Friday, October 2, 2009

2010 Rates

We have completed the rates for the 2010 rental season. Due to the economy, we did not raise the rates on any of our properties unless requested by the homeowner. After reviewing the rates of other management companies in the area, we did lower the rates on a few properties to be more competitive. Please click to review your properties rates and if you have any concerns, questions, or would like to change your rates, call or e-mail me at debbie@southerncoastvacations.com.
We will posting the rates on our website for visitors to view mid-late October.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Vacation Linens and Welcome Packs

Our guests and homeowners often inquire what items are included with our linens. Below is a breakdown of linens. The number of each item will change based several factors, number of people in the unit, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and the size of the kitchen.

Bath Towels
Wash Cloths
Bath Mats
Hand Towels
Kitchen Towels
Dish Towels
King set of linens
Queen set of linens
Double set of linens
Twin set of linens
Linen Bag

In addition to linens we like to provide our guests with some basic comforts. We call these items our "Welcome Packs" or "Comfort Packs". They include the following items.

Shampoo
Lotion
Hand Soap
Bath Soap
Toilet tissue
Facial Tissue
Paper Towels
Dish Detergent
Dishwasher Detergent
Laundry Soap
Dryer Sheets

When you see our linen prices be sure to remember the following:
They include our comfort packs.
We have to store all of these items, ask for a tour of our housekeeping area if you are a homeowner, we would love to show you our wall of white. =)
We have to unpack the linen delivery and then repack them for each individual unit.
Finally we transport these linens to your property and deliver them in a professional and timely fashion and set them up for your guests.

We have a professional linen cleaning service that provides us with our clean linens at a standard fee, they also charge a replacement/damage fee of about 10% of the invoice. It is important to note that each our our bed linens are individually wrapped for cleanliness.

If you are not on our rental program but would like some additional information about Southern Coast Vacations and Rentals the please give us a call at 1-800-978-4988 or drop us at stay@southerncoastvacations.com .

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Housekeeping, Linens and Maintenance

One of the primary issues of all rental companies is the handling of extra charges.
It doesn't matter whether you rent long term or vacation, you will at sometime or another have to deal with maintenance problems. With vacation/short-term rentals add housekeeping and linens.

This year Southern Coast Vacations and Rentals completely revamped all three areas. This included completely new procedures as well as new vendors. Now unfortunately it will include new pricing. Before you start groaning, please keep in mind that I have not raised my pricing in years.

I have decided to do a series of articles starting next week on each area and share with you exactly what your getting and what is involved. It is my hope that it will enlighten homeowners and help them understand our costs and how it affects our business, our guests and your property.

Ultimately by communicating procedure, price and our goals, It will help SCV and homeowners provide each other with the means needed to improve your guests stays, our business relationship and maintaining your property to a higher standard. Thereby creating additional revenue. Hooray!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Southern Coast Van

Southern Coast has added a new vehicle to better serve your needs.
Our new van will be primarily used for maintenance. Having a complete inventory of our supplies on hand will help complete our work orders faster and better serve your tenants.

Not to mention we love the additional advertising!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Southern Coast Update.

Changed some of the clip art on the front of the website. Using life style pictures instead.

Long Term Update: Added Long Term Image and link on main page.

Long Term homeowners should consider lowering their rental rates if their property is currently unoccupied. Contact Marie or myself to discuss if we have not talked to you in the past 30 days.

Vacation Update: More and more last minute bookings are coming in. Many guests booking about 8 to 10 days out.

Freestyle Music Park is doing some great marketing. Hearing great news about the new management.

North Myrtle Beach has a new slide on the beach at the end of main street. Many guests are enjoying it.

Linked Managers Specials to a new discount program. Offering up to a 50% discount for arrivals coming in within 48 hours. Contact Debbie for information or to have your unit listed.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Vacation Homeowners and Vacant Long Term Homeowners

Southern Coast Vacations and Rentals is asking for your help. Due to the wildfire, thousands of Horry County residents have been asked to vacate their property. Many of them are my personal friends and they have had to leave their homes until the wildfire is contained.

