You mentioned you backed out of the rentals that had the 25 age limit. Yes, there are probably going to be a longer list of rules, etc. I do have a high maintenance property…from a guest perspective - hardwood floors, log cabin furniture, wooden kitchen counter tops, etc. I’m out in an area where (during summer) all drink bottles, etc. need to be rinsed and put outdoors in recycling. You can’t leave this on the counter overnight or there will be gnats swarming everywhere, and hard to get rid of.
Do you know how many people don’t even know that if they drag furniture across hardwood floors, they will leave scratches all over the floor? So now there is a rule. And the wooden kitchen counters will be replaced but for now guests must be told that setting hot pans on it will leave permanent ring marks. The whole counter is marked up with people leaving drinks sitting over night, etc.
All of the log furniture needs to be redone. There are scratches all over the benches, tables, and chairs. Maybe this time a thicker finish can be put on. But I haven’t quite figured out the scratches on the kitchen benches. I don’t think people would leave keys in their back pocket, as that would be uncomfortable. I think they are picking up coolers and setting them on there, and that’s where all the scratches are coming from.
One time a young person took the hose and tried to fill up the backyard pond. Luckily, I saw this on camera. So now there is a rule not to do this and the well may go dry.
There is an indoor fireplace and I would not trust a bunch of teens or early twenty somethings to take great care to ensure the fireplace screen is always up to protect the hardwood floors from sparks flying onto the floor. No, I envision a marshmellow roast.
I had a set of guests use dish liquid soap for the dishwasher - the whole kitchen floor was flooded.
And the whole towel and make up issue (that I have now resolved because of more rules) is ridiculous. I just really cant understand why someone thinks it’s okay to use towels to remove their makeup.
The glass stove top - one person really went to town to try and remove something from the top and scratched up one of the burners really bad. My partner was able to mostly restore it, so it doesn’t look too bad now. But now there is another rule on how to take care of it.
So man guests weren’t off the property by check out time…so again another rule saying they will be charged a fee if not off of the property on time.
But all of the things I mentioned can be all ages, not just people under 25. So if older people are already doing these things, younger people are not going to take even better care of the place. I would trust one couple who was in their early twenties, vs. a group who are more likely to be partying more often. But if I did not have a list of rules the place would be a wreck…I would be replacing towels and linens like crazy - I would be contributing to the guest hotel mentality that they can treat another’s home like the Motel 6. Guests would hate that the kitchen is infested with gnats. - my reviews would reflect this, and then I wouldn’t have bookings. Last year it got really, really bad. But this year after implementing the rule, I rarely saw a gnat.
When I think back to all the many, many roommates (I had tons) that I had from 18 - 22, I would never rent to any of them. They weren’t even responsible enough to receive their full portion of the deposit back. I always got mine back, but they always managed to damage something, or didn’t properly leave the place clean at move out time and were charged.
