Short term rental lesson/pool pump

[rickym20]

I thought I would share our experience to maybe help some of you avoid learning same lesson.

My siblings and I are temporarily doing the Airbnb deal during summer and snowbirds during winter on my Dads house while it is going through probate. Once That’s over we are only doing snowbirds.

The place has a pool with the typical vacuum that is set on a timer to do its thing. Our last rental family apparently took the vacuum out I am assuming since it was in their way (no problem there for me), but they left it hooked up and did not put it back in after they were done. As you Can figure out the timer kicked in later and the vacuum was sucking air for its cycling. Plumbing to the pump and after the pump was destroyed from pump overheating. Pool guy is going to repair and send us the bill which I am sure will be a costly lesson.

I am not sure how you guys handle short term rentals and the pool but we didn’t have any instructions what to do with the vacuum or what not to do. may be something for you guys to include if you do not to avoid happening to you. For the people that do and can share how they handle this, can you let me know so we can incorporate it into our program. I’m okay with constructive criticism so lay it on me. Thank you

 

[JB in so cal]

Most people are morons. You have to assume they have no common sense. Sucks for you but should have had a warning not to touch anything lol

 

[oldschool]

I would bill the people for the repairs and fill the pool with dirt. I would never have a rental with a pool, a lot of liability, but that’s my opinion.
50/50 rule with people.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

We do short term rentals all the time. Usually there is a house manual binder. Its funny because you will see the stuff that people have had to deal with because the pages look newer and some of the rules are very specific. Some funny ones:

No cooking Curry. EVER.
Jacuzzi is designed for 2 people. Not 13 and a dog.
Do not put silverware in the microwave
The coffee maker cannot make weed tea.
Stay off the roof
Garbage cans are not chariots and using them for jousts is not acceptable.
Garbage cans do not belong in the pool they are not boats
Indoor paintball is forbidden.
Dishes are not frisbees.
No Seances around the grave on the property.
No animal sacrifices

Those last two were on a 5 acre plot in northern cali. We actually went hunting for the grave and found it.

I would never let anyone stay in my house. The people who rent rooms are just batshit crazy....

 

[rickym20]

Most people are morons. You have to assume they have no common sense. Sucks for you but should have had a warning not to touch anything lol

Haha, I can see why some places have warning signs everywhere now. For the most part we have had respectable renters but this one bit us.

 

[rickym20]

I would bill the people for the repairs and fill the pool with dirt. I would never have a rental with a pool, a lot of liability, but that’s my opinion.
50/50 rule with people.

We are looking into options with Airbnb but not holding breath. Hopefully we can get the probate wrapped up soon so we can eliminate the need to rent it out. With all the people adding pools I probably will get slapped upside the head for filling it up with dirt haha. Would eliminate some of the short term worries though.

 

[Jed-O]

Angela and I did an air bnb deal last summer. The owners were there and it was a little weird for me at first. Every room had a dead bolt so we had a inclination that our shit wouldn't get rifled through even though my contractor instinct kicked in that they obviously had keys. We hung out with them and watched sports on the couch and told jokes and fun stories. The experience was actually pretty cool. It was like a having a family that we never knew about and half the cost of a hotel room that's cold and shitty.. When we departed the owners gave us their personal numbers and said we were welcome to call them and ask to stay in the future without the air bnb charge. It was pretty kick ass!

 

[redone76]

My pool pump shuts down if it can’t prime up or it gets an air leak...maybe look into getting a smart pump to be safe?

 

[Turnup]

My last havi rental had a sign not to take out the pool sweep. I've had a pool my entire life and know what to do but because it was a VRBO and it had a sign I left it in the whole time. Unfortunately 1) you will probably never have me as a renter and 2) everyone else is an f'n moron and it will probably happen again.

 

[LHC Kirby]

Do you NEED the vacuum thingy ? If not a real need, get rid of it.

 

[rickym20]

My pool pump shuts down if it can’t prime up or it gets an air leak...maybe look into getting a smart pump to be safe?

That’s perfect, This will be the ticket. Thank you

 

[rickym20]

Do you NEED the vacuum thingy ? If not a real need, get rid of it.

