Papa Bear Member’s

 

Are you an out of town owner or simply do not have the time and resources to manage your cabin?

We are your solution!!!

“Bear Tootin … your getaway – go between” has created a program that puts the owner’s needs first. By charging a much lower management fee & allowing the owner to receive all the money up front, you are able to pay your bills, maintain your cabin (which keeps the guest happy), and achieve the ultimate goal…making a profit.

 

We have taken the time to answers the most common questions that most cabin owners have & we would like to share them with you below.

What we do for YOU

*Setup your property on VRBO *Take professional Pictures (FREE) *Shoot & Post Video (FREE) *Post it on “Bear Tootin” website *Book reservations on VRBO *Handle incoming reservations calls *Handle guest issues (by phone\in person) *Coordinate Activities for guest *Schedule & be present for Repair Calls *Reply to guest reviews *Create & display all cabin instructions *Maintain Cabin Inventory *Reply to guest reviews *Create Maintenance Reports *Shop for items need (you only pay cost of items) *No Maintenance fees *Cleaners provided by “Grime Evictors” *You only pay repair cost

How it Works

Your Property will be posted on VRBO, Home Away and the Bear Tootin website. Complete with photos and video with a full description of amenities. VRBO\Home Away has long been recognized as the premier vacation rental site worldwide. When the “renter” inquires about your cabin; Bear Tootin will take it from there. We will finalize their booking through VRBO\Home Away secure payment process. We also assist guest with planning activities, directions etc. If any issues should arise with the cabin during their stay, we will respond to address the problem. After checkout, we provide cleaning that is second to none from “Grime Evictors” with nearly 30 years of cleaning experience. Hot Tub care and maintenance are also provided and if there are extreme maintenance issues that we can not take care of, we have contacts that can be reached on a moments notice. You can keep up with your cabin’s accounting info, maintenance reports, damage reports etc, all through “Google Chrome Documents” and you can view them at your convenience. Control of your cabin has been returned to you; the owner.

Management Fee 20%

After months of research about how other cabin rental companies operate, as well as talking with many owners about percentages taken, compared to services rendered. It seemed to be a very lucrative business…for the rental companies. The standard rate of 40% compounded with various fees, repairs etc. actually came closer to a 50/50 split. As any real estate owner could attest, this split was not as recognizable during the building boom. However today things have drastically changed. The cabin rental business must adapt to those changes. We feel that our concept is the best adaptation to an ever evolving business. First and foremost is our low overhead. This marvelous digital age allows us to not only connect owner and renter, but also book your cabin and secure payment with incredible efficiency, while avoiding the high costs of a brick & motor building. Another change that we made is to let the cabin owner get ALL their money first & at the end of the month, after the reservations are complete, we will send an invoice to the owner to collect on our service that we provided. Lastly we are a Christian business, which simply means we hold ourselves to a higher standard. We ask for 20% of only the nightly rental rate. Not the “gross amount” percentage after taxes, fees etc. have been added.

Facts about VRBO & Home Away

*The #1 vacation rental website in the world *More than 12 million visits per month to the site *You can find VRBO\Home Away through more than 600,000 keyword searches on major search engines *rank high in “Google & “Yahoo” search results *Member dashboard *24 photos that you can post *Guest reviews are posted *Availability calendar up-dated minute-by-minute *Contact options *Free video tour *Mobile apps *Traveler map *Property\owner story

The Owner's get their $ 1st

How: When we set up the property on VRBO, we automatically link the owners bank account to the listing. When: once the guest makes a payment, it will get directly deposited into the owner bank account with 1-3 days.

Are there ANY monthly Hidden Fees

NO *Maintenance Fees *Linen Fees *Website Fees \ We know that it’s frustrating for the owners to get their statement at the end of the month & then finding out all the fees & surprise charges that were taken out of. With our system the own gets ALL the money first…so there is no way that we can deduct money from the owners Profit.

