This addendum is intended to provide clarity to all ways in which Bryant Real Estate collects revenue from property management vacation rental services; however, revenue collection does not necessarily mean that the company makes profit from said collection.
Definitions:
- Revenue is defined as income or monies we receive directly. This amount is before any expenses are taken into consideration. This addendum will attempt to reflect all revenue sources, regardless of profit.
- Gross rents are defined as the rental amount on the tenants’ leases.
- Rent is defined as the amount on the tenants’ lease before the group with rent fees are added in. Only this amount is commissionable, as the fees are not.
Revenue Sources:
1) Management commission fees (gross monthly, weekly, and daily rentals): These are the percentages reflected in your Property Management Agreement section 5 and apply only to rent.
2) Gross service charges: This is a percentage charged for various services that we provide on additional revenue items we seek from the tenant on your behalf. Examples include but are not limited to pet fees, event fees, early check-in fees (6 hours), late check-out fees (6 hours), etc. These items require additional work from our staff to facilitate their sale and servicing. As new revenue streams become available, we will continue to facilitate additional earnings on your behalf. All fees will be a set percentage up to a maximum of 40% from what the tenant is charged and will be indicated on your periodic owner statements.
- Pet fees were $150 per animal on short stays, $300 for long stays but will move to $200 and $400, respectively, on any new fees added. For violations of our pet policy (i.e., someone brings a pet to a non-pet friendly property) these values are doubled.
- Early check-in and late check-out fees are 50% of the last night’s rent associated with any given stay and have a $50 minimum. These fees will cause the calendar to be blocked for that day since the guest has paid for arrival 6 hours early or departure 6 hours late, impacting our operational logistics.
- Event fees are negotiated uniquely for each stay with the owner and confirmed prior to the date of occurrence.
3) Housekeeping fee charges/maid services: This is a fixed cost per reservation. The fee can be charged directly to the tenant or is reduced from the gross rent to the owner. These fees are retained by Bryant to pay the vendor, provide toiletries, pay our employees directly, and pay a portion of worker’s compensation insurance. Long stays (30 days or more) will receive a 2-3x normal housekeeping charge to provide a thorough clean. We contract vendors for the majority of cleans; however, depending on the need, Bryant staff may perform cleaning assignments. Every owner has the right to perform their own clean or hire their own cleaning company and pay them directly. This fixed fee will be updated as necessary for inflation, but only after communicating with the owner. All housekeeping fees are reflected either on your monthly owner statement or on the lease signed by the tenant.
4) Spring clean/deep clean charges: These are recommended in the spring and fall. Similar to housekeeping charges, the owner may perform these cleans, or hire someone and pay them directly. The base charge is 3x the current housekeeping charge, but additional services may be added on and billed out via work orders to perform laundering, dry cleaning, carpet cleaning, etc.
5) Maintenance work orders: This encompasses all work orders, whether Bryant staff completes the work, or we contract a vendor on your behalf. When the work is done by a vendor, the invoice is passed through one for one to the owner, meaning no markup is applied and Bryant does not earn revenue. If a Bryant technician completes the work, we charge $75/hour for normal business hours, and $110/hour after business hours. If two Bryant technicians are needed, we charge $110/hour during normal business hours. Labor charges are submitted in 15-minute increments with a minimum of 15 minutes per service order. Materials purchased by Bryant have a “markup” of less than 25%. This markup is used to cover costs associated with purchasing, storing, and transporting materials to the final location. As a perk to our owners, we currently offer the first 30 minutes of any unskilled work order request made by a guest at no labor charge. This does not apply to owner requests. Bryant Real Estate reserves the right to terminate this offer at any time for any reason.
6) Linen cost: This is a cost that, depending on structure, may be billed to the owner or the guest directly. The linens are provided either by Bryant or through a third-party vendor. This fee is retained by Bryant to pay related vendors or to cover the cost of our linen department (staffing, equipment, chemicals, transportation, loss etc.). This revenue is set at $32 for king beds, $28 for queens, and $22 for singles. This fee includes two towel sets for kings, queens and fulls, and one towel set for singles, plus bathmats for each full bathroom, and a kitchen towel set. Additionally, extra towel sets are $9, beach towels are $7, extra bathmats are $3, and additional kitchen towel sets are $4. These prices may change, but if/when they do, we will communicate the changes with all owners.
7) Hospitality Fee/Guest Service Fee: The name of this fee is changing for 2022 but it will continue to be charged to the guest directly in lieu of a charge on the owner’s statement. It is composed of the linen cost, bed making cost (if provided), and the housekeeping cost. This cost may be rounded within $+/-5 for administrative reasons.
8) Housekeeping work orders: These work orders include the sale of required items found in the home (coffee maker, utensils, mattress pads, etc.) as well as laundering of items owned by the homeowner. When billing materials, we charge the same markup as stated in number 5, which is less than 25%. Laundering of specialty items can be done by either Bryant or an outside vendor. For items contracted to outside vendors that handle pick up and drop off, we do not charge a processing fee nor a markup fee. If Bryant has capacity to launder the item, we retain the full charge to pay the expense associated with the process.
- When Bryant launders items, the charge ranges from $3-30 per item plus labor related taxes.
