Not too long ago, we heard an interesting question on how a new short term rental host could protect themselves against risks such as theft, damage and other issues. We have written about how to protect your rental against holiday letting scams, and shared a common holiday rental scam that has been doing the rounds. We have also offered some tips on how to ensure a safer holiday rental for your guests.

What about other issues that you may need to deal with as a short term rental host? How can you protect yourself from potential loss, and what do you need to ensure that your holiday letting plans go off without a hitch?

How to Protect Yourself as a Short Term Rental Host

As a new short term rental host, you may be feeling a little nervous about opening up your property to complete strangers. This is completely natural. It is no small task to become a host – especially when you are trying to do everything on your own. These tips will help you know how to better protect yourself, resulting in a far more pleasant experience as a host…

• Hire a manager. The single most effective thing you could ever do to save a great deal of time, effort and stress is to consider working with an experience short term rental manager. A good manager will run your property like a luxury hotel, giving guests the very best possible level of service while allowing you to focus on your other responsibilities without the hassle of dealing with guests, day to day maintenance, bookings, concierge and other tasks around the clock.
• Use a checklist. If you decide to go it alone, be sure that you cover all of your bases. A checklist that covers all the basics, from the state of the property on check-in and check-out to specific rules. If you do not have a checklist, it may be a lot harder to prove that something has gone missing or been broken. A checklist protects you against potential theft and damage.
• Insist on deposits. This sounds obvious, but a number of new hosts feel that they should not be too demanding. If you do not receive a deposit that has cleared in your bank account (without bouncing or being rejected by your bank), you will find it very hard to get guests to complete their payment.
• Develop and use house rules. These are important to make it clear what guests are allowed and not allowed to do during their stay. Once again, you may think this sounds obvious. If you do not have a clause that relates to noise, damage, arrivals, check-outs, use of property or anything else that may apply, guests will very likely assume they are permitted to have parties or use private pools. View our guide to holiday rental rules to get a better idea of what to include.
• Trust your instincts. Although you need to be very careful to base your suspicions on behaviour rather than religion, sexual orientation, race, gender or nationality, you should always listen to your gut feeling. If a potential guest does not have a valid contact number or ID number, payment methods do not seem legit or anything else looks out of order, do not proceed with the booking.

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We hope that these tips give you a better idea of how to protect yourself and your property. If you’re looking for assistance on getting started with a reliable short term rental manager, please contact us today. We offer a wide range of short term rental host solutions that are designed to help you grow your investment.