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My new property has a garage but I am not about to leave a garage door opener so one of my guests can lose it. I was wondering if anyone has a smart door opener you can recommend? It will have to work with Samsung Smarthings because that is what I use with my front door lock.
One less thing to worry about I remember reading about a guest closing garage door on a car. Where I am I was able to rent my garage to two different people for parking sports cars in before I converted it into my office. The last STR I stayed in had a garage and it was not available to guests.
Bottom line is I do not think it would add any value to the STR, people do not expect to be able to park in a garage.
GOControl makes a Z-Wave controller for garage door openers.
they also offer sensors that would allow you to monitor the status of the door. https://amzn.to/31AhzgC
Depending on brand but for example, Liftmaster remotes can easily be had for about $13, probably a lot less if you shop. If a guest walks (drives) off with one, request they send it back and if not take it out of deposit. You mention brand of lock but not garage door opener. By the time you find out what will work and buy whatever bridging is necessary …
Over two years and a couple of dozen guests, no one has left with garage or gate remotes.
Probably one of the reasons we are still getting bookings is the fact we offer parking, according to the guests who checked in today. On BDC they filtered for car parking, and while we weren’t the cheapest, they went with us.
City centre listings are different, car parking is an issue. We rent two garage spaces about 300m from our apartments, and over the past couple of years, only about three guests didn’t use those spaces.
Just so you know, there is no actual “Deposit” through Airbnb. What they call a deposit means nothing. Airbnb collects nothing from guests for deposits. If you ask for reimbursement from the “deposit,” Airbnb has to get the money from the guest then, at the guest’s authorization. So—don’t count on any deposit at all.
I normally didn’t allow guests to use the garage at my listing because I keep a personal vehicle in it, but I did have two guest groups that wanted to use the garage to park expensive bicycles, and I allowed it.
That is what you should do, but like a front door lock, it would ideally be programmable and automatically change with every guest. If you allow a guest to have a remote that they can keep in their car, you’re going to lose a lot of remotes. A phone app would be ideal. I know they exist, but not sure if they have the features you’d need for short-term rentals.
Yes, I know RebeccaF, that there isn’t a deposit per se and I’ve not had any need to try and get money on it. And I’m pretty sure I’d get screwed if I did given my experience with ABB. My main point is, a garage remote could almost be considered a disposable item with some rentals. And, as I said, two years and not a garage, gate nor alarm remote to replace. I guess the guests that come to this area are a lot less troublesome than what I see on this forum. Ours is a free-standing guest house with a detached garage and has been very welcomed by guests not wanting to park in the broiling sun and been saved digging out of a foot of snow!
If the host does not want to go the remote route, a keypad would solve the problem as well. Type of opener wasn’t mentioned but certainly most common brands will have that accessory.
I agree that something smart would be preferable. For example, when the guest is leaving for the final time, they will need to pull out of the garage, close the door with the remote, and then what? Walk back in the house? You’re correct it’s a lot of trouble and as we all know from past experience the less friction and tasks that you need to Guest to do the better for everybody
My husband thought of buying a bunch of remote control openers in case someone does leave with one we can have another ready to go until they mail it back or IF they do.
It’s good to know people follow your rules. At my current place they have my hard parking pass (it’s a condo) and three people left with it, two mailed it back one didn’t. I’ve only been renting less than one year. I set up a reminder e-mail now to go out at 9am on check out day and so far it’s been left at my condo.