Short Term Rental FAQs

Preparing your listing:

It’s important to consider your guests expectations. While they are not expecting a cookie-cutter hotel room, there are certain features that will increase the property’s appeal and your guests’ comfort. It can be helpful to look at other property listings we manage to get an idea of what other owners offer.

Furniture:

It’s a good idea to think about how many people your property can comfortably accommodate. Make sure you have enough beds, couches and chairs to cater to all. Bunk beds can be a great way to make the most of small bedrooms. If you want to attract a particular market, e.g. families or pets, you may want to include furniture and safety precautions that are suitable to their needs.

Standard equipment:

While some guests will want nothing to do with the kitchen while on holidays, many will want to make the most of the opportunity to have affordable meals in. It is generally expected that holiday rentals will come with a fairly well-equipped kitchen with enough plates, cutlery and glasses for all guests. Basic cooking gear and other items such as a kettle and toaster are also usually expected. Outside of the kitchen, you need to supply linen and towels. Other bedding, such as blankets and pillows should be supplied. Depending on our location, we do partner with a local linen service to cater to your guests needs.

Added-value:

To make your guests stay as enjoyable as possible, it is a great idea to think beyond the necessities. Providing entertainment in the form of books, games, music, internet and perhaps even Cable TV, can help attract guests and make your property a place they want to return to and recommend to others.

What to lock away?

If your property is a place for you to holiday as well as your guests, you’re likely to have valuables and other items that you’d prefer your guests didn’t have access to. If this is the case, put a lock on a room or closet where you can store these items.

Preparing your listing:

When you are ready to advertise your property with us, you will need to fill us in with details of your property and its area that will appeal to potential guests.

Do you have someone who can help with styling to list it as a short term rental?

Finding the time to furnish and setup your property is a major problem for alot of property owners and that is why we have sourced a number of property stylists who we love to work with. We have a number of stylists who can help manage this process for you and know exactly how to make your listing stand out. Ask us for more information.

If you decide to rent your property as a holiday rental, there are a few key decisions you’ll have to make. The first being whether you want to look after the rentals yourself or use a Short term listing manager?

For those who want to closely vet potential guests, answer all the booking inquiries, welcome the guests, orchestrate the cleans then managing the rental yourself could be the way to go.

Listing with us allows us to offer homeowners like you with tailored and stress-free solutions to build successful and rewarding growth on the cashflow of your properties. With a ‘Your home is our home’ philosophy, we take existing property management initiatives and expand them through a white glove experience that is value-adding for both guests and property owners alike.

Whether you own your property primarily as an investment or as somewhere to spend your holidays, listing it as a holiday rental can be a great way to increase your return on investment.

Many people, when considering renting their property, believe that permanent lettings will ensure the best rental return and a hassle free investment. However renting a short term rental property can be a highly profitable endeavour.

Depending on the location, it may be possible to charge the regular (permanent) monthly rent for just a one week holiday stay. Leasing your property for only 12 weeks a year as a holiday rental would then generate the same investment return as a permanent tenant. Any additional weeks simply increases your return and the property is still available for you to enjoy for your own holidays.

To help you with the decision of whether to invest in a holiday rental, we have put together the following guide to give you an idea of the process.

This guide will help you understand why short-term rentals are an attractive consideration for investors or homeowners, how to prepare your place for short term rentals and how to nurture your guests so that they re-book time and time again to reduce vacancy rates.

As an owner of your primary residence you would probably have periods where you would travel for work or periods where you would take family away on holidays for extended periods. We have properties located around the country which we refer to as 'owner vacate' where our owners will offer these on a short term basis for short term vacation rentals.

We do have a property listing application form on our website. We will review your application and get in touch to answer any questions you might have or you can simply call 1300 (MY MAISON) 6962 4766. If we think your property ticks all of the boxes for short-term rental and would be viable for you we will come to visit your property in order to assess and get the ball rolling.

The short answer is yes. We have published a case study on our blog that will show you a comparison of long-term rental versus short-term rental.

On top of that, we have a couple of data analysts we work with using an algorithm that takes into account your property metrics such as your postcode, neighbourhood prices, number of bedrooms, proximity of local businesses, availability of public transport, and nearby attractions to help us determine (and more than likely increase) your nightly rate which we adjust accordingly for each property that we take on-board.

By submitting your property to MaisonNets you confirm that you would seek voluntary compliance prior by doing your due diligence to find out if you were able to offer a residential dwelling unit or house for short term rental whether you own the property yourself, or have authority to sublet from the landlord.

Absolutely! If your property isn’t already on any of the major short-term rental portals such as Airbnb, Stayz, Bookings, HomeAway, Trip Advisor, FlipKey, etc we are able to set all that up for you. We sync your listing to more than 70 portals we partner with from around the world to maximise your exposure, turning more viewers into renters.

