studiode

As someone who has much experience renting long-term rentals, I have two words to add: Bed Bugs!

As always, Houzz delivers. We, aside from our home, own another property locally that we rent yearly. We want to sell the rental property and buy a vacation home that we can rent for six months of the year. We will use it for the other six months. If selling and buying investment properties happens in a required time frame,capital gains taxes are not an issue. When we buy the vacation home to rent six months and use six months, this all inclusive article on renting should prove to shave off months of trial and error work
. I am sure it will also prove to be cost effective in helping us spend our money wisely.

I've been renting my one bedroom basement suite since Feb. 2010 with very little negative experience. The only 2 events were one young man who wanted a last minute rental and came by to see it and decided it wasn't worth $100/night and then started to offer all sorts of advice to make it worthier! and the second were 4 young women who left a ton of garbage everywhere, including some takeout coffee in the garbage still filled with the drink. That's it - frustrating at the time, yet not so bad after all.

My suite is approx. 750 s. ft., can accommodate up to 4 guests and I purchased an American Upholstery sofa-bed to guarantee comfort. Guests are always surprised at its comfort and have written reviews stating so!

I advertise on 3 websites and have 20% vacancy when I review at years end. It is work, but I am semi-retired so can fit it in. I have a cleaner I pay and we communicate via e-mail to schedule and refund damage deposits. I even offer it when I'm away travelling and have a lock-box with a key for guests to let themselves in.

Almost all communication is via internet. One comment here suggested phone calls prior to booking, I don't do this as a regular practice but when I have I do feel like its made a difference. I usually get a booking after a phone conversation when I otherwise get about 12 bookings out of 100 inquiries with internet as the only communication tool.

I usually ask for a review as much of the sharing economy needs this support. I've had 2 bad reviews and I have responded in a professional manner as they came from people who seem to complain as a lifestyle. At first I was freaked out by the negative reviews but have seen that other guests have responded to them negating their impact.

I believe comfort, cleanliness, and good communication is far more important than interior design. I redesigned my suite when we had a flood in the basement and decorated it with some of my vintage finds and pieces from traveling. I think most people do not decorate as I do yet like the different styling. Most comment positively on it. I also suggest little clutter and amenities as a full-length mirror, iron and board, etc. We don't have laundry in the suite and its made little difference since most of our guests stay 4-10 days. We also have many return guests who are visiting their grandchildren who live nearby yet in apartments too small to accommodate them.

I highly recommend doing this as I can book it for family when its needed or make a little extra when its sitting empty!

If you're ever in Vancouver, BC look us up on FlipKey #190951

@Carole Rains
Thank you for that tasty bit of trivia. I never knew that, but it makes perfect sense! Unknowingly, I set my chairs on a downward slope on a hillside to face the view (see photo in previous post), and may be why we find them so comfortable to get in and out of. In my case, the chairs overlook the Hudson River and Catskill mountains, which are the next set of mountains just south of the Adirondacks.

Sometimes I wonder how much you can do with an Adirondack chair and then I'm reminded each time with different finishes, alterations in the curvature of the seat back, and the angle of the seat itself. I love the first one. It's ultra-modern, sleek, and chic. Gorgeous.

I love to stain my Adirondacks (as we call them in Western Canada). I see them as a blank canvas. I get them from a company called Bear Chairs in Ontario, but they sell them at Costco for $50. They are really sturdy and I have 2 of them, and a tet-a-tet (Double chair with table). I stained a cedar wall behind it, so I didn't stain the double. The latest 2 I stained I call Night Sky Over Candle Lake. The last picture is a chair I stained for a friend called Lavender by the Lake.

The entry door and facade element is a surprising and neat use!
I've always loved bar grating. We've had it in our previous garden, in an area used to wash the pond filters. And we have it now along the perimeter of our large deck, where a trench filled with riverstones and covered with galvanized grating prevents rainwater that drops from the roof's overhang from splattering the windows.