Your thoughts on letting friends use your VR??

Question

After nearly a year we had our first friend request to use one of our cabins. He mentioned a few times he'd tell everyone he knew to help us get business. I replied each time with "thanks, but we don't need help. In fact we'd prefer you didn't even tell anyone it was our cabin." At the time I was flattered that someone finally thought one of my homes was cool enough to check out. The inevitable happened. Another friend from the same circle has now asked to stay. Only, he wants to stay 4 nights. For free. Do you have a system in place for friend requests? Free no questions/50% off/Full price no exceptions? Love to hear your thoughts!!!

Jon Crosby · Answer

@Lucas Carl I love this question and topic! It's one of those things that nobody ever thinks about before buying a VR. Here is how I handle it take from it what you will, every situation is different I'm guessing however. I like to supplement my advertising via Facebook ads during the slow season. As you can imagine, I already have quite a few friends that 'Like' the page and so what I will do is specifically target an Ad to my friends in between the prime weeks and say something like '20% off to my close friends and family from now until June 1st' or something like that. What it does is sets a precedence right off the bat which says the following:> I'm thinking about my friends and family and trying to allow them the means to enjoy our cabin> This is NOT a free place to stay and this 20% off is your best bet at getting any type of discount to stay here.> I'm running a business, advertising it like a business and will treat it as such. If I owned a bar would you expect me to just hand you a bottle of Vodka for free just because you are a 'friend' and asked for it? Now that is what I do for most people. For close family or VERY close friends then my general rule is as follows:> Never during peak season or prime holidays (because I would be paying them to stay at my place since it's guaranteed high rate bookings)> If I let you stay for free you have to pay for the House Keeping fee and make sure they post a review somewhere, even if it's just my Facebook site. Good luck to you on your decisions! Cheers!~Jon

Cody L. · Answer

lol, this topic is funny. I'm on vacation and my friend wanted to borrow my Oculus Rift headset (VR). I said "Sure". So when I saw this, that's what I was thinking. And also thought "What an odd question for BP"

Ken Dillard · Answer

My wife and I just had this debate. We are buying our first rental property soon and are beginning to talk about it openly with others. We know the day will come when some one will ask to just use it. Our thoughts are:When we talk about our investment we make sure people understand why we are doing this - To set ourselves up for a retirement. With this being an investment and business out in the open most people will not ask for special treatment.We will be clear - we don't even stay there during high rental seasons. It's purpose is to be rented.Offer nights not rented. With minimum stays you may end up with gaps in your schedule and do them a favor. "Hey, glad you asked. We happen to have the 14th and 15th open provided you are OK to..." (see next).We have also decided we should not go in the hole at all for this. They will pay the cleaning fee and other incidentals.We are trying to decide how to still have them book through AirBnB. Keeps up the business aspect, builds rentals, and reviews.If they just want to book something, we will provide a discount in off seasons.Any of my friends or family I want around will be happy with all of that and happy we have found a way to fund some retirement income.Good Luck.

Mindy Jensen · Answer

I wish I could vote for @Jon Crosby's post more than once. This advice is so spot on.

Jeremy Baker · Answer

I didn't see anyone mention this, but also keep in mind of any tax implications when letting friends/ family use your condo for free or charge them less than market rate. As far as I know, these days count against your personal use days and you are allowed 14 days of personal use or 10% of the time the property is rented.

Peter R. · Answer

As a few people mentioned, you should charge them something. The bar analogy is a great one @Jon Crosby We have a set rule that 2 weeks before any open date are friends and family eligible with the exception of peak season weeks in the case of someone really wanting an advanced booking.But in general, if the date is open on our calendars and it's 2 weeks or less out, it's all yours for a reduced rate.That rate is our rack rate + 10% usually. What it actually costs us to operate the rental plus a small markup. If I'm wanting a review I'll sometimes run them through a booking engine but these days I save the fee and I'll settle for Facebook or Google reviews with some instagram shots while they're on-property.

Michael Greenberg · Answer

As @Thomas S. mentioned, this is a "business" so my advice is to treat it as such. Hard to do I know, but I would explain that this is your business and unfortunately I cannot accommodate your request. Remove your personal feelings from it. @Jon Crosby has sound advise as well and I too provide discounts to close friends if they book directly with me (not through Airbnb, VRBO etc). My true friends always offer to pay, full price and I am more likely to discount to those that don't ask or expect it.

Thomas S. · Answer

You do not need or want friends in this business. They usually turn into leaches.Treat them as any other tenant, if you must, and charge full rates.My system is I do not rent to friends, friends of friends, family or friends of family.

Connor Heim · Answer

Non-investors don't think about your investment property as an actual financial instrument. Most of us understand that asking to use it for free is the equivalent of saying, "hey, I see you have $5000 in the bank. May I have 250 of it? ". For that very reason, I don't really intend to talk to many people about my investment properties. Just keep it all quiet.

Luke Carl · Answer

Maura Paler said it best. I think it's time I stop talking about my cabins and instantly shutting down any ideas. Luckily we're not on social media and I think that helps