We already service property owners in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide and even have properties in Bali that we manage. We are looking to expand so if you have a property not listed in any of these places yet, please get in touch.

We are a bit picky when it comes to taking on property and if you are an owner we are looking for the following:

• A great location: Guests need to be in close proximity to the area’s attractions whether it be a beach, CBD, a hospital, University or a mountain range.

• All the mod cons: Our guests are discerning and want properties that are clean with new-ish interiors particularly bathrooms and kitchens.

• Comfort and personality: Your property doesn’t need to look like a soulless display home. Our guests love and respect the things that make it your home.

• WIFI: WIFI is a mandatory in all of our properties unless you are promoted as a retreat/sanctuary. We can organise a portable modem if you don’t have one.

• Added benefits: A pool, gym, water views, outdoor entertaining areas, architectural features and Foxtel sports and movie channels are not essential but will certainly add to the value of your holiday rental income.

When you list your property with MaisonNets there are a number of tax issues that you will need to consider.

Do I pay Tax on my Rental Fees?

If you decide to rent out your holiday home, the rental you receive is typically regarded as assessable income. You are therefore required to declare your rental income on your income tax return. Depending on the expense, you may be able to claim certain deductions for related costs, such as certain repairs and maintenance, or the interest expense (or partial interest) on a loan used to purchase the vacation home plus the managing fees from MaisonNets. If you rent out your vacation home for only certain periods of the year, you will need to accordingly apportion expenses per ATO guidelines.

For more information visit:

https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Property/In-detail/Holiday-homes

Our management fee has a Goods & Services Tax (GST) component included, which is highlighted in the settlement email of your deposit amounts. This is because we are an Australian registered business and have to pay this amount to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

If you have lived in prior to, or subsequently decide to live in your vacation rental home, you will need to consider the application of capital gains tax (CGT) should you decide to subsequently sell your holiday home. You may not be able to claim a full exemption from CGT and therefore some apportionment may be required.

https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Property/Residential-rental-properties/Selling-a-rental-property

Depending on your individual circumstances (level of turnover, operations etc.) you may need to consider whether GST applies to you. Typically, GST does not apply to rent from "residential premises" therefore if you lease residential premises, you are not liable for GST on the rent/accommodation charges, regardless of the length of the stay. GST may apply to supplies of accommodation in "commercial residential premises". If you lease commercial residential premises, you may be liable for GST on the rent/accommodation charges.

It can be a fine line for whether a property is considered either “residential” or “commercial residential”. If you are unsure as to what applies to your property, we recommend that you check with your tax agent/financial advisor or ATO. MaisonNets cannot provide advice on these issues.

For further information as to whether or not a property is residential premises or commercial residential premises, please refer to the ATO website via the following links:

https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Property/In-detail/GST/GST-and-property/#residential_premises

https://www.ato.gov.au/general/property/property-used-in-running-a-business/commercial-residential-premises-and-gst/

You will need to ensure that you maintain adequate financial records of your statements for your holiday home rentals, especially if you plan on claiming certain expenditure as a deduction for taxation purposes. You might aim as a minimum to include a log book outlining when the holiday home was available on the open market, when it was provided to friends, family, and other associates, and when it was rented to strangers at full market value. You may also consider a system of recording mortgage repayments, rates, bills, maintenance, cleaning and other valid receipts.

You may also consider obtaining accounting software to keep all your figures in one digital file.

The comments on this page are high-level and intended as a general guide only. MaisonNets recommends you always consult with your taxation professional.

As a basic guideline we don’t allow:

• Guests under 21

• Smoking inside your property

• Unverified identity

• Pets (without owners consent)

• Parties of any description

• Functions, including dinner parties or informal gatherings attended by any person other than the guests approved to stay in your property

• Bookings with more guests than the maximum number your property can comfortably accommodate

Once your property is up and running from our side, there are some day to day tasks that we coordinate in order to maximise your bookings and keep your guests happy.

• A booking coming from any of the channels we partner syncs within seconds to your calendars on all of the other channels to show when your property is unavailable. This technology allows us to prevent double-bookings.
• We keep your pricing up-to-date on your listing adjusting for seasonality and local events, as this this will attract qualified enquiries that convert to bookings.
• We set up your standard rate immediately for the entire year ahead to also help with this.

Instant bookings are possible for so many services today, and impatient holiday-seekers are likely to move on to another property if they don’t hear back from us quickly. Online Booking will be enabled on your property and this helps meet the needs of qualified leads and increase the number of confirmed bookings. We respond to all enquiries within the hour in order to increase our chance of converting the enquiry into a booking.

