Dealing with short term and long term complains from your neighbors
EYour vacation rental home might be getting great reviews from guests and making a tidy profit. But if your property is in a residential area that isn’t specifically aimed at tourists, you risk alienating your neighbors. You might even attract the attention of the local authorities and face a ban on your vacation rental property.
Your best strategy is to get your local community on your side and build great vacation rental neighbor relationships. If you’re proactive in communicating with your neighbors, you’ll be more likely to achieve a peaceful solution should problems arise.
Let’s begin by looking at the strategies you can use to build trust and rapport with your neighbors
Speak in person
This might be the most critical step to making amends with your neighbors. One of the reasons neighbors hate vacation rentals is because of their impersonality. Many people move to neighborhoods to have a sense of community. If your vacation rental is full of passersby and you never make an effort to introduce yourself, they might feel like they’re living amongst strangers. Taking the step to talk to your neighbors in person will help to humanize the interactions and eliminate any room for misinterpretation
Refer to your vacation rental rules
If meeting in person didn’t help to ease tensions, you might need to fall back on your neighborhood rules. As stated, your vacation rental needs to be in full compliance with the local laws. If you’ve already ensured this, it might be helpful to show your neighbors that the operation of your vacation rental business doesn’t break any rules.
Tread carefully, as you don’t want it to seem like you’re throwing proof at them. Gently highlight that your vacation rental isn’t doing anything wrong or illegal and that you’re happy to work with them to find a solution.
Ban events and parties
It’s probably not the existence of your vacation rental that’s bothersome, but rather what happens there. Nobody wants a bass-thump in their living room every weekend, nor do they want strangers taking up all the cul-de-sac parking. You might need to reassess the rules listed in your vacation rental house rules so as not to further the tension.
Setting an age limit, adding a noise clause, and prohibiting parties might scare away some, but ultimately this will help to eliminate troublesome guests and keep your neighborhood problems at bay.
Implement reasonable check-in and check-out times
Even if your guests aren’t party animals, the sound of luggage wheeling over the sidewalk at 6 in the morning for red-eye flights or late-night check-ins can drive your neighbors mad, and rightfully so! Only allowing reasonable check-in and check-out times prevents any unnecessary noise outside of your home at unreasonable hours.
Only allowing guests who would be good neighbors, although temporary, will help those who live nearby to feel a little better about your vacation rental. Ultimately, people want to live in peace, so make sure your property and guests don’t disturb that.