1st let this week!! I am like a worried parent

[Goldixpcx]

Well last Saturday saw the arrival of our 1st let! Really nervous about letting it out as we just love it so much terrified of anything being done to damage it! Seemed like a nice couple but was really horrible driving away leaving someone else in it they didn't arrive til 5 so we were pacing for about 3 hours til they arrived! Typical the weather has gone crap now so the heating will prob be on quite a lot something I was hoping to avoid by not letting til this time of year but can't be helped.

I suppose we will get used to it over time, I hope so! the money was certainly useful, paid for the new mattress and bench, just wish we were rich so we didn't have to let at all but the fees and expenses have to be covered so just got to get on with it. Will be a nervous wreck arriving next Saturday hoping its ok we spent hours making it all perfect so it was nice when they arrived and will have to do it all again this weekend :rolleyes: but they did ask where the hoover was so that was a good sign and my OH was into the cleaning more than me he never shows that interest at home!!!! :rolleyes: :D

Just wondered how many other people rent, cos they have to or just want to? and does it bother you at all or would you rather not???

[Macarw]

Just looked at your webpage and your caravan is really lovely - I'm not surprised you don't want to let it!!

We let ours to cover the costs whist we are living abroad, and are hoping to use it more ourselves when we get back to the UK, but will probably still rent it to offset the cost of keeping it on the site.

[Goldixpcx]

Thanks for your nice comment. Have to say whoever had it previous to us had kept it really well it was almost like new so we will try and do the same. It looked like that on Saturday morning but doesn't look quite so tidy when we are all in it lol ;)

At least ours being 2 years old had already had people in it so has a few minor signs of wear and tear so we dont have to be quite so precious I have no idea how people that have brand new ones can let them out I dont think I could :eek:

[keira]

hi gold yes your van is lovely same year as mine i think we,ve been lucky up to now that we have,nt had to let it out i too cant bear the thought but its really hard on our finances dont know how long we can keep it up hope they,l respect it for you

keira x

[fontaine]

hi
i rent a van out in uk and also one on a site near paris
you get used to letting it out and it works well for us as the vans then become sort of self sustaining as the rent pays for site fees etc
i was like you when i started but you become hardened to it and the vast majority of people respect your property
if there is any damage then that is what insurance is for
just make sure you insurance covers for subletting
fingers crossed in 6 years of letting we have had no major damage
just the odd plate or cup
on the whole it is well worth it and i fully reccomend it
also if you can insist on a deposit of around 50 pounds for damage deposit
if there is no damage on leaving they get the money back
hope this helps

[keira]

do you make a profit out of subletting or do you just get a few free weeks yourselves

[ambriel]

We're hoping to have our first letting guests in the 'van in a few weeks time so will be in a similar situation to you. We're on the west coast in Kinlochbervie.

[keira]

Thanks for your nice comment. Have to say whoever had it previous to us had kept it really well it was almost like new so we will try and do the same. It looked like that on Saturday morning but doesn't look quite so tidy when we are all in it lol ;)

At least ours being 2 years old had already had people in it so has a few minor signs of wear and tear so we dont have to be quite so precious I have no idea how people that have brand new ones can let them out I dont think I could :eek:

dont you just love it when you first enter your van and leave it looks so nice and tidy :D

[Goldixpcx]

dont you just love it when you first enter your van and leave it looks so nice and tidy :D

Lol it is great! :D

you sound a bit like me!! :D I always spend at least an hour or so hoovering, wiping everything down, cleaning the bathroom and making sure the beds are all neat for when you go back the following week, you are right its the best feeling when you open the door and its all spotless......not like the house when you spend all day cleaning and within an hour its a mess again :rolleyes:

[Goldixpcx]

We're hoping to have our first letting guests in the 'van in a few weeks time so will be in a similar situation to you. We're on the west coast in Kinlochbervie.

We stayed on a site near you called Clachtoll a couple of years when we had our tourer. Lovely area but we had rubbish weather for August and the road to the site was a nitemare I think thats what made my OH decide he would never tow again lol

[fontaine]

some years we make a small profit other years we break even, but either way everything gets paid up for the next year

[ambriel]

We stayed on a site near you called Clachtoll a couple of years when we had our tourer. Lovely area but we had rubbish weather for August and the road to the site was a nitemare I think thats what made my OH decide he would never tow again lol

Near Lochinver? I know the road and it's not the easiest, especially if you meet something coming the other way.

West coast weather, eh? You can have all four seasons in one day, sometimes.

[Goldixpcx]

Near Lochinver? I know the road and it's not the easiest, especially if you meet something coming the other way.

West coast weather, eh? You can have all four seasons in one day, sometimes.

Yes thats it, we were travelling with My mum and Dad and their motorhome so juggling the 2 vehicles I swear I though my OH was on the verge of a nervours breakdown lol beautiful veiws though!

was a lovely spot but they pitched us right next to the toilet block and we were there for a week which wasn't great. Think it was more set up for the tenting outdoors types we weren't hardy enough lol the 1st day we put up the awning then got no sleep for fear of it blowing away in the night so took it all down again the next day! We did venture to Ullapool and that was nice and I bought some handmade pottery in a little shop that was in a little place that I don't remember the name of it was a little shop and tea room in the middle of knowhere.The weather was terrible, gale force winds and lashing rain for 5 out of the 7 days and we though we would be safe booking for August! we dont get it quite so bad on the East coast :D

[Goldixpcx]

Well just a quick update on the dreaded 1st let! all the worry was for nothing! arrived on Saturday and it was spotless they had hoovered and cleaned everywhere all I did was change the bed and wipe down the toilet!

Has to be the easiest £300 I have ever earned :D even better they want to come back later in the year which is great as its aother week I can now let out worry free!

