them they most probably even if they cannot help directley will know someone that can

Italy Magazine Forums - View Profile: Britaly

mailto:britalyproperty@msn.com

they are based in the town you mention by the way ... and have heard that they are both friendly and reliable

[Sally Donaldson]

Being in the centre of a small town and for four years then I would think that there must surely be a suitable, trustworthy neighbour who would be glad of the extra income. Just ask around. Also I suggest finding a handyman. Things are likely to get broken I imagine.

[Joanna 8]

We have had several 'false dawns', where we thought something had been put in place (the type you describe) but nothing that fulfilled all the requirements, in short the complete changeover package. Thanks anyway.

[sandwichlush]

hi would try britaly on abruzzolutely
have met him and he is a very nice guy and iam sure if he couldnt help you directly would point you in the right direction.
we are about 25 mins from loreto and could possibly help if you are totally stuck.
i used to stay in loreto while renovating my house and also have a contact called claudio,who could possibly help.
my mobile is 07969450430
simon
sandwich

[Sally Donaldson]

Simon Hi. Not a good idea to post your telephone number on a Public Forum.

[Britaly]

Thanks all very much for the recommendations. Very much still in business, relying on word of mouth and reliability.

Joanna8 I've replied to your email, so hopefully I can be off assitance in the future.

Thanks again all

[Britaly]

Originally Posted by Sally Donaldson

Being in the centre of a small town and for four years then I would think that there must surely be a suitable, trustworthy neighbour who would be glad of the extra income. Just ask around. Also I suggest finding a handyman. Things are likely to get broken I imagine.

I think if you can find a suitable neighbour then great.

However we get so many calls particulary over the Easter and Summer periods with holiday home owners asking/pleading with us to help them out as a matter of urgency as they have been let down by a friend or a neighbour who promised to help them and need a changeover within 2 hours!!!

When we inform them we are unable to help due to our existing workload on that day, we get offered silly money to help them out, when we say we are sorry, but really cannot help on this occassion they scream at us.............

Obviously I am biased, but think it pays to employ someome who you know won't be popping to the shops or attending a family get together when you need a changeover.

[adriatica]

just to add my agreement... with the above post...we used to help out neighbours in our village...Italians that is that wanted to rent out their properties... as a gesture of good will... should add not for money... we soon gave up... not only did the Italians harangue us if the people renting did not leave it clean... every time there was a tiny problem of any sort we ended up getting an earful.... i would say unless you are very patient and dedicated this is one of the hardest jobs there is.... final straw was when a family from essex moved away without settling the bills for months afterwards we had them dropped into our house to go and act as debt collectors...

we also had a rental of our own... and would say 50 per cent of people that stayed were excellent, easy, and most of all respectful... to my mind we didn't charge an awful lot for the place as we hadn't really restored it for that purpose more for family visiting... what used to annoy us the most i guess is waiting until mid night for some idiot to turn up that had decided after landing at pescara to take a scenic route or do some other excursion and got lost... should have been a 40 minute journey... others who arrived with no food and then knocked on our door to borrow wine ... after they had drunk the bottle left for them... because they hadn't bothered thinking of doing any shopping... needless to say we sort of gave up doing rentals and just had the people we knew that had been OK come back... the others that wanted to we just explained we had friends staying...

so to my mind it would be an imposition on a neighbour who might offer freely to do something before like us they knew the implications ...and pretty soon they would be swearing about what they had got into and even if paying them...it wouldn't be enough... like a lot of things its better to get a professional... they just have to cut their losses, not their friendship, and save willing and friendly neighbours for real emergencies

[stefanaccio]

strongly agree with Giovanni above, this is not for the faint of heart. i am fortunate in that my house is in a small village (thus making access more convenient), there is a very nice guy with a small store who is there most of the day and who helps me with the management (the paid "quarterback" who greets people, takes care of small problems, etc), have two cousins in the village who are an electrician and a plumber. bottom line is that you are going to need support(s) to make this happen. the more the better. if there was a company that could provide these services at a reasonable price i would probably look into having it done professionally.