- If items require dry cleaning by a vendor, Bryant may charge up to $30 to pick up, inventory, and deliver the item back to the property. The actual cost of dry cleaning is passed through one for one to the owner with no markup.
9) Travel insurance: We contract with a licensed insurance broker to provide a product to our guests. The guest selects this optional product during the booking process, purchases it directly from us, and the amount is reflected on their lease. This protects their investment by allowing the option of a full or partial refund of their vacation cost (through the travel insurance company) under covered events. The current premium rate is 6-8% of the total reservation cost. We collect this full portion and disperse proceeds to the insurance company to purchase the policy on the guest’s behalf. We retain 20-50% of the charge and disperse the remainder to the insurance broker.
10) Rental equipment/excursion charges: We provide concierge services by partnering with several vendors to streamline the guest experience. These charges are optional for the guest and are reflected in the rental agreement or via emailed confirmations. The revenue per item/excursion is set by the vendor and is the market rate if they were to contact the vendor directly. We retain up to 20% of the revenue charged to the tenant for our services.
11) Administrative Fee/Accidental Damage Fee: These fees are charged to the tenant per reservation and reflected on the lease. These fees were previously combined, but for 2022 they have been split. The accidental damage fee is $95 per stay and provides up to $1,500 of protection per booking (not applicable on monthly stays that include a security deposit). The administrative fee is a variable percentage of up to 4% of rent and fees and is charged to cover the cost of booking and processing the reservation. We retain 100% of these fees to offset operational costs (labor, credit card fees, marketing cost, home automation cost, fixed distribution channel cost, etc.).
12) Marketing fees: These are optional fees some owners elect to incur for additional visibility. We will manage the distribution of the home but pass the cost of the additional channel onto the owner or the guest. These only apply when an owner requests something beyond our normal marketing/distribution.
13) Marketing/OTA channel fees: Marketing channel fees are incurred by the guest when booking on 3rd party channels such as Airbnb, HomeAway, TripAdvisor, etc. These fees may be reflected in a line item from the third party or as an aggregate of the total cost. These fees are either charged directly and remitted to the third party or are charged per reservation by remitting a remainder of the total cost the guest paid. We do not earn a profit from these items but aim to have the cost of these channels transferred to the guest. We continually remarket to these guests to convert them to direct bookings on future stays. Driving direct bookings improves the earnings for our owners and our company.
14) Linen setup charges: Bryant may collect and retain a fee to contract a vendor to make beds for upcoming guests or owner stays. Circumstances may arise where this work is completed by a Bryant employee. This cost may be charged to the guest directly or included in the owner contract charges where the rental cost is meant to offset this amount. The cost of making beds is no more than $10 per bed.
15) Recurring maintenance charges: These fees include but are not limited to filters, pest control, pool maintenance, landscaping, HVAC contracts, etc. The cost may be billed per occurrence or reflected through an automated monthly charge. Through providing these preventative maintenance programs, we can help keep the homes in top shape for all seasons. Excluding filters, most programs are contracted through vendors who set the price. The invoice is passed through to the owner one for one with no markup paid to Bryant. The rate depends on what the owner requests and approves.
- The filter program is a minimum charge of $20 per month if the home has one filter. Each additional filter is $3 per month added to the minimum charge. We retain the full revenue to cover the cost of the filters, maintenance vehicles, and labor.
16) Miscellaneous lease charges: These fees are spelled out in the lease and intended to capture revenue when tenants fail to comply with policies. This includes but is not limited to cancellation fees, returned check fees, cost to replace parking passes and/or property specific items, late fees, lease violation fees, court reimbursement costs, flexible arrival/departure fees, and charges for failure to comply with check out procedures. In these cases, it requires significant effort from our staff to address these deficiencies. The revenue collected will range from $5 to $600 per occurrence and is retained in full by Bryant to pay any vendor or our employees to correct the tenant’s breach.
17) Credit card service fees: This is a fee charged on long term rentals if a tenant elects to pay with a credit card. When booking a long term rental, we do not charge our regular administrative fees that would help to offset credit card costs. We accept cash, money orders, and personal checks, but if a guest wishes to use a credit card, we pass the credit card processing cost on to them. This fee is limited by law to be 4% or less. Again, this fee is optional, and the guest agrees to it prior to paying with a credit card on long term leases only. This fee does not apply to vacation rental agreements.
18) Application fee: These fees apply to monthly tenants and could be up to $100 per application. This fee is retained in full by Bryant to cover the cost of lease processing, credit checks, income verification, and background checks on the applicants and their guarantors if applicable.
19) Credit card rewards: This references cash rewards that we earn on our company credit card through purchases that we make on behalf of our business and our owners. These purchases may include but are not limited to utility bills, maintenance materials, furnishings, appliances, and standard required inventory items. This amount could be between 0-3% of purchases in any given month.
20) Interest income: This references interest received from our banking institution from funds that we hold on behalf of our business and our owners. These deposits could include but are not limited to rents, security deposits, fees, and taxes. This interest rate fluctuates but could be between 0-2% in any given month. Please note that all rents, taxes, and applicable fees are paid out to our owners and tax authorities in a timely manner and are not held in order to maximize interest.