Owner's Accounting Records

You will be given a login & password so you can log right into your cabin’s record. From here you can view all past & future reservations, accounting records, maintenance reports & even see guest reviews.

Nightly Rates

We can make suggestions on what our experience has been but The owner has the final call on all the nightly rates.

Flat Rates

With a few of our cabins we did a test and put them @ the same price for every day of the year. Those cabins rented 5 times more than the cabins that changed there rates according to season, holiday, weekends, etc. The guest love the fact that its the same price & appreciate that the “cabin owner\rental company” are not so “money hungry”. By putting them first (& put yourself in their shoe’s too) and telling them that “no matter if it’s a holiday, peek season or a weekend…the nightly rate is the same price all year long”. The guest end up booking more days & when they come back from vacation they tell other people about their trip especially what they paid for. The owner gets alot more reservations, which means alot more word of mouth. Sense the owner is getting more booking they make up for the difference in the 1 price.

Linen Cost

NONE… When you sign up with Bear Tootin we will purchase the cost of the linen for you. We understand that you already have a list of things that you would rather spend your money on for your cabin to make improvement & we really encourage that for the guest benefit.

Linens for the Guest

We look at it like this…If it’s something we would use in our own homes, which we usually choice “the best of the best”, then it’s good enough for the guest. Our Sheets are microfiber and Towels are 100% cotton & softer then most hotel towels

Maintenance ?'s

*We don’t charge a monthly Maintenance Fee *Anything that we can do like changing light bulbs to hanging up a bathroom towels bar, we will with no charge to the owner, we just consider that part of our job as managing & taking care of your property. *If there become a major issue concerning plumbing, HVAC, electrical, etc…we have 24hr maintenance guys that are certified to handle these kinds of situations. *you are always contacted before any repairs are made, not given a bill after the fact, so we can get your approval before anything is done to your cabin

Cleaning after Guests

*We have created our own cleaning company called “Grime Evictors”. We fell that it’s best if we have full control of everything instead of contracting this out, plus we can keep up our strict standards *Our cleaning crews are only allowed to clean 2-4 cabins a day mainly because they are in each cabin 2-5 hours depending on size. We feel that the cabin cleanliness should be top priority…this eliminates upset guest & bad reviews, and we want your cabin to be show cased at it’s best . * when the guest makes their payment, you will have received the cleaning fee money, so you will be sent an e-mail from “Grime Evictors” & you just mail in the payment. We send out the invoices on the 1st & 15th of every month. We do collect the cleaning ahead of time. Example: whatever reservation falls between June 1-15, we will send an invoice for the cleaning fee money on June 1st so we can collect the money to give to the cleaners.

Hot Tub Services

*After every guest the hot tub will be cleaned & the right chemicals added. We test the hot tubs each time & use a special app on our phones that tell us exactly what type of chemicals to add. *the owner never has to pay for the hot tub service after the guest leaves & this cost is included in the cleaning fee that the guest pays. *If there is a bigger concern with the hot tub, we have several Certified Hot Tub companies that we can call but we will always contact the owner first to get there approval.

Deep Cleaning

*when we first take on a new cabin, there is a requirement that we perform a deep clean so we can get the cabin up to our strict standards. *after every guest, our cleaners are in the cabin from 2-5 hrs depending on the size & the cabin & kept in a “rotated deep clean”, which means one day the main level will be deep cleaned from top to bottom & the other levels will be regularly cleaned, then the next time a different level will be deep cleaned & this process will continue. *Since we keep our cabins on a strict cleaning schedule, we will NEVER require or charge for another “Deep Clean” again.

Lawn Care

*we do not require that you have a mandatory lawn care service, but if your cabin does need it, it’s a good idea to keep it up for appearance. *each owner can choose their own lawn care provider but if you do not have one in mind, we do recommend use Cardinal Custom Lawn and Outdoors. Their rates are the best, they are very dependable & they take pride in their work. *they will put your cabin on an every other week & you will pay them directly.

