Welcome Advice from Renters for Rentals

[TooFarTampa]

Send a link to this site so they can get up to speed before and after the trip. Also - I will posting the guide once complete from the good tourist thread.

Kurt, as an owner who is presently embroiled in several issues between our renters (more than one set!) and our management company, this site has been extremely instructive. I'm getting a good feel for how to handle things (honesty, reason and communication are key) and more importantly, the various perspectives of everyone involved. What's fair, what isn't. What do people expect, what things are just nice to have and know.

Thanks for bringing so many people together for such fine conversation and ideas. I have told all my renters since Dennis to come here for information and those who have checked it out have LOVED it. They feel part of the community before they even hit 30-A.

By the way, on my "list of things to do" in the offseason -- after we make a few improvements -- is getting one of your VTs!

 

[Miss Kitty]

Send a link to this site so they can get up to speed before and after the trip. Also - I will posting the guide once complete from the good tourist thread.

Great idea as ususal Kurt...they could learn a lot, just like we all have! I'm going to add this site to my welcome at the front of my NEW guest book! It will probably grow legs again with that valuable info!!!!

One of the don'ts for WC renters is NO pics of you and your family...I try to follow all the rules, but was thinking about putting up a huge pic of my whole family (need a great caption) for our guests to look at, hoping it makes people realize it is a HOME owned by real people!!!!

XNAY on the candles ladies....you have the right idea!!! No ammunition required!

 

[newyorker]

This is an interesting thread.
My family (me, husband, and now two older teens) have rented here for about 10 years, and years before that at other beaches.
We now fly down here from upstate NY, so bringing very much beyond the necessities is out. Furthermore, if you've read Anthony Bourdin's wonderful book "Kitchen Confidential" (which I read on Seagrove Beach a few years ago)--all any kitchen really needs is several very good knives. We love to cook when we come down here, believe it or not--between Modica's and now Publix, the beach gourmet can find heaven; the fish is so fresh and the wine stores are great (even the Tom Thumb now has very drinkable moderately priced wines.)
But we appreciate things such as the following:
--a good corkscrew
--a toaster oven to heat things like leftover Cafe Spiazzia pizza
--a refrigerator with crushed ice on the door
--a small food processor (we never use a blender)
--good pans that don't burn the garlic and fish
--a working garbage disposal (stinky garbage is gross)
--some starter things like paper towels, dish soap, dishwasher powder, toilet paper, etc. including salt and pepper;
--enough wine glasses and dishware and place mats for a nice meal
--VCRs/DVD players that work;
--a decent radio/CD player
--a notebook with current info re restaurants, things to do, etc.

We've cooked some of the best meals ever down here --you don't need particularly fancy kitchens, and the ingredients and the view of the beach are the most important thing. We have always appreciated nicely done condos, and we try to leave them picked up and relatively clean. Friends of ours in Saratoga rent their house "during the track season" (August)--so I know well that even upscale renters can be obnoxious, and we try to remembe that we are staying in someone's home.

 

[DBOldford]

No on candles and the big ones are expensive enough that people don't usually buy them. I even put away the candle holders and votive cups in the owners closet. We ask our housekeeper what will survive, what will not. She's almost always batting 1000 over the course of a year.

Favorite message in a Conch Out guest book so far:

"Grayton is great! Sara didn't like guys until she came down here."

 

[Kim Smith]

I think you all are very nice and have some great ideas for your guests. However, if you have a lot of repeat visitors it is probably because they love something besides the extra touches. IMHO, as nice as it is, I'd stop spending my money! FYI...We rent through WC and are not able to leave extras out. I too have had my guest book taken and thought it might have been a mistake, by why wouldn't someone be decent enough to send it back?

For those of you that are self-renters....Do you send your guests a list of guidelines for being a good/safe guest on the beaches before they come? I think everyone should...including the big developments as it gives people a chance to read up before they arrive. If they receive it only on arrival, they may be too excited to read it since they want to get down to those gorgeous beaches! Just a thought.

I believe that guests come back to a home because of the extra touches and it really doesn't cost that much when you think about it to add a few of the extra things. I know with the competition out there now with the number of rental homes available you almost have to do some extra things, especially if you rent on your own.