Yeah the sweep is needed to help pick up the leaves /debris that make there way in the pool . Works out pretty good if Left inside the water. If I was there full time I probably wouldn’t need it cause I would stay on top of it. Pool guy is there once a week and even that is not enough to keep the stuff from gathering at bottom. Windy days and neighbors trees don’t help that situation.

 

[redone76]

That’s perfect, This will be the ticket. Thank you

I have a Pentair IntelliFlo pump by the way

 

[Wmc]

I thought I would share our experience to maybe help some of you avoid learning same lesson.

My siblings and I are temporarily doing the Airbnb deal during summer and snowbirds during winter on my Dads house while it is going through probate. Once That’s over we are only doing snowbirds.

The place has a pool with the typical vacuum that is set on a timer to do its thing. Our last rental family apparently took the vacuum out I am assuming since it was in their way (no problem there for me), but they left it hooked up and did not put it back in after they were done. As you Can figure out the timer kicked in later and the vacuum was sucking air for its cycling. Plumbing to the pump and after the pump was destroyed from pump overheating. Pool guy is going to repair and send us the bill which I am sure will be a costly lesson.

I am not sure how you guys handle short term rentals and the pool but we didn’t have any instructions what to do with the vacuum or what not to do. may be something for you guys to include if you do not to avoid happening to you. For the people that do and can share how they handle this, can you let me know so we can incorporate it into our program. I’m okay with constructive criticism so lay it on me. Thank you

I'm looking for a rental for a year if you're interested. My home is in escrow and my new build is going to take a year. I need to find a place fast. Let me know if you're interested

 

[BajaMike]

Yeah the sweep is needed to help pick up the leaves /debris that make there way in the pool . Works out pretty good if Left inside the water. If I was there full time I probably wouldn’t need it cause I would stay on top of it. Pool guy is there once a week and even that is not enough to keep the stuff from gathering at bottom. Windy days and neighbors trees don’t help that situation.

Get the pool guy twice a week and loose the pool sweep. I don’t have a pool sweep and the pool is perfect.

 

[oldschool]

I'm looking for a rental for a year if you're interested. My home is in escrow and my new build is going to take a year. I need to find a place fast. Let me know if you're interested

Will you put the pool vac back in the pool?

 

[4Waters]

Will you put the pool vac back in the pool?

That's a legit question

 

[oldschool]

That's a legit question

Should be the first one on the application.

 

[rickym20]

I'm looking for a rental for a year if you're interested. My home is in escrow and my new build is going to take a year. I need to find a place fast. Let me know if you're interested

Thanks for asking, we have the snow birds locked in from October to April or else that would have been a great option.

followed your garage build thread and thought it came out great. Looking forward to see what you come up with next.

 

[grumpy88]

Imagine what the neighbors deal with from your short term rental . You lost some plumbing they loose there sanity . Good luck on the probate .

 

[rickym20]

Imagine what the neighbors deal with from your short term rental . You lost some plumbing they loose there sanity . Good luck on the probate .

thanks for the well wishes on probate,timely process For sure . Shut downs don’t make it any easier. Going through the process made me a believer and getting my Estate done to make my passing easier on my wife/kids.

We spoke with our neighbors about what our plans were and stay in contact with them . They understand our situation and didn’t have issues with what we were doing. They have our number as well if any issues.

 

[78Southwind]

One rule I need to add and learned the hard way last month was no fresh fish in the refrigerator and possibly no cleaning of fish in the condo. Our complex has a marina with slips and a dock out front on the river that you can fish from. I rented the place to someone who said they were going to do some fishing but it didn't even dawn on me that they would thrash the refrigerator with the smell of fish. I don't know what they did to make it smell so bad (maybe they rubbed 3 day old dead fish on every orifice of the refrigerator). My cleaners didn't even say anything about it to me either. We moved in the day they left so at least we were able to catch it before someone else rented the condo.

The kitchen didn't smell but the refrigerator was wrecked and took cleaning with vinegar, then baking soda and finally bleach to get the rid of the smell. I am currently trying to figure out a nice way to put it into my rules.