Katy, TX · Member since 2020 · 86 posts · 45 votes
Hey y'all! Happy Friday! I'm about 4 weeks away from opening my first official STR. I'll have another opening here in about 60 days. I'm curious about the method of delivery for fellow str investors rental agreement. Do you send it via docusign? Do you send it via the Airbnb platform and just ask the guest to respond with a message saying they understand and their name? I'm big on using official means of agreements like DocuSign but I wasn't sure how invasive this seems to guests. I would simply just ask for an email and would forward using my DocuSign account. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
I have guests sign via Docusign. I feel like it sets both myself & the guests up for a smooth visit as they know what is expected & what happens if they break the agreement.
I’ve had guests realize they were bringing extra people & that people in their party smoke when they read over the agreement. Both no smoking & guest limits are listed in my rules on the platforms.
I always feel like I dodged a bullet when guests decide to cancel after reading it.
Hey @Kristyn Grimes, I have our agreement attached to the booking. When they book the agreement is right there and they agree to it when they accept the booking.
It has been working just fine for 5 years now. I do get the occasional question about how to sign it, but I just tell them they did it when they accepted the stay.
Hey @Kristyn Grimes, I have our agreement attached to the booking. When they book the agreement is right there and they agree to it when they accept the booking.
It has been working just fine for 5 years now. I do get the occasional question about how to sign it, but I just tell them they did it when they accepted the stay.
Thanks for the reply, michael! Do you say anywhere prior to booking that by accepting the booking they are agreeing to your agreement? I can just see that this would make certain people feel like they were being trapped into something. There's always those folks lol
You can upload your whole agreement to Vrbo and the renter has to agree to you rules when they rent. It records their IP address when they make the agreement.
Off site bookings I have emailed an agreement and they sign it, scan it and email it back to me.
@Kristyn Grimes I initially did the agreement on the two platforms and had the statement by booking you are accepting the agreement. I was never really happy with that so wanted a signature at least and it was always a challenge for guests to get us back a signed agreement. I have indoor pools and hot tubs in my properties and my insurance company requires me to have specific verbage in my rental agreements. I never felt good enough just going with the accepting the rental agreement by booking method. I finally switched over to using SignNow (very similar to DocuSign but much cheaper) and since I did that I no longer have to deal with problems with tenants not being able to figure out how to get me the signed document. The other nice thing about it is I control what they initial as well, which means I can enforce them to initial next to some of the key components in the rental agreement - such as issues concerning the indoor pools. I also, collect the names of each guests staying at the cabin. This does two things for me - #1 lets the guest know that I do have a limit on the number of people and that any additional persons need to be approved by me, #2 and it gives me extra leverage if someone shows up with tons more people than they said - i.e. large parties which we do not allow.
I have it all automated so when a booking occurs on either platform I send the guest a thank you letting them know they will receive an email with a link to digitally sign our rental agreement. Once that is done, it is automatically saved under the guest and cabin name and then the typical welcome letter gets sent out.
It may be overkill for a lot folks, but it makes me comfortable.
@Kristyn Grimes I initially did the agreement on the two platforms and had the statement by booking you are accepting the agreement. I was never really happy with that so wanted a signature at least and it was always a challenge for guests to get us back a signed agreement. I have indoor pools and hot tubs in my properties and my insurance company requires me to have specific verbage in my rental agreements. I never felt good enough just going with the accepting the rental agreement by booking method. I finally switched over to using SignNow (very similar to DocuSign but much cheaper) and since I did that I no longer have to deal with problems with tenants not being able to figure out how to get me the signed document. The other nice thing about it is I control what they initial as well, which means I can enforce them to initial next to some of the key components in the rental agreement - such as issues concerning the indoor pools. I also, collect the names of each guests staying at the cabin. This does two things for me - #1 lets the guest know that I do have a limit on the number of people and that any additional persons need to be approved by me, #2 and it gives me extra leverage if someone shows up with tons more people than they said - i.e. large parties which we do not allow.
I have it all automated so when a booking occurs on either platform I send the guest a thank you letting them know they will receive an email with a link to digitally sign our rental agreement. Once that is done, it is automatically saved under the guest and cabin name and then the typical welcome letter gets sent out.
It may be overkill for a lot folks, but it makes me comfortable.
An entrepreneur after my own heart! I knew I couldn't be the only one that just needs a bit more than a general acknowledgement. Thank you for that info. I'll take a look at Signnow. I pay for DocuSign to use as an agent but I really just wanted something specific to use with the Airbnb side of life.
I have guests sign via Docusign. I feel like it sets both myself & the guests up for a smooth visit as they know what is expected & what happens if they break the agreement.
I’ve had guests realize they were bringing extra people & that people in their party smoke when they read over the agreement. Both no smoking & guest limits are listed in my rules on the platforms.