Damage Fee Options

— 3 Options to choose from — *Non Refundable- the guest will pay a $20-$30 small non-refundable damage fee that the owner will collect & just keep to the side, Before you know it, that really starts to add up & by the end of the year you have saved over $1,000 that can be use for wear & tear. This is great for 1-3 bedroom cabins *Refundable- the guest pays a $200-$300 which is included in the guest payment & goes into the owner’s bank account. After the guest leaves & everything is good with the cabin, we can electronically withdrawal the damage fee from the owners account & send it back to the guest (nothing has to be done on the owners part). The owner just has to remember to not spend that money. *Damage Insurance- This is link through VRBO\Home Away’s payment system & we can set a requirement for the guest to purchase a non-refundable insurance policy that is good during their entire stay. This is great for Bigger cabin. There are 3 options: guest pays $59 – covers $1,500 of damage \ guest pays $69 – covers $3,000 of damage \ guest pays $89 – $5,000

When & How does the guest pay for their cabin

*once a guests reservation has been made, VRBO will automatically send the guest an e-mail & they will make the payment through that e-mail. The link email is 100% & so private that we can’t even see their card information. * the guest can split their total in 1 to 3 payments *once the guest makes a payment, it will get directly deposited into the owner bank account with 1-3 days.

Guest Necessities

It is $5.00 & the guest pay for it. The cost is included in the cleaning fee. We buy our supplies from A&W Supply to make sure we get top quality, which make the guest happy & helps in eliminating guest complaints. We provide: toilet paper \ paper towels \ bar soap (for each shower) \ liquid dish soap \ scrubber sponge (for kitchen) \ dishwasher powder \ trash bags \ laundry powder

Guest Refunds

*the owner has the finial “say so” on this policy but our general rule is: *if the guest calls before 30 days of their arrival date, they get 100% of their money back *if they cancel within 30 days, we will put their cabin back on-line & whatever dates we can rebook, that is the amount we will refund. *every case is different & if a guest has paid for their in full & they cancel, there is usually a pretty extreme reason. *If there is a refund asked by the guest due to a concern during their stay, we will always inform the owner on “case by case” bases to make a decision before any refund is given out.

Guest Reviews

We know how importance guest reviews are & about 80% of people will decide on which cabin to pick based on the reviews it has. If a guest writes a review on VRBO, it’s written with complete honesty because there is no picking & choose what reviews get posted…they will ALL get posted & there is no way to remove them. This is always kept in the back of our minds, so everything that we do, it needs to be A+++.

Management Contracts

*In our personal opinion, we would prefer to not do a contact because we don’t want our owners to fell like they are “trapped with us” & we want to earn the owners trust each day. We are taking on a big responsibility & if we are not provided the best service or if the owner feels another rental company can suit their needs better, we encourage the best for everyone. *The main reason we have to provide a contract is due to VRBO\Home Away requirements. To them the owner is linked to the property by tax records & their bank account & Bear Tootin has to provide proof to VRBO\Home Away on how we are connected to the owner so we can handle the listing

What are the steps to switch rental companies

1st: find out from you company how many days notice the require you to give as a notice…usually its 30 days but there are some companies that require longer 2nd: once you put in your notice & you have the last day that your cabin will be on their program, we will want to get your cabin posted on VRBO 30 days (1 month) before that last date. This way we can start booking dates for the future (we’ll block off for the other rental company) which means you’ll start getting money from us before you even leave the other company. By getting this money up front, alot of owners are able to make some improvements to their cabin during the change other.

Taxes

*there are 2 types of taxes: State (9.75%) & Local (3%) *The guest pays this & the owner collects the money when they make a payment *The local tax is paid once a month on only the reservations for that month. You will be sent a ½ sheet form that you fill out & return with a check *The state tax is paid once a year

1099's

Since we work for you, at the end of the year, for your tax write-offs on your property, you will summit & send Bear Tootin & Grime Evictors a 1099