I am asking you to donate your property to these residents for a few days until we can move them home. Southern Coast Vacations will donate all the linens and towels. The staff and I will donate our time and personally clean your unit. We appreciate your generosity during this tough time.

Please call our office or email us at stay@southerncoastvacations.com and let us know if you are able to donate a few days.

Several of you have already opened your second homes to our community and we really appreciate it. Please keep all of our evacuees in your thoughts and prayers.

Barefoot Resort/Highway 90 Homeowners

If you are a homeowner at Barefoot Resort or at a development on Highway 90 and have questions concerning the brush fire please feel free to call the Southern Coast office at 1-800-978-4988. Currently the area from Highway 22 to the new Main Street Connector is being evacuated. This includes the Barefoot Resort area. We are currently calling all tenants in these areas to offer assistance. We will post updates as new information is released. We will contact the homeowners of any properties that have fire or smoke damage.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Property Business Licenses

Property Business Licenses:

All vacation property owners are required to have a business license to rent out their property on a weekly or monthly basis. Depending on where your property is located determines the amount of the fees and when they are due. All fees are based upon the previous year’s gross rental income or if you have not rented for a full year, the amount is based upon an estimate of your gross rentals for the upcoming full year.

As a service to you, Southern Coast Vacations will file the application and pay the fees upfront for you and bill your statement accordingly.

The City of North Myrtle Beach is now in the process of mailing all owners the applications or fees at this time. The license must be renewed prior to April 30th to avoid any late fees.

The City of Myrtle Beach mails out their renewals in May and the fees are due by June 30th.

If you have already taken care of your business license fees or wish to pay them directly, please contact our accounting office at 843-663-6063 or email me at peggy@southerncoastvacations.com so that we will take you off our list. If we do not hear from you we will go ahead and file the paperwork and bill accordingly.

Peggy Rotterman
Property Manager

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Long Term Owner Direct Deposits

Long Term Property Homeowners:

We are happy to announce that we have initiated the process of direct deposit of your rental check. Your first direct deposit was made on February 4, 2009.

Because this is the first direct deposit, we ask that you please check your account to make sure that the funds were deposited correctly. Please be patient as we work through the set-up processes. Any future checks will be deposited to your account on the 1st of the month.

Your statement will show a check number that is coded for our office. This will enable us to know that the funds were direct deposited into your account.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to call our office at 843-663-6063 or you may email me at peggy@southerncoastvacations.com

Sincerely,

Peggy Rotterman
Property Manager
Southern Coast Vacations

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Updates and Improvements

During the winter months many vacation homeowners have been in town updating and adding to their properties to get them ready for the upcoming rental season. Please let Southern Coast Vacations know when you have made changes so that we can update the website and help make your property even more attractive to potential guests.
We recently sent out e-mails to vacation homeowners on phone service in your properties. Although we do not require a phone, due to liablility purposes, we do have to list under the amenities for each property if phone service is provided. Thank you to everyone that has already replied to us.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Rental Update Jan 2009

I want to share with you my feelings about this year. I am very optimistic about 2009. Both our long term and vacation programs are extremely active for the first 3 weeks of January.

Vacation Rentals: Gas prices are still extremely low, we have a new president, and people are getting their tax checks in. Hopefully this trend will continue we will get some of those peak vacation weeks booked earlier this year. Our number of reservations and total rents are up, so the staff and I are pumped and ready to answer the phones and make some reservations.

Longterm Rentals: In January we have already shown over 80 long term properties and our lease signings are up. Lots of walk in traffic coming in to see properties. Most have found us through the internet. Many tenants have been renewing leases though they have been negotiating lower rents. This is normal, due to the heavy surplus of long term rentals along the Grand Strand. The current mortgage crisis has definitely increased our long term leases.

In 2009 we will putting more of our advertising budget into the internet. Also we have a billboard going up soon right on Hwy 17. I am very excited about it.