I always feel like I dodged a bullet when guests decide to cancel after reading it.
I have guests sign via Docusign. I feel like it sets both myself & the guests up for a smooth visit as they know what is expected & what happens if they break the agreement.
I’ve had guests realize they were bringing extra people & that people in their party smoke when they read over the agreement. Both no smoking & guest limits are listed in my rules on the platforms.
I always feel like I dodged a bullet when guests decide to cancel after reading it.
That's exactly how I would feel. Thank you for your thoughts, Wendy!
@Chris I. I do them for every booking - I don't do any stays longer than 30 days. I have it all automated so it's easy.
Hi Ken... would you be willing to share your template? I've been searching the files and haven't found the right fit and templates I've foundon line have been less than ideal. Thanks in advance for your support.
You can upload your whole agreement to Vrbo and the renter has to agree to you rules when they rent. It records their IP address when they make the agreement.
Off site bookings I have emailed an agreement and they sign it, scan it and email it back to me.
John... Is there a template on VRBO that you use? I just listed my first self owned STR and have been struggling finding something that I can start with. Thanks
You can upload your whole agreement to Vrbo and the renter has to agree to you rules when they rent. It records their IP address when they make the agreement.
Off site bookings I have emailed an agreement and they sign it, scan it and email it back to me.
John... Is there a template on VRBO that you use? I just listed my first self owned STR and have been struggling finding something that I can start with. Thanks
No, I just typed what I wanted it to say specific to my property and needs.
You can upload your whole agreement to Vrbo and the renter has to agree to you rules when they rent. It records their IP address when they make the agreement.
Off site bookings I have emailed an agreement and they sign it, scan it and email it back to me.
John... Is there a template on VRBO that you use? I just listed my first self owned STR and have been struggling finding something that I can start with. Thanks
No, I just typed what I wanted it to say specific to my property and needs.
Ok, and have you ever had to use it to stand up against a guest in court or "Abnb court" for that matter?
You can upload your whole agreement to Vrbo and the renter has to agree to you rules when they rent. It records their IP address when they make the agreement.
Off site bookings I have emailed an agreement and they sign it, scan it and email it back to me.
John... Is there a template on VRBO that you use? I just listed my first self owned STR and have been struggling finding something that I can start with. Thanks
No, I just typed what I wanted it to say specific to my property and needs.
Ok, and have you ever had to use it to stand up against a guest in court or "Abnb court" for that matter?
@Kristyn Grimes I initially did the agreement on the two platforms and had the statement by booking you are accepting the agreement. I was never really happy with that so wanted a signature at least and it was always a challenge for guests to get us back a signed agreement. I have indoor pools and hot tubs in my properties and my insurance company requires me to have specific verbage in my rental agreements. I never felt good enough just going with the accepting the rental agreement by booking method. I finally switched over to using SignNow (very similar to DocuSign but much cheaper) and since I did that I no longer have to deal with problems with tenants not being able to figure out how to get me the signed document. The other nice thing about it is I control what they initial as well, which means I can enforce them to initial next to some of the key components in the rental agreement - such as issues concerning the indoor pools. I also, collect the names of each guests staying at the cabin. This does two things for me - #1 lets the guest know that I do have a limit on the number of people and that any additional persons need to be approved by me, #2 and it gives me extra leverage if someone shows up with tons more people than they said - i.e. large parties which we do not allow.
I have it all automated so when a booking occurs on either platform I send the guest a thank you letting them know they will receive an email with a link to digitally sign our rental agreement. Once that is done, it is automatically saved under the guest and cabin name and then the typical welcome letter gets sent out.
It may be overkill for a lot folks, but it makes me comfortable.
@Ken Boone Wife and I are currently using DocuSign. How did you automate for the rental agreement to be sent automatically to the guest upon their booking the reservation through either VRBO or AirBNB? Is there a way to link SignNow to either platform or hospitable for automation? We have been sending the rental agreement over many years to guests now, but it's getting a little cumbersome. Thanks in advance for any feedback you can provide.
I use Zapier to tie everything together. I use Guesty for Hosts as a PMS and when I get a booking on either platform, it sends me an email. I use Zapier to monitor that email address, and upon receipt of that email, I have it send the guest the digital RA from SignNow. Zapier then monitors SignNow for the signed rental agreement. Upon receipt of that signed RA, I have Zapier, rename the file for me and file it on a google drive. After that, I use Zapier to trigger gmail to send an email to the guest with links to Welcome Letter and all that good stuff.
Zapier has integrations with DocuSign as well so you can probably do something similar.
Ownerez can can integrate with the major platforms and have the guest digitally sign. $40 a month?
The problem I had with ownerrez for this is that it was very limited. Drop an RA in and all it supported was a signature. I needed something more. Initials on each page. Initials by key items such as pool liability and number of guests and also collecting all of the guests names. Unless something has changed since I looked at it last.