No matter where you live or how the local rental market is, there are a few steps you must take to get your house ready for short-term rentals. It can be difficult to get your house ready but, you can rent out your house quickly if you stay focused and do a few tasks first.
Purge and Deep-Clean the Area
You might not have any personal items to remove if you bought a house to use only for short-term rentals. However, if you just seldom stay in your rental or if it has been in your family for a while, you should take any personal belongings out that you can’t bear to see damaged or misplaced. The vast majority of visitors will be considerate of your area, but we wouldn’t take the chance of losing a priceless family relic due to a few unruly or irresponsible visitors. Additionally, get rid of everything that you like having in your house but doesn’t enhance the guest experience. We had handled a rental for a homeowner who was so particular about the arrangement of his throw pillows that he insisted on giving the cleaning service images of how the beds should look. This kind of service, as you might expect, requires more time and is consequently more expensive. The shape of the throw pillow on their bed didn’t matter to his guests, and he was squandering money by providing this extra service that didn’t improve their stay.
Alternate the Locks
On a freshly purchased home, we always advise changing the locks, but this is equally true if you are turning your current residence into a vacation rental. Not only will you change the locks, but you’ll also choose how you want your visitors to be able to enter your house. Lock boxes and smart locks are the two primary methods for granting entry to visitors. All of your home’s entrances should have the same key if you decide to use a lock box. With rekey able locks that are simple to install, we advise taking the DIY approach.
Lock Boxes
Security is the most important aspect of preparing your house for short-term rentals. We use lock boxes for a variety of purposes. It is practical for us to be able to purchase many reliable lock boxes so that, in the event that a visitor’s access to the primary lock box is ever compromised, we may direct them to a backup lock box. The majority of our homes also feature an “owner’s closet” where we store extra supplies like towels, linens, toilet paper, soap, and paper towels. We advise having two lock boxes with only the keys to the major areas of the house, as well as one lock box with the keys to the owner’s closet, shed, and storage area. We can then provide the visitors the code to the main lock box and the owner’s lock box code to our cleaners and anybody else who might need to do maintenance on the home. On rare occasions, we’ve also allowed visitors to open the owner’s lock box to access our goods. This only occurs occasionally as a last-minute solution if the cleaners ever neglect to replenish something. The inconvenience of having to run to the shop for a necessity is avoided for the guests, and you avoid having to call your cleaning service, handyman, or management business and incurring an additional cost.
Digital locks
For our houses, we utilize lock boxes, but we manage a number of properties where smart locks are preferred. They are a more advanced choice, and some people believe they are safer than the old-fashioned lock boxes. Smart locks come in a variety of varieties, although they are more expensive than lock boxes. There is no true fallback alternative to let your guests in if there is a problem with the smart lock, in addition to the higher expense.
Surveillance Cameras
You and your investment should feel secure when you take the effort to prepare your house for short-term rentals. We do advise installing security cameras on the outside of your property because, obviously, you never want to invade the privacy of your visitors inside the house. In general, security cameras are a smart idea because they may keep you safe from dishonest visitors. We have used outside security cameras to solve the issues of excess visitors and dogs. Almost all vacation rentals will have a maximum number of guests allowed, and any extra guests will incur additional costs. Every rental will also include whether pets are permitted, any restrictions, and whether there is an extra occupancy or cleaning cost. Frequently, guests who claim to be part of a party of four arrive with 5, 6, or even more than 12 persons. Alternatively, someone can be aware of the “no pets” restriction but nevertheless bring their Doberman. If you purchase security cameras, you will have evidence of a large group of 15 people entering your home or a litter of pups scampering up the porch. You will thus have no trouble defending the additional prices to Airbnb and will make sure that you are always fairly rewarded for the number of guests or for any additional cleaning costs you may have as a result of animal guests.
Temperature Regulators
When preparing your property for short-term rentals, there are a number of reasons to install a smart thermostat. After the visitors have left, you will be able to remotely check in on the house to make sure that your heating or cooling costs won’t soar because your home was left at 60 degrees in the middle of summer or 75 degrees in the dead of winter. This can be even more crucial in the winter in colder climates since if the heat is turned off, pipes frequently freeze. Turning the heat or air conditioning off between guests and turning it back on a few minutes before the new guests arrive will also help to ensure that the house is at a pleasant temperature.
Stock it with the necessities
Stocking your property with Airbnb necessities is one of the simplest and most common activities when preparing it for short-term rentals. We advise you to spend some time adding at least these items to it:
- toilet paper / paper towels / sponges
- shampoo/conditioner/soap/body wash
- dishwasher soap/laundry detergent
- salt & pepper
- ketchup & mustard
- cooking oil and pots and pans
- wine opener & can openers
- salad bowls & steak knives
- flatware/cutlery, plates/bowls & glasses
Your guests will notice and mention it in your reviews if you can give them everything they’ll need to eat, cook, and live in the house.
Get Your Digital Welcome Guide Ready
You haven’t finished preparing your house for short-term rentals until you’ve created your digital welcome guide. All the information the visitors will need to ensure a secure and comfortable stay is contained here. Include a page with operating guidelines, safety information, the location of fire extinguishers, and any operating instructions for the fireplace, fire pit, and spa. Your suggestions for the top restaurants, entertainment hotspots, and relaxation spots in town ought to be included in your welcome packet. Ours is also used to highlight all the facilities in our homes. For instance, inform them of your WiFi password.
