If you’re unfamiliar with what goes into a guest policy, here is a quick guide to help you through it.
As a landlord, you know that there is a fine line between being hospitable and being taken advantage of. That is why you need a Guest policy, which ensures that you and your tenants are on the same page. If you’re unfamiliar with what goes into a guest policy, here is a quick guide to help you through it.
The guest policy will apply to the people that your tenants bring into the place they’re renting. It is important to have a policy on this for the safety of other residents and personnel in the area. To help you navigate the creation of such a policy, here are some guide questions:
Before the pandemic, most people were allowed to bring in anyone they wanted. But in these trying times, landlords have the power to declare that only immediate family members be allowed on the premises for health and safety concerns. They can also limit the number of guests and ban social gatherings under many circumstances.
The last thing you want is someone moving into someone else’s apartment without permission. Imagine renting out a one person apartment to two people paying for one person’s rent. That’s not fair. Setting a guest stay limit will prevent this from happening.
If you’re renting an AirBnB property, then you’ll be getting guests exclusively who will only stay for a limited time period. The disadvantage of this is that short-term tenants don’t have as much accountability. If they mess something up, they can just pack up and leave. The guest policy is where you set all the ground rules. Here is how to do just that.
The more people that stay over, the more space they’re going to need. And the more space they use, the bigger the mess they could leave. Make sure to leave it in the guest policy to state how many people are staying. If they decide to bring people over, make the extra heads pay as well. You don't want three guests paying for the price of one.
With guests, you can be just a little bit more strict than with tenants. If you don’t like the mess that pets leave, you have the option to ban pets during their stay. Smoking can also be banned inside the premises. And if you’re not a party house, you can ban those too. It’s all up to you as the landlord to decide the rules to enforce.
Renting out your property, whether to guests or tenants, needs precaution that can be enforced. While you want them to feel at home as much as possible, you also need to remind them to be respectful of the property and the other people living around in it. But at the same time, nobody likes a totally strict landlord that won’t allow anything. So make sure that the policies that you want to enforce are fair and reasonable.
If you have your hands full at the moment, you may be looking for property management companies in Ottawa, Ontario to handle these things for you. Fahel & Co Property Management is the best real estate management firm that can provide quality care for landlords we represent. Contact us today!
