Short-term rentals are a great way to bring in extra cash. They present a unique opportunity for paying off your vacation home. Even so, it can be unnerving at times to allow someone you don’t know to stay on your property. You know that anything could happen and want to take measures to protect your investment. We understand. That’s why in our latest blog post, we discuss some guidelines to keep your property in tip-top shape.
First, we do want to recommend that you remove anything of sentimental value. Short-term rentals are not an ideal place for items that are irreplaceable. Even if a guest is careful, there could be an accident, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Okay, now that we have that covered, let’s talk about some guidelines for your guests.
1. Leave the neighbors alone. This is more about keeping the peace with your neighbors than protecting your physical property, but it’s still an essential guideline to include. You don’t need neighbors getting upset about your rental and causing further issues for you and your investment. Keep everyone happy by recommending that guests contact you or the property manager with any questions and leave the neighbors out of it.
2. Set rules for smoking. If you don’t want smoking inside the property (or on the property at all), you need to say it in the guidelines. If not, guests may think it’s okay to do so.
3. Are pets allowed or not? If pets are okay, explain how many and what types are allowed to stay on the property. For example, you might decide that ‘one small dog’ is allowed for the entirety of the stay. If you do allow pets, you may want to consider charging an additional pet fee each night.
4. Cover any safety rules. If you have a pool, hot tub, or deck, for example, you’ll want to have some safety rules in place to protect your guests from injury (and you from being sued).
5. Set check-in and check-out times. A few times should be covered in your guidelines. Of course, the main ones are the check-in and check-out times. But you should also cover any quiet hours. If you have a pool, consider setting a timeframe for when guests are allowed to use it and when it’s off-limits. There’s less chance of accidents happening if guests aren’t using the pool at night or in the early morning hours.
6. Determine your property’s capacity. Guests need to know how many people can be on the property at a time. Do all guests need to be registered? Can they have any daytime visitors? Do you have a limit on the number of visitors? Make sure to consider any fire code violations. Explaining the fire code to guests in the guidelines can help them understand why you set these rules.
7. Let guests know where they can and can’t park. Guests also need to be aware of how many vehicles they’re allowed to park on the grounds.
8. Tell guests what’s expected of them when it comes to cleanliness. For example, guests should be aware if you have rules about taking shoes off inside. They need to know if they are expected to take out the trash at the end of their stay.
9. Consider any other rules you may need to set, such as guidelines about using certain appliances. If you have a laundry room, can guests use it? What about your stereo or entertainment system? If anything is off-limits, make sure your guests are aware.
There are plenty of rules for your guests to follow, but how do you encourage them to do so? Some guests will inherently want to follow the rules and respect your property. However, there are others that may require a little extra motivation. You may want to consider having security cameras outside, just make sure your guests are aware of them. Never put security cameras in a private area. In your list of guidelines make it clear what will happen if the rules aren’t followed. Will the guests be charged? Make sure that information is written down.
Another way to reduce the risk of issues arising is to set up a stay requirement. This way there’s less chance of someone booking your property for a single night just to throw a party. Many renters require that people stay at least two nights (sometimes three).
As you can see, there are a number of ways to protect your property (and guests). There are also ways to encourage your guests to follow the rules. Just be sure to be clear in your guidelines and don’t leave anything up to chance. If you’d like additional help managing your short-term rental and keeping guests satisfied, reach out to us at PMI: http://destinvacationrentalmanagementinc.com.
