Top Ten Tips for Short Term Rental Owners
Do you own a home that you short-term rent, or are you preparing to buy a house for the sake of short-term renting it? Then you're not going to want to miss this video. In this short video, I'm going to outline my top 10 tips as a short-term rental owner to help make your life as a host a breeze and also make it so that your guests love your property and leave you those five-star reviews.
So, you have found the perfect property and you can't wait to begin short-term renting it during the times you're not using it for your own purposes. I mean, a vacation home that pays for itself is the dream, right? Well, there's certainly a learning curve when you first begin to rent a short-term property, and it's definitely work, so you need to be prepared for that. It's not an easy breezy open the doors and let the guests come type of thing. But to help you out on your journey as a host, I'm going to outline my top 10 tips that have made being a host a lot more seamless and make your home more accommodating to your guests.
Color Coordinate Your Sheets: If you have multiple sizes of beds in your house (queen, twin, full), get a color for each size. All sheets for queen beds are white, all sheets for twin beds are gray, etc. This way, when you or your cleaner goes to change the bedding, you know what color goes with what bed. Also, always recommend that you have two sets of sheets, so if you have a turnover in the same day, you can just put new sheets on, wash the other ones, or leave them for another time. It's also really nice to have an extra set of sheets for your guest, just in case they need it. Another little tip: color coordinate your towels. If you have more than one bathroom, all the same color goes in the upstairs bathroom, and all the other color goes in the downstairs bathroom, maybe a certain color for the kitchen as well. This helps to ensure all the towels get back to the correct location.
Have Fans and Extra Pillows Available in the Bedrooms for Your Guests: A lot of people like to sleep with fans on, especially when they're sleeping somewhere different that they're not familiar with. The fans can be really comforting. You can have them tucked away in a closet or something so people can access them if they want them, as well as extra pillows and pillowcases, just in case they need it. Your guests will appreciate it.
Label Everything: Grab your label makers and label everything in your kitchen and your closets. Get that label maker and go to town. This helps so much for guests to find things. To be honest with you, guests always put things back in strange places. But if you have everything labeled, they're more likely to put things back where they belong. Trust me, not everything will end up where it belongs, but it will certainly be helpful, and it's helpful for the next people who come in to find what they're looking for, and for your cleaner to put things back where they belong.
Get a Keypad Door Knob for Locking and Unlocking the Property: This makes it so much easier for guests rather than a lockbox. The lockbox can be fumbly, especially if your guests come in at night, the key can get lost, they can fumble around. Having a keypad makes it really easy. But here's a pro tip: keep an extra key in a lockbox somewhere else outside of the property, just in case something happens with that keypad. You do not want to find that you're completely locked out.
Put Your House Rules on the Refrigerator: Print them out, put all the house rules and your checkout instructions, along with the Wi-Fi password, right on the refrigerator. Everybody will notice it there, and then it's posted for everyone to see.
Have Motion Lights Outside of Your Property: So that when guests arrive at night, they are not trying to figure out the check-in process in the dark. Have lights that turn on as soon as those people pull into the driveway so that they can see what is happening, and they are not trying to check in in complete darkness.
Night Lights: Have nightlights wherever guests are going to come into your house and they're first settling in, so that they can find light switches. Also, have nightlights around the house where guests are going to have to navigate getting to the bathroom at night or going up and downstairs. Having nightlights around is helpful. Also, guests can take them out if they don't want them, or move them around if they need to, or if they have kids. Your guests will really appreciate having nightlights available.
Secure the Edges of Rugs: If you have rugs in your property, like area rugs (not fully carpeted floors), make sure the edges of those are properly secured to the floor so your guests are not tripping. This is also just an insurance note for you. You don't want anyone getting hurt at your property.
Provide Wireless Chargers for Guests: By the beds or provide some sort of charging station somewhere in the house, especially if your plugs are not easy to get to and there's furniture in front of them. This will just save a lot of people moving things around to try to get to the plugs. You will also end up with so many charging cords. So, I just advise that you go ahead and get some wireless chargers or some sort of charging station that you can put in the house for the guests.
Put Notes Throughout Your House: I know when you're using your house for yourself, it may not feel great to have notes around telling how things work. I personally have pictures behind the notes, because I frame my notes for my guests. You can take the note out and have a nice family picture behind there. I don't advise having family pictures out for vacation rental, but notes should be out for things such as things guests are going to ask questions about a lot. So, instructions on how the TV works, if you're on a septic system, put a note next to every toilet telling your guest not to flush anything into the septic system, maybe how to use the Wi-Fi, anything you think a guest will ask questions about, have a note about it. Where are the games? Where are the extra blankets? Those types of things are really helpful, and then they don't need to be asking you a bunch of questions during their stay unless they want to, of course.
If you are considering owning a short-term rental property and you're wondering if it's just the right thing for you, I hope these tips were helpful. But also, check out my other video where I outline how it works to own a short-term rental and the things that you need to consider to see if this really is the right option for you to be able to have a vacation home that pays for itself.
I hope this is helpful, and as always, reach out if you have any questions about real estate or anything to do with me. I'm always happy to chat.