Been a fab weekend weather has been beautiful has everyone else been in their vans enjoying the weather??????? :D

[keira]

:)hiya gold yes love we had a lovely weekend we love car booting as well so its been smashing

[Goldixpcx]

:)hiya gold yes love we had a lovely weekend we love car booting as well so its been smashing

Hi Keira, we love car booting aswell love the feeling of anticipation when you get there cos you never know what your going to find! Only good thing about letting the van out is cos we are home on a Sunday we can go to a huge bootsale about 40 mins away takes us 3 hours just to get round it when the weather is good!! :D

[Goldixpcx]

Off to the caravan to get it all ready for our 2nd next let hope they are good as the first lot of people. Still need a few more bookings for the high summer was hoping there would be a few more by now. I get people email me "Is it available for such and such a week" I answer yes and then never hear from them again grrrrrr :rolleyes:

[JillyJane]

Off to the caravan to get it all ready for our 2nd next let hope they are good as the first lot of people. Still need a few more bookings for the high summer was hoping there would be a few more by now. I get people email me "Is it available for such and such a week" I answer yes and then never hear from them again grrrrrr :rolleyes:

I agree, there are a lot of time wasters out there! but, hey ho, onward we go.
I let my mothers home out during the season, it was bought for her own use, but due to failing health, she hardly used it. So, I decided to hire it out. It's in a beautiful location and a nice quite site. You will find Goldixpcx that you will have a lot of guests that re book:) I also think the key thing is not to over charge.

[keira]

hi gold an jilly good luck with your letting never had to do it yet but you never know i too would get very vexed if nobody got back to me :mad:

[Goldixpcx]

Just thought I would do an update on the letting! had 5 so far and one more to come and fingers crossed they have all been good. The van has been clean and tidy everytime and apart from a lost keyring and a broken bathroom cabinet catch we have had no problems. The 2nd lot of people could stay everyweek she was a cleaner and it was immaculate lol really hoping they come again next year!

The only gripe if there was any would be the timing. I wish people would arrive roughly about when the say they will. Most have been ok but this week they were supposed to arrive between 3-4 and we have been there all week so it needed a really good clean right through so we spent pretty much most of the day getting it all ready for 3 and she texted at 4.30pm to say they had stopped off at some outdoor centre and they eventually arrived at 6.30pm She was really nice and at the end of the day they are paying so couldn't be funny about it but they forget its all cleaned ready so we didn't want to go back in and mess it up so we had the car packed to the rafters, 1 daughter, 2 dogs and a stroppy OH sitting around for over 3 hours! not great! :rolleyes:

So all in all letting is a def bonus we have made around £1900 by letting for just 6 weeks which has covered all our fees and it leaves us free to use for the rest of the year knowing its costing us nothing!! :D (well apart from the insurance but covered that somewhere else lol! ;) ) Can't say I 'love' doing it and in an ideal world I prob wouldn't but it really is a lot of money for not really doing much and its a nice feeling when people walk in and say how lovely it is lol :D

[fosters ice]

yeh we put a deposit on a caravan in cornwall 3 weeks ago and yesterday we paid in full and will be up and running for the 23rd of august, so once we have had the van handed over to us the week after the van will be on there guaranteed letting service for the rest of this season but as its more or less over we are not really expecting too much but will see how it goes.

graham
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[JillyJane]

Glad to hear your letting is going well :) It's wonderful when people take so much care of your property isn't it:) I must say there has never been a time that the van my mother has, has been left in a total mess.
You will find that most guests will return year after year, not only that, what we have found is, it's all spread by word of mouth.

It is very lovely to know so many have enjoyed there stay and of course the perfect weather we have been having makes it brill.
The majority of the time when guests leave, usually before 10 to beat the traffic. It is quite heart warming to walk in and find a little something they have left as a gift, as a 'Thank You'

[Goldixpcx]

Well we have just taken our last 2 bookings for the year, insurance needed renewed and we need a new gas bottle lol decided to stop then as school hols are over now up here so we will only get weekends ourselves so decided we dont want to give up any more time. We have done 8 weeks which have been really not much impact on our use and its covered all the expenses which has worked out really well will def be doing it again next year almost feels like money for nothing!! we could have made a fortune over the summer we had so many enquiries but we have spent a month on and off in it ourselves which after all was why we bought it!! :D and have had a fabulous summer really didn't want to come home yesterday!

We did get a plant left by the last people which was really nice everyone we have had stay has been lovely hope they all rebook for next year :D

[Goldixpcx]

YAY no more lets! just had 2 back to back which means a one night stopover which feels like you've been cheated when the weather is so great lol but just wanted to get them done out the way so we can stick all our stuff back in and not have to keep taking it out!

So last week was our last let of the season. We ended up doing 8 weeks between May and the beginning of September and 4 of those were either 5/6 nights so we actually still got to use it at the weekends we only let 2 summer holiday weeks so had a month of it for ourselves which was great. We made about £2700 which covered all the fees insurance a couple of gas bottles and a new mattress which is great! will def be doing it again next year apart from the cleaning it really wasnt hard. :)

[Aaron]

YAY no more lets! just had 2 back to back which means a one night stopover which feels like you've been cheated when the weather is so great lol but just wanted to get them done out the way so we can stick all our stuff back in and not have to keep taking it out!

So last week was our last let of the season. We ended up doing 8 weeks between May and the beginning of September and 4 of those were either 5/6 nights so we actually still got to use it at the weekends we only let 2 summer holiday weeks so had a month of it for ourselves which was great. We made about £2700 which covered all the fees insurance a couple of gas bottles and a new mattress which is great! will def be doing it again next year apart from the cleaning it really wasnt hard. :)

well done on getting that money, least you know that you get some money from it and to pay for cleaning it, lol.
and the fact it paid for purchases, nice :D