D.I.Y. Letting vs. Sykes Cottages: 9 Reasons to Let with Us

Whether you are just starting out on your holiday rental venture, or you are a seasoned pro who may be struggling with the hassle and stress of a D.I.Y. holiday letting, we have put together our top 9 reasons why you should let with Sykes Cottages.

We strive to put your second home first to help maximise the return on your investment.

1. You can be as hands on or hands off as you like

D.I.Y. holiday letting can be a time-consuming, potentially stressful venture, which includes managing all changeovers, greeting guests and cleaning your property.

At Sykes, we can take as much or as little of this off your hands so you can stay in control, whilst also aiming to offer a hassle-free holiday letting experience. Read through the pros and cons of using a holiday let management company to help decide how you’re going to run your holiday home.Our managed services options offer trusted help with cleaning, gardening and general maintenance so you can take a welcomed step back if you prefer.

2. We can deal with all customer queries directly

Dealing with all customer queries and complaints yourself can be a real pain point of D.I.Y. letting, with calls and messages taking over your life by coming through at all times of the day and night. This is part of our pledge to put your second home first, allowing you time to focus on earning more from your holiday let.

Sykes Cottages has a 24/7 Emergency Helpline for guests to call with any queries or questions, leaving you to enjoy your weekend in peace, but also keeping guests happy and satisfied with their stay.

3. You can benefit from our market-leading pricing systems

Pricing your property can be a difficult decision to make, with a lot of research going into making sure you are able to get as many bookings as possible, whilst also securing a healthy amount of revenue. It can also be very challenging to keep up with the ever-changing market, as well as staying informed with the demand in your area.

This is where the success and knowledge of Sykes is really beneficial. Our market-leading pricing systems looks at your property's features and location, along with the time of year and the general demand in the area. Our optional Income Maximisation schemes give our revenue management team the flexibility to adapt your pricing to reflect demand, and in turn, make our owners more money!

4. We can have your property live in 7 days

Whilst D.I.Y. lettings allow you to have your property live and ready for bookings within 24 hours, it doesn't take too much longer to get it live with Sykes. In those 7 days, your property will have brushed the hands of our pricing, marketing, and travel expert teams, putting them in the best possible position to secure bookings from day one.

5. We provide a dedicated Account Manager from our New Owner Support Team

As a D.I.Y. holiday letter, it can be daunting when you first go live and start getting your first few bookings. This is why our dedicated New Owner Support team are on hand to help you.

Questions and queries that you had never thought of will start popping up, and it can be very difficult to find the answers when you may not have much experience in the industry. As a new owner at Sykes Holiday Cottages, you will be assigned a dedicated Account Manager from our New Owner Team, who will be on-hand to answer any of these burning questions and give you any handy hints and tips to make your holiday rental a long-term success. Have confidence in your trusted experts to be there for you whenever you need us.

6. Make the most of our 100+ member strong Marketing team

Marketing a holiday rental as a D.I.Y. lettor can be an expensive and time-consuming task, with little return on investment. Turn to the experience and proven success that Sykes have had to give you a helping hand.

The Sykes Cottages marketing team is made up of experts in TV, radio, social media, email, paid advertising and free search, ensuring your property gets as much exposure as possible from each individual channel.

7. We can advertise your property using our worldwide network of over 700 partners

Here at Sykes, we have a portfolio of partnerships with a variety of third-party sites such as Homeaway, TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Airbnb to ensure your property gets exposure all across the world.

For those D.I.Y letting, an additional cost could be incurred as some third-party sites are commission-based, while others work on a subscription-based service. With Sykes, however, you won't pay a penny!

8. You can benefit from professional photography at NO extra cost

As both a customer and an owner, we know the images of a property can make or break a decision to book a holiday cottage.

Rather than trying to achieve high-quality, professional standard photographs using your smartphone, Sykes Cottages offers professional photography for our owners free of charge. Our photography experts know exactly how to get your property photo shoot ready, to ensure it is shown in the best possible light to all our customers.

9. We have professional property description writers in-house

While images are important to showcase the aesthetics of your property, the description is also crucial.

Not only does this provide the customer with detailed, accurate information that may not be present in the images, but also ensures it is optimised for search engines.

This is something that could be a particularly time-consuming task for a D.I.Y. letter, whereas at Sykes, we can take this off your hands to help make signing up a simple and hassle-free journey.