All Forum Posts by: James Nelson

Hey,

I’m pretty new to the self managing vacation rental game. We have a beach house that states very clearly no pets allowed in the house rules. The guest has signed a renter agreement and paid a $500 security deposit hold. He booked through AirBNB for 2 nights. They checked in yesterday and when I reviewed the ring camera footage of them checking in they have a dog with them. This was not disclosed to me and we do not typically allow any pets. What would you do at this point? Would you contact the guest and let them know you are aware of the dog and ask them to board the dog or leave? Would you wait until they leave and assess any damages or extra cleaning required due to the dog and take it out of the security deposit? The dog is a small dog if that matters at all. Looking for some advice from people that have been doing this much longer than me. Thanks.

I have 2 Schlage encode locks at my beach house and they both simultaneously crapped out within a few hours of each other. I think it was due to either getting wet or condensation because there was water in them when I opened them up. I have a manual lockbox but I forgot to put the new key in there after switching the locks out. I live an hour and a half away so I had to drive and unlock the door for the guest. They were locked out for about an hour and a half and they had an infant with them. What kind of compensation would you offer the guest, if any, and are there any better locks out there for hot, humid weather conditions that are rain resistant? 

Sorry just saw your answer later in the thread. Seems like 2x cleaning fee is a good rule of thumb.

Does anyone have a copy of a rental agreement that you have guests sign before staying in your short term rental that you can share? I tried searching on the bigger pockets forms section but that seemed more geared towards lease agreements for long-term tenants. I was thinking about requiring my guests to sign my own rental agreement in addition to Airbnb or VRBO’s agreement either by email or by using ownerrez or docusign to send them electronically. I am very new to the game as I am about to have my first listing. Just wanted something to make sure I have everything above board and legal before offering the rental to family and friends first and then listing on online travel agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb and VRBO.

The other thing I was wondering is would it make sense to get 2 programs if one is better than the other at certain things. For instance, using Hospitable for messaging and review generation since it seems like this is their strong suit and ownerrez for direct bookings, rental agreements, etc. Let me know, especially if anyone has used both softwares. Thanks.

It seems like a big difference with ownerrez is that you are able to send the guests a rental agreement and have them electronically sign. Does hospitable offer this option? Or is the rental agreement from Airbnb or VRBO sufficient?

Hello all,

I recently am about to get into managing my first STR property. I read the book Short Term Rental, Long Term Wealth and they recommended using a property management software but wasn't sure if the recommendations listed in the book were still the best ones out there. I noticed on Avery Carl's Instagram page that it looks like she is using Hospitable now. I have also heard good things about Guesty. Can anyone tell me how these compare or if there is a better one out there worth looking at. Thanks.