Having a short term rental in your real estate portfolio is a great investment and opportunity to increase cash flow on a home. As with any home, there are going to be things that require maintenance with the home. The challenge comes when you have a guest in house or a guest preparing to checkin when something goes awry. Will you be able to fix the issue in time or resort to cancelling? Those of you already managing a short term rental are all too familiar with AirBNB's dreaded SuperHost qualification which allowed for ZERO cancellations per year- way to go with the flexibility for emergencies. This means you must have a plan in place and be prepared, whether you are Tim the Toolman Taylor or you have a handy man on retainer for fixups.
During our time managing short term rentals, I've seen it all. Guests who've left a door open at a ski resort rental during a snow storm that was so bad the toilet water froze to basic home maintenance like the A/C going out. In July. In Las Vegas. In both instances, we had to have a strategy that went something like this:
#1. How bad is the damage? Is it something that will prevent the guest from checking in? Do I have the supplies to fix it?
#2. Do I need to notify the guest or is it something that can be corrected before their arrival?
#3. If it cant be corrected before they arrive, is there a temporary remedy?
#4.Go fix the issues so the guest isn't impacted and COMMUNICATE to the guest.
Vacation rentals live and die by their rating and failing at these steps is a sure way to receive negative feedback. In my experience, I have found that even in the worst scenarios, over communicating to the guest has lended itself well to the guest experience and to our ratings on AirBNB and VRBO. Ensuring they aren't surprised on arrival with a repair man on the roof or toilet in the front yard is a small commitment to creating a better guest experience.
SuiteHost is a full service Vacation Rental Property Management Company in the Las Vegas and Henderson area. We specialize in helping local homeowners leverage their real estate investments to maximize return