Why advertise on WinterInAlgarve?
You pay NO COMMISSION, you are in CONTACT DIRECTLY with the possible customer (so you can negotiate) and the PAYMENTS go DIRECTLY TO YOU.
You just pay a small annual fee. Thats it. NO OTHER COSTS.
You will get reactions from a different type of client. Not someone that is looking for two or three weeks, but for two to five MONTHS. The traditional big holiday homes websites don´t know how to do this.
How is Winter rental different from Summer rental?
We suggest that home owners do treat winter guests different from summer guests, because of some simple reasons:
> Winter guests are usually couples over 50/60 years old, that take very good care of their "winter holiday home".
> Winter guests are most of the time just the two of them. They like to rent a bigger house just so that children and grandchildren can come and stay for a week or so. But most of the time there will be there just the two of them in a maybe large house. And when the kids and grandchildren stay with them, they will behave like they should in their grandparents house: good.
> Winter guests stay long, many stay 3-6 months, and as soon as they are accostumed to the house they will require little or no attention.
> Winter guests are calm, they read books instead of going partying. They don't do anything foolish.
> A house that is occupied in winter stays in much better condition than a house that is empty for 5 or 6 months.
Calculate the other way around!
Do not set a high price per week and then give discounts for longer stays. Do it the other way around! Ask a low price for stays of 3 - 6 months and ask a surcharge for shorter stays. In the price field "weekly price" mention your lowest price and mention in the explanation that the price is valid for stays of x months and longer.
Negotiate?
The price is not the only thing you can negotiate! You can try to have the dates be more convenient to you (many winter guests are flexible), you can ask guests to do their own cleaning, you can ask guests to maintain the garden, you can ask them to wash their own sheets and towels, and obviously you can ask them to pay the actual use of electricity, water and gas. Many of them might be interested in doing that if that brings them a better price. And you as home owner do not run the risk of guests spending a fortune on electricity.
Is it difficult to advertise on this website?
We tried to make it as easy as possible. Creating the advertisement takes you less than 10 minutes, though we do suggest you take some extra time to write a good and detailed description. Also don't forget to add photos, to get a feel of a house, the photos are as important as the description.
What does advertising on this website cost?
You can create a usercode and an advertisement for free.
Publishing your advertisement for 12 months costs €79 including 23% IVA (tax).
Special promotion: 24 months subscription €119! Also including 23% IVA (tax).
There are no other costs and NO commissions. Customers contact you straight using the contact button.
You are also allowed to add your phone number or email details to the advertisement text.
Note: after payment you will receive an invoice in your name and fiscal number (NIF) which allows you/your accountant to set off the IVA (tax) against tax payable from your rentals.
Note also: these price were calculated with a regular winter home for rent. If your object is different (multiple units, tourist service, et cetera) a different price might be appliccable. Contact us for details.
I have more than one winter home for rent, what are my options?
General: we try to keep the site as interesting as possible for the guests that are browsing. That is in everybodies interest. So every pin on the map of the homepage should have a place for rent, and present an interesting place to the (potential) customer.
> If your winter homes are all in the same place (like for example an apartment building) and are all more or less the same, then it is OK if you create one advertisement and mention you have several winter homes for rent. Pls note that in this situation a different price might be appliccable, please contact us.
> If you have several winter homes in different places, we invite you to create an advertisement for each winter home. We have special discounts for this situation so please contact us.
> If you are an agency or other service with an own website that you would like to advertise, then please contact us about the possibilities of placing a banner on our site.
What does a winter rental agreement look like?
Base price: We suggest to agree on a base price per month or per week, just for the rental, just for an occupation of only two persons. That base price should be at its lowest for the longest term rental that the home owner is looking for. If the rental is shorter, it is fair that the home owner asks a surcharge. But of course this depends very much how the desired period fits in the agenda of the house. The flexibility of a winter guest can be very useful for a home owner, even if its about arriving a few days earlier or later. So just talk between the two of you and see what is the best period for the both of you.
Consumables: We suggest that Electricity, Water and Gas are charged separately. This way the winter guest may even save some money (compared to staying home) and the home owner does not run the risk of an unexpected heavy user.