Once your guests have paid their deposit, the booking is confirmed and the calendar is automatically blocked.

We hold a Refundable Damage Deposit until after the guests have left the property to safe guard you against any issues. Sometimes we also ask for credit card details to hold, however it is not unusual to take a payment beyond the rental fees that we return following the stay. A refundable damage deposit can also be requested through Online Booking.

We have very clear house rules for each booking to protect your property and your guests are aware of our cancellation policy and general terms and conditions prior to making a booking. Details include our check-in and check-out times and process, the amount due, and any property policies and legitimate policy concerns such as whether smoking, parties and pets are allowed.

• Guests don’t go looking for you on social media
• Guests get 24 hour support from our team.

We will meet and greet your guests personally, guiding them through your property or private room before leaving them with the keys. No matter what time of day or night, we can meet your guests and make sure they have settled in comfortably, having everything necessary for their stay.

We will show them through your apartment or house, how to operate the fireplace, turn on the play station, how to turn the AC on/off, where to dispose of the garbage and take care of anything else they need to know.

We take care of the little details so you don’t have to and will restock the basic kitchen and clean amenities for your guests: tea, coffee, olive oil, condiments, milk, body wash, shampoo, hand soaps, toilet paper, surface spray, dishwashing liquid, dishwasher tablets and laundry detergent... and more!

By keeping an eye on the stock, we ensure that your property is fully stocked for the next guests, leaving you with one less thing to worry about. We can also organise extras such as flowers, fresh juice or even homemade chocolate cookies for your guests to make their stay memorable and increase your ranking amongst the various rental channels.

Remember, the more positive comments and happy guests, the more bookings!

Yes, we organise all of your cleaning needs. Only the initial clean is charged to you, and we organise a full clean after each guests stay which is paid for by the guest.

Additionally, our concierge in charge of overlooking your property will check on your place after each clean to make sure the cleaning job is complete and meets our high hotel industry standards.

We must also ensure compliance with industry standards as the government and online platforms made a point to notify str operators to address legitimate policy concerns, not just for conduct but for an owner or short term property manager to adhere to cleaning standards due to Covid 19.

We review each one of your guests after each stay. If on a rare occasion there is a need to respond to a specific guest review, we will address information from feedback to discuss a resolution where necessary.

The Host Guarantee from our booking channels is not insurance and should not be considered as a replacement or stand-in for home-owners or renters insurance. You may want to consider independent insurance to cover valuable items like jewellery, artwork, or collectibles which are subject to limited protection under the Host Guarantee as well as liability

We strongly encourage all property owners to review and understand the terms of their insurance policy and what it covers and does not cover. Not all insurance plans will cover damage or loss to property caused by a guest that books your space.

We can help refer you to someone who is a specialist in short term rental insurance and who can also review your current policy to make sure it is sound for you.

We are one of a very few short term property managers with a dedicated concierge service to ensure guests get the experience of staying like a local with the added touch of a personal concierge, like a 5-star boutique hotel. We offer property owners the opportunity to increase their property portfolio cashflow by listing and promoting with over 50 leading booking platforms and channels such as AirBnB, Booking.com, as well as region-specific channels catering to specific demographics.

Our Concierge is there to ensure your guests are who they say they are, make sure they settle in well, and help your guests facilitate experiences and items which they may not be able to source on their own.

some of the amazing things that our concierges have organised are: Helicopter rides, picnic lunches, and whale watching tours

We do what all good property managers do, we protect your investment, and work on your behalf to make sure your property makes you money.

If you've ever listed a place on Airbnb, Stayz, or the like, you probably understand all the work that's involved. Guest screening, guest booking communications, key handling and exchange, organising cleaning, stocking and replenishing amenities, cleaning and pressing linen, handling future enquiries, and much much more.

Anyone who has an appropriate property and wants a higher income than what they're currently getting. This can be in the case of landlords who rent their property full time, or homeowners who use their property for around 6 months of the year or less.

We also serve real estate agents with holiday listings who would prefer to concentrate on their other business operations.

We pride ourselves on offering you a simple and transparent cost structure. We have a three tier fee structured management fee for all our properties which covers the running of your property on all our booking channels, as well as vetting of your guests and helping them settle in, properties outside major cities may require a slight surcharge if required. Amenities will be charged on a quarterly basis according to our service proposal. To find out more on the fee structure and what is included please feel free to contact us.

Guests pay for the property to be cleaned and linen to be charged.

It certainly will…for the better! As we respond to all enquiries promptly at any time of day or night, we can guarantee that potential guests viewing your property listing will get the full attention they deserve. Our fast turnaround in handling queries before their stay increases your ranking as all of the major booking platforms we partner with do reward attentive hosts.