When someone rents my home they are pretty much going to have everything that I would want if I rented somewhere. I do have a lot of the extra's that guests are talking about. When my guests first arrive they are greeted with a "beachy bag". I found some ice buckets in all kinds of colors and have filled them with rafts, coozies, water, goggles and 2 towels. I don't leave coffee and things like that because everyone tastes are different During their stay they can use the bucket to haul things back and forth to the beach or even to put drinks and ice to chill on a hot summer day.

I have a very kid friendly home because 90% of my guests have children. I do offer a TV, VCR, and DVD in all my rooms. I have Video and DVD's for my guests to watch. I have stereo's on all levels and my husband has made copies of CD's of all types of music for our guests to use. I have rocking chairs on the two main levels for those families who till rock at night. I have games of all age groups, including adults, for my guests to use. I have brought down extra Nintendo and Gamecubes and my kids have picked games for the younger guests to use. I bought some bikes at a garage sale and have those for my guests to use along with helmets and a bicycle pump. I have a booster seat and child gate and also a baby monitor for those parents who may have forgotten or don't want to pack those things. I also make sure my outlet covers are child proof and leave extra's under the sink. I leave security door knob handles for those doors which are above the 2nd floor that leads out to a deck. I make sure that every room has a night light so you can get around at night. I also have tons of books and magazines for all age groups.

As far as my kitchen, I buy two of everything because at some point your going to have to replace something. We have pretty much stocked our kitchen with suggestions from our guests. Once my guests leave I always email them to find out how their stay was and to see what our home may have needed that would have made their stay more enjoyable. Sometimes what we think is important may not be to someone else and I have gotten great feed back. I will always try and add a few things because it is ususally something that I have not thought of and you never know they may be back again and look for that item.

I do think that when you rent on your own as opposed to using a rental company, you can put some of the extras because you have a little more control over who you rent to. I always email my guests with a do and don't list before they arrive. I try to answer all of their questions prior to their arrival. By the time my guests arrive for their vacation, we are on a first name basis. I believe it is so important for you as a homeowner to get to know those guests and to do some of the little extras because that is what they will remember.

 

[Paula]

Wow, Kim. You are amazing! Are there booster chairs that can be strapped onto a regular chair these days that are safe (so we don't need to store a high chair)? It has been 10 years since we had a baby in a high chair so I don't know what's new.

I also buy two of kitchen things that tend to get lost - measuring spoons, measuring cups, can openers, cork screws.

 

[Kim Smith]

The booster chair that I have is the safety first in the primary colors that straps to the back of a regular chair. When my kids were younger I would even set it on the floor and use it that way too. We thought about leaving a high chair and port-a-crib but my husband also thought about the liability of those two items, expecially the port-a-crib and we decided against it. The child gate and baby monitor has been great because those tend to be two things that guests really don't think about.

It really is not that expensive to have some of the extras. I buy a lot of my things after season or when they are beginning to discontinue the item and that is when I buy two.

 

[Paula]

Thanks, Kim. Is there any reason to worry about liability with the booster seat (e.g., a guest doesn't tie it to the chair right and then the child falls or if a strap is coming apart and the child falls)?

I agree that it doesn't cost too much to add special things for guests. The only things that ever stops me from doing so are (1) storage limitations and (2) liability.

 

[Kim Smith]

I can't say that it would not happen, but I don't think the liability would be as much as having an actual highchair that is off of the ground. I know this one has been around for a long time and I used it with all three of my kids and never had a problem. As I said before, I know a lot of parents just put in on the floor because it has a tray with it and the child is directly on the floor as opposed to the chair. I do make that suggestion when I am talking with them.

I ususally store my extra's in our downstairs closet because that seems to be the room that doesn't get as much traffic. We thave 3 master suites in our home so the bottom bedroom is ususally the last to get used. My husband put up a bunch of shelving so that is where I put everything.

It always seems to be the small things that make the best impression and my goal is to have those guests who want to come back year and year.

 

[Paula]

Thanks, Kim. It's very helpful to share "best practices" -- in the end, our guests benefit, we benefit, and SoWal benefits when we take good care of our guests.