Can you use a property manager for your private room ? - How to rent a private room as a short term rental
In theory you could but in practice it is not really conciveable.
Would you accept that a person takes care of finding
What is a property manager ?
The purpose of a property manager is to outsource the logistics related to your listing. It makes perfect sense if you are renting a full house on airbnb, though it has its costs. It is a charge that range between 20-30% of the total rental income. The price will vary depending on the level of outsourcing you are requesting:
Action Independant company Friend or relative Automatization
Listing management It is their job, and most do it very well Ok if they are familiar to the platform It can be done remotely so if you have internet access you can still do it
Cleanning They can do it and it will need efforts to set up the logistics. It can involve occasional arguments. Can help greatly and it can be quick if they know your place and have your help with laundry If you have a regular cleaner it can be organized as usual.
Check-in / Check-outs They can do it and it will need efforts to set up the logistics Can help greatly and it can be quick if they know your place Yes with a secured safe or an electronic door
Point of contact for questions and problems during the stay of the guests They can do it and it will need efforts to set up the logistics Can help greatly and it can be quick if they know your place It can be done remotely so if you have internet access you can still do it
Repairs and miscallenous They can do it and it will need efforts to set up the logistics Can help greatly and it can be quick if they know your place You will be difficult to have remote option to deal with such situations
Advice : if your listing is in an area where the competition is fierce or the average price is quite low, the minimum costs of a property manager will not be compatible with the revenye from your rent. In that case you won’t have a choice and you will have to manage it yourself.
Why it sounds inappropriate to use an independant property manager for your private room ?
The situation is that you are outsourcing work to a person or a company that will work on its own schedule and communicate directly with the guests.
Mainly because the manager will overlap with your private space and it would be too complicated to manage situations for times when you are not here. For these 2 reasons it is very complicated to have a smooth management when you are there. The problems can vary due to communication problems and disagreements about the payments. For example if you are at home available to do the check-in and the manager arrives to do that same check-in you will argue that you don’t need his service at that time and he will ask for a compensation for his availability to come to your place. Also if the cleaning is outsourced and you are not informed of a delay you might do it before the cleaner arrives and complain while the cleaner can be on her way and request a compensation.
So it is not appropriate to have a service of this kind be in charge inside your house. Some process will be involved and they will almost never fit with your needs.
What are your options if you have to outsource the logistics of your listing ?
The situations when you totally outsource that service must be very occasional. Mostly if you are away from home for a few days. Then you should set up a plan:
Use the help of a friend who is aware of the work that it represents to deal with guests. It would be ideal if it is a friend who is already in charge of other listings on a regular basis.
Communicate to the guest and to that person all the details of the rentals when he should be there. Airbnb has configured the system of co-host that allows you and your contact to share all the information necessary for the rent and share the chatroom with the guest. It solved the problems of communications, which ensures that 90% of the problems can be avoided.
Arrange in advance systems to help that person:
Explain to your contact everything he needs to know about your apartment, the specificities in the kitchen, the bathroom, with the wifi, and with any applicance or door/window that need special care when operated.
Save them the time of laundry : Prepare extra sets of linen and towels, extra rolls of toilet paper. Store them in a room that is not accessible to the guests to make sure that they will not use it. For example your bedroom.
Arrange autonomous check-in and check-out if you can: use safe padlocks that can hide the key. It will avoid your friend to waist time waiting for your guest if they are delayed. Then prepare in advance a document that can help the guest to understand how everything works in your apartment. You can let your contact organise a face to face meeting to ensure that the explanations are clear and if they need anything. It is a good time to reinforce your house rules and also organise in advance the check-out.
Consider paying that contact and decide of a price in advance. If it is not with money, make sure that this friend can rely on you when he will need the same service another time.
Advice: think about it before you may need it. If you realize that you have accepted a rental for a period when you cannot manage the logistics your self, you should be able to use a back-up to avoid at all cost to have to cancel a reservation. Or it can cost you to loose your superhost status…
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