One time too many

[Miss Kitty]

toofargone...I agree with you. What an invasion of privacy!

 

[toofargone]

Thanks for all of your input.

We did have a wonderful time at the beach. Did a lot of biking, eating, relaxing, shopping, even took a charter in Destin and caught some nice spanish and trout.


Can't wait until next year, just a different house. If anyone has a house on the beach with private pool, let me know. We may look to rent a smaller one on the beach and one just off the beach.
Thanks, enjoy the rest of the summer. Happy 4th.

 

[skippertoo]

Happened to us one time too. We rented a place in Old Florida Cottages and the owner stopped in to bring things by THREE TIMES. Really creeped out my wife and we would never stay there again.

 

[SHELLY]

You have every right to be pizzed--you're also doing the right thing by putting your money in someone else's pocket. If this happens again, charge the owner rent for using "your" vacation home.

 

[Lady D]

The owners we rent from are not usually at their other beach house when we come in September but they were last year because of coming down earlier to take care of hurricane damage. We usually get a one time phone call from them around 7:00 to make sure we got in, but that is all. But last year, since they were right across the street, they called about two or three times. And of course, they could see us coming and going, and visa versa. But they are nice people, they lived here in Memphis until 1997, supposedly one daughter and her family still live here. So, if they came in any, or got in their storage room under the carport, I wouldn't have cared! We have nothing to hide either! But several times a day everyday is like you are not being trusted! We are talking adults with family!

 

[Santa Rosa Pete]

Reading these posts reinforces our decision not to rent our SRB house. Instinctively, I don't like the idea of strangers in my home (and most renters are, of course, strangers) but imagining that people would abuse your home just turns my stomach. Would be nice to have the rental income but I'd probably spend it all on Prilosec!

 

[goin' coastal]

Reading these posts reinforces our decision not to rent our SRB house. Instinctively, I don't like the idea of strangers in my home (and most renters are, of course, strangers) but imagining that people would abuse your home just turns my stomach. Would be nice to have the rental income but I'd probably spend it all on Prilosec!

Hindsight is always better---but if we had it to do over would have built a 2BR( or 1BR) carriage house and never rented. At the time we were holding our breath just to make that dream a reality. It does make you sick, after all it is YOUR HOME.
Don't get me wrong I worked really hard to make it beautiful for guests with fine linens and gift baskets and loved it. It is not an elaborate home like so many in the area. I wanted the stacks of white Ralph Lauren towels and the softest white sheets. For the first few years OVERALL I had wonderful guests who sent thank you notes. There is always something broken now--dining room chairs???? Will not go into the upsetting stories.
Know after you walk out (having spent your entire vacation repairing the damage and deep cleaning)---- leaving it sparkling clean, stacks of fresh white linen, guests soaps etc that is the last time it will look that way. You have no control. Now use a linen service when all my linens were LOST. I cannot even leave a throw rug in the bathrooms--they are never washed by the agency and become so filthy if I was guest I would not step on them. Please know I offered to pay extra for this service to wash the rugs. I imagine the agencies have problems finding people?? who do a good job too??? You would be surprised how little money is made after all the bills are paid. Sorry, I am RANTING. I AM grateful for the extra income to help with bills, taxes, and insurance. If it is not necessary to rent it---enjoy walking in with no surprises.
Even with fear of damage I would not drop in on guests.

 

[KBB]

You are probably right about the owners invading your privacy, but I do know that a lot of owners are handling their own landscaping, pool and all other maintenance issues so you will see them a lot more at their properties than you use too. I don't think they are "snooping" on you, but you should say something to the owner if you are bothered by it.

 

[Beach Runner]

This is unbelievable to me. I followed the advice of many of the posters on this board from last summer and decided to make a phone call to each guest to welcome them to our home. My phone call goes like this: "Hello, this is [my name], and I'd like to welcome you to our home at which you are a guest." They always respond by saying thanks and saying something positive about our home. Then I tell them that I hope they have an enjoyable stay, good weather, and if they have any problems, please email me at [my email address]. We provide a computer and high-speed wireless Internet at our home for our guests.

I got a call from the rental management company this week. The guests were offended by my call and said they felt as if they were being spied upon.

So I'm pretty down on "guests" right now. The paint spilled all over our home from our last renters still hasn't been removed. They are not answering the calls from the rental management company regarding forfeiting the damage deposit. Frankly, I don't think we'll ever get the damage deposit. I think the rental company doesn't want to offend a customer. I think that we'll be paying to re-do our pool deck.Unfortunately, thanks to escalating taxes and insurance premiums, we're not in a position to not rent, as was the case two years ago. So we're stuck having our home raped every week during the summer (the pool guy tells us the horror stories, and he never sees what goes on inside, like the chipped granite, broken bookshelves, broken beds, broken faucets, paint on the dining room rug, etc.). Thank goodness the rental season only lasts from May to mid-August, after which we can rescue our beloved home from its abuse.

It's really sad to me that people have so little respect for other people's property.

BTW, goin' coastal, I agree with you.

Addendum:
Just so I don't appear to be disparaging all of our guests, I'd like to point out that we've had some delightful guests. For example, one even gave me her home phone number and invited my husband and me to visit her and her husband at their home. How sweet is that?!

It's just takes some venting to get over the unnecessary damage, as goin' coastal has communicated. It only took a few rentals for me to realize that I had to put away the Peacock Alley linens, the Wustof knives, the $125 Frontgate pool floats, the expensive pool furniture, etc. Our home was abused from day 1 of rentals. I'd love to provide the luxury experience for our guests that I had dreamed of. But because of a few bad apples, all of our guests will be denied the experience I had planned.

So, now I've vented, and I feel somewhat better.

 

[Jdarg]

This is unbelievable to me. I followed the advice of many of the posters on this board from last summer and decided to make a phone call to each guest to welcome them to our home. My phone call goes like this: "Hello, this is [my name], and I'd like to welcome you to our home at which you are a guest." They always respond by saying thanks and saying something positive about our home. Then I tell them that I hope they have an enjoyable stay, good weather, and if they have any problems, please email me at [my email address]. We provide a computer and high-speed wireless Internet at our home for our guests.

I got a call from the rental management company this week. The guests were offended by my call and said they felt as if they were being spied upon.

So I'm pretty down on "guests" right now. The paint spilled all over our home from our last renters still hasn't been removed. They are not answering the calls from the rental management company regarding forfeiting the damage deposit. Frankly, I don't think we'll ever get the damage deposit. I think the rental company doesn't want to offend a customer. I think that we'll be paying to re-do our pool deck.Unfortunately, thanks to escalating taxes and insurance premiums, we're not in a position to not rent, as was the case two years ago. So we're stuck having our home raped every week during the summer. Thank goodness the rental season only lasts from May to mid-August, after which we can rescue our beloved home from its abuse.

It's really sad to me that people have so little respect for other people's property.

BR- don't beat yourself up. It is the same old thing- their mamas didn't raise 'em up right.