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Your home is your pride and joy, it’s more than a place you rest. Therefore, opening your home to guests naturally poses concerns around safety and security. At City Relay we have implemented a structure for the safe management of our hosts’ properties which greatly limits the risks involved whilst short-letting. Here are several solutions to help you keep your home safe.
Your home’s description
Your home’s online description is the first contact you have with potential guests, as well as the first opportunity to let them know about your standards. Therefore, it’s important to make your listing as descriptive as possible with respect to what you expect from your guests and the way they should treat your home. Always keep the privacy of your property’s location safe when talking about your home and nearby locations.
Additionally, ensure that the number of guests that can comfortably fit inside the property is correctly advertised, while taking into account the impact it will have on the neighbours around you.
Guest vetting
One of the hardest things when short-letting your home is to trust the guests that you are welcoming into your home. Online booking platforms such as Airbnb have several security procedures in place to identify the guest within their profile. Reading their profile, especially the reviews by other hosts who have let them stay on their property, provides greater peace of mind over their intentions with your home.
Whilst this may not be as easy for a single homeowner to implement, at City Relay our team verifies all IDs and passports, undergoes other after-booking security checks and conduct all check-ins in person to limit the chance of guest safety concerns.
Private messaging and communication
This one follows the previous point. Staying in contact with your guests is a nice way of making sure their stay will be great, and your hosting experience will be as well. You will be able to answer all your guests’ questions and tell them about the specifics of your home, thus ensuring no miscommunication or issues will occur on either side.
Keeping track of your conversations might also be useful and add to your home’s safety, just in case a problem happens that you may need to raise further.
Although it might be difficult to stay in touch with your guests at all times, especially if you are on holiday, it is an effort worth making. If you ever need help, note that our dedicated team for guest relations can take this burden off your shoulders and make sure your bookings go as smoothly as possible.
Deposit and insurance
Even if you welcome the perfect guests to your property and take care of everything the best you can, small accidents can sometimes still occur. This is why deposits and registering for specialist short-let insurance are highly recommended when renting your home.
For instance, when listing your home on Airbnb, their Host Guarantee protects you by up to $1,000,000 per host for damages in the rare event that guest damages rise above the security deposit or if no security deposit is in place.
It is sometimes a bit tricky to figure out all of this on your own. This is why we recommend you get in touch with Pikl. They are our preferred partner who will be able to offer you the best advice regarding everything related to home insurance and short letting.
At City Relay, we have taken all precautions to make your hosting experience as hassle-free as possible. Becoming a host is quick and easy. Simply click the button below and fill out your details to view your property’s earning potential!
