Short term rental complaints.
So you own a short term holiday rental on the coast, and guests are paying top dollar over the summer - Easter peak season. Yes that rental income can pay your mortgage or fund a holiday, but it isn’t pure profit.
Here’s the deal. Those people renting homes expect value for money, and that means home owners need to present their properties in good order., which costs money. When there are back to back - to back rentals, calling in maintenance crew to fix items when guests have checked in is not a good look. Home owners get compliant calls, tradies who fix the problems are on holidays, and guests who don’t get value for money, treat properties badly.
Here’s a list of items that really piss guests off.
Overflowing stinky bins. Guests rarely recycle and will won’t put out bins for collection. Food waste attracts maggots in Red, purple, yellow and green bins. Things get putrid, so you need a bin person, especially around public holidays when partying is prevalent.
Missing essentials. Guests expect houses to be stocked with TP, soaps, cleaning products, and basic cooking products like salt & pepper, cooking oil, coffee, tea etc. Your house should have a locked cupboard with a code. If guests call about missing items, provide the code to the store room.
Dirty BBQs: Some guests will clean a BBQ after they use it, but most won’t especially if it’s a big one. BBQs should have a deep clean just before peak season and home owners should provide easy to find BBQ cleaning equipment. They should also be re-cleaned mid season.
Non-functioning remotes: TV, garage doors, AC, and other remotes should all function, and spare batteries should be onsite. It’s the same with lightbulbs.
Unsafe areas: I’m going to be honest here. Some holiday homes should not be rented because they are lawsuits waiting to happen. Pools need to be fenced, paths need to be cleaned because they are dangerously slippery, decks need replacing or re-enforcing, and trip hazards should be removed. These jobs are not quick fixes and they should be done well before guests arrive. Don’t wait until late spring when every tradie is under the pump.
If you are thinking of renting out your house on the short term holiday rental market, we can help you get it ready for summer and provide great advice so you don’t get angry calls from guests. And if problems do pop up, we can help solve them for you.
Call the Squad also works with a couple of STRM management companies who look after listings, bookings, changeovers, and maintenance. If you are looking for a great local full service rental company, I’m happy to recommend one for you.