Join Us
Information for Owners
WANT TO JOIN OUR SMALL BUT HIGH PERFORMING, AWARD WINNING NORFOLK AGENCY?
Since 2008 we have been working hard at providing the best service to our holiday homeowners. As a small and dedicated, dog-owning, Norfolk-loving team we can help you maximise bookings at your dog friendly Norfolk holiday home
Not getting the bookings you want?
Maybe you are not getting the service you had hoped for with your current agency? Or you are finding doing your own marketing just isn't working? We work hard to ensure our owners' calendars are as full as possible. The holiday rentals market can be hard but we focus on doing all we can to maximise bookings for our properties.
How do we do this? See our How We Succeed In The Dog Friendly Market section for more specific details on how we achieve this.
Are you tied down with onerous contracts and restrictions?
We have a very simple owner contract with no restrictions for owner bookings, access to your own section of our bookings system and a flexible exit clause as well as competitive commission rates (maximum 15%) and input into your pricing and booking lengths and more.
About our commission
What do you get for your commission fee?
As well as a very focused exposure to the dog friendly market via multiple platforms and sources, we offer you a comprehensive listing on our professionally made and regularly maintained website. We pay for a full suite of photographs for your property, a floor plan and 360 degree tour. We answer all emails and listen to all requests for changes to listings, pricing and more.
How are owners paid?
We pay all our owners on or by the 28th of the month for all bookings completed in that month (eg all March booking income will be paid on or by 28th March)
FHL Taxes & Registration Scheme
Worried about the changes in FHL taxes and the registration scheme coming soon? We can help you navigate these industry requirements with our agency membership of PASC (Professional Association of Self Caterers). We regularly share their emails, reports and any relevant information gleaned from their meetings we attend. This was how we supported and informed our owners through the recent Fire Risk Assessment changes.
Not sure if you are dog friendly enough?
We can help you make your property truly dog welcoming with just a few extra touches. We can very effectively address any concerns you have about multi dog bookings based on our 17 years of experience. We can put you in touch with any of our long standing existing owners so you can find out more about their experiences of welcoming dogs and successfully working with us.
If you would like to know more, please do get in touch by email hello@eastrustoncottages.co.uk. We can give you plenty of information on pricing and booking levels, repeat guest statistics and more.
Social Media Expert
We have a dedicated social media expert and dog photographer – Kerry Jordan of Fur & Fables (see our About Us page) who creates great content for us on social media platforms, creates competitions, sets up our mailshots and much more. We actively collaborate with Norfolk businesses and UK dog brands with Kerry’s help to help us get as much exposure to the UK dog-friendly market as possible.
Marketing
We regularly (usually twice monthly) send out emails to our 10,000+ email
list and achieve an opening/engagement level higher than our industry level.
We market via online and paper publications at various times in the year,
collaborate with other dog themed brands and businesses too.
Local Community
We support our local community and independent businesses. Our repeat guests are offered a choice of vouchers to spend in a selection of our local businesses and we regularly visit them ourselves. It is important to us to work within and support our local business community and ensuring that our visitors visit these businesses within our our local economy is well received all round.
Our Owners
Our owners are our customers. Something that sets us apart from most other agencies is our inclusion of our owners in our business. We have Whats App groups set up where they can share information, ask for recommendations, help each other out or just chat. You don’t have to be involved in this of course but it has been very useful, particularly for new owners. We have owner socials too from time to time and they are a great way of getting to know more owners and sharing the highs and lows of holiday home ownership. We provide a much more personalised service for them than many of the other larger and more generic agencies. After all, we couldn't run Norfolk's longest running, award without them!
Don’t take our word for it – here is what some of our owners have to say about their East Ruston Cottages experience.
“We have worked with Sue and East Ruston Cottages since 2014, with two different properties (White Cottage and The Lobster) and it’s been a great experience. All the owners help each other, we all get along well and have a very active WhatsApp group, and we also have regular social get togethers. Sue and the team are personable, fun, efficient and most of all get a lot of bookings! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them if you’re thinking of adding your property to ERC.”
P and L
"Choosing ERC was easy, after holidaying with them for so long, I knew there were no other agents that would market our properties quite as well. When we purchased our cottages, they were already with 2 other agents, so I kept with them too, and it was then I noticed the huge difference between how the agencies were run. ERC is not just an agent, but it is a support network, it is the encyclopedia of holiday lets and it is like being part of one big family. There is no competition, because for us, ERC wins every time."
Lauren of Oak Tree Cottages.
“Before I even put the offer in on my holiday cottage, I called Sue at ERC and asked if she would be prepared to manage it for me. I had been a guest at the cottages for around 12 years before this and had always found them to be exceptionally well run.
Without ERC on board, I would have been very apprehensive to take on the task of setting up and running a FHL. Furthermore, the ERC owners are a lovely bunch and constantly offer each other physical and practical help and advice via a WhatsApp chat group. No matter what the issue is, there is always someone available to help.”
Caroline, Jack’s Shack
"When we bought Ruby Gem it was with a national agency and boy were they difficult to communicate with, creating high levels of frustration. Whereas, Sue Allen at East Ruston Cottages, helped us with advice and much needed local knowledge, the complete opposite of the big company. She has created a community of cottages owners who often work together to help each other."
Penny and Chris
"I had holidayed in East Ruston Cottages for many years before buying my own holiday let property. I'd always liked their ethos - their deep love of dogs, their kindness, their commitment to the local community. So when it came to choosing an agency to let through it was a no-brainer, and has been absolutely brilliant. Lovely guests and excellent occupancy. "
Sally, The Lookout