Linen: The use of linen can be included in the base price, or a surcharge can be agreed. Some home owners agree with their guests that they wash the towels and sheets (except for the last used set) upon departure. Winter guests usually do not mind at all to wash as they will need to wash their clothes anyway. This makes things easier for the home owner. Of course the house needs to have a washing machine for this to work.
WiFi: In many houses it is available anyway all year and will be part of the base price, but there are situations in which WiFi is contracted per month. In these situations a surcharge makes sense, so that the winter guest has the option to use it or not.
Extra guests: some home owners might ask a surcharge for having guests staying at the house, if the base price was agreed assuming an occupation of two.
Cleaning: it may be possible to contract a regular cleaning service (at a surcharge) but many winter guests opt for doing their cleaning themselves, thus saving some money and not have the hassle of the cleaners invading the house.
What are the usual costs of electricity, water and gas?
Electricity and water are usually charged based on the meter, gas is usually charged at a fixed price per person per week/month, or it is agreed that you simply buy a new bottle of gas once the old one is empty.
Electricity costs on average about €0.23/KwH (prices can vary a bit depending on the provider). This is a bit more expensive than in the UK, about the same as in The Netherlands, and cheaper than in Germany.
Water is in general more expensive than in the north of Europe, partly because the water bill includes charges for waste discharge (which in other countries often is being charged separately). Costs vary per county and can also be different depending on the month (because heavier use is more expensive). Nett all inclusive price per m3 can be anything between €2 and €6.
Remember that in a warmer climate you will save on heating, so very likely you will spend less on these consumables than you would at home.
Help and details on how to describe your property.
In order to enhance your potencial customers' experience while finding the correct place for their holidays, you should consider the following steps:
Select an appropiate name for your property.
In the Category field, select the type of property you will be advertising: a townhouse, a villa or an apartment. Then select the general location (West, Central or East Algarve).
Address: you can input the address of your property. This will show your house in a map. You can also use coordinates in the following formats:
Degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS): 41°24'12.2"N 2°10'26.5"E
Degrees and decimal minutes (DMM): 41 24.2028, 2 10.4418
Decimal degrees (DD): 41.40338, 2.17403
Description: this is one of the most important fields. Make sure to describe as much as possible your property, detailing the major attributes (for example main bedroom with double bed, small single bedroom with wardrobe, bathroom with shower, etc.).
The images are to show what you described in the previous field. You can upload .gif, .jpeg or .jpg images. Remember that images sometimes can tell a lot more than words, so choose your images carefully.
You can add your telephone number in case you want to be contacted by phone (make sure to add the international code for your country).
The field Languages is for you to put which languages are spoken by the owner or by the person who will be there to welcome a customer.
Are pets allowed in your property? Just say Yes or No.
Indicate the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
If you have a TV in your property, make sure to add the channels received as well as the languages on which the channels are.
Indicate if you have WiFi in the property. Make sure to select the adequate option depending if the WiFi is available on all the property or just in the public areas.
Also indicate if the property has a pool, whether is private or shared.
When answering the Heating question, just select if the property has heating or not, and then put the type of heating (for example: fireplaces, central heating, etc.).
Please put the price. We recommend you use a price per week. Be sure to note the currency.
Also make sure to note any additional costs that might be incurred (for example cleaning) and any other important details on the price.
Indicate if you have a minimum stay for renting your property. For example: two weeks, one month, etc.
The fields labelled "Availability" are to help the potential client know on which weeks and/or months your property might be available. Be as detailed as possible.
The field labelled "Distance to services" are for you to indicate what is the distance (whether in walking minutes or in meters/km) to the nearby attractions and/or restaurants and/or supermarkets. Customers will want to know what is near.
Be sure to read our Terms of Service before publishing a new advertisement.
Using coordinates in the address field.
You can use coordinates to show your property in the map. Make sure to use the recognised formats:
Degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS): 41°24'12.2"N 2°10'26.5"E
Degrees and decimal minutes (DMM): 41 24.2028, 2 10.4418
Decimal degrees (DD): 41.40338, 2.17403
You can use a converter to get the right format.
If you want to know more about Google Maps click here.