rental house owners
 

Hi, If you have Remax Property managers what do you think of their proposal to 'sanitize our houses and then charge us extra every month to list them as 'sanitized'?
If you have someone else, are they doing this? Who do you have? Do you like them?
Why or why not?
K

I have a rental which I manage. If I hired a firm which did such a poor job of cleaning that they dared charge extra to spray Lysol on touch surfaces, in this current environment particularly, I would fire them immediately.

I’m a rental owner I agree , get rid of them

We have been with Remax for 6 years and have been pleased with the service. Unfortunately, We also received the request to participate in the "sanitized home program". With the current Covid 19 situation, we completely understand the concerns. At this point we have significant concerns going forward. Prior rentals all had a thorough cleaning when the renters left with the expectation that the house was clean for next renters. I feel anyone renting one of our homes or any other type of rental such as the new Brownwood-Marriot_hyatt etc would assume they have been Cleaned and sanitized. I agree with Toymeister that this should be an expectation not a paid- for add on.

Other concerns:


1. All personal items,pillows,linens,towels etc. are to be removed from all closets, drawers etc or stored in a manner that no one will
notice. Unfortunately, the storage capabilities in most homes in the villages is very limited.
2. No discussion on personal use of sanitized items. Will owners have to pay to use sanitized items since our other items have
most likely been removed from the home?
3. There is an initial fee to start the program and then after 13 months there is a monthly fee to participate. We assume the initial
fee is for Remax to purchase all the items to be sanitized? The contract does not explicitly state they will purchase these items -
so will that be another owner expense?
4. Most rentals are only occupied during high months (our experience- very little to no interest in low and mild seasons) so to be
charged a monthly fee to advertise seems ????

At this point we are leaning to not participate. We also would love to hear other opinion and concerns.

I have 2 rentals- no need to have anyone manage them - list on vh4r and do it yourself. You need a good home cleaner, there are several out there. Unless Remax is doing a complete fumigation with shockwave, you won't get any better than wiping everything down with Alchohol or bleach. This virus won't last 3 minutes if you use one of those two things to clean with. Basically, it is a scam, don't buy into the hype. I have not had any of my renters even mention it, they assume there is a cleaning because they paid a cleaning fee.

Personally, I would prefer to not have renters who are that paranoid anyway. Anyone who is worried would wipe everything down when they arrive with Isopropyl alchohol and not worry about it.

Providing the items and the house at the start of a rental have been sanitised, surely it would be up to the renter to take care of themselves and the linen etc, until they leave, and then the house should be sanitised and proceedure starts all over again.
Sounds like cleaning company are looking to take advantage of landlords to me.

I suspect home mangement companies are concerned about the same issues small busnisses are worried about, being sued if someone that uses your facilities catches the virus. They are trying to get the legislature to pass something to protect them but seems the earliest that will happen is 2021. Till then, someone gets sick and dies in your house be prepared. They may not win but you will spend a bunch of money on an attorney. Not sure you can but if the management company wants to charge more for sanitizing then they should share liability and somehow procedures and accountability should be in the agreement.

Be prepared for what? It would be impossible to prove that you picked up the virus in the home you rented.

Does Remax say "we're all in this together" in their ads?

If yes, check your wallet or purse.

Don't disagree but if they think they did and they get an attorney and sue you and you win you will still pay for your attorney and costs. Same with business's which why they are pushing for legislation to protect them and there are representatives that are writing the legislation now.

Cleaned and sanitized!
 

All of us that have rental properties have taken the financial hit due to covid. The management companies and hospitality industry felt it too. But I feel like sailor1 said in his/her post#4, that any client coming to stay has a right to expect that the property was cleaned/sanitized before their arrival.
We use Relax also, needless to say I was disappointed when I received the email. We moved to Relax when our former management company started offering "special upgrades" like high-end this and that. That company ended up costing the folks that they represented lots of money. But that was then and this is now with a large, well known company.
When the email came I relived the horror of our previous experience. And, the timing couldn't be worse. Rentals non-existent, loss of income we were expecting while still paying ongoing maintenance and utilities. I'm not intimating that we may be about to relive our past experience, but it starting in an eerily similar manner.
Personally, we always had tried to be better than the competition in our price point. Also liked the idea of adding personal touches to achieve this. New plan is heading toward standardized sheets, blankets, towels and more. Wanting to de-personalize our property and charging us to do it.
This said, we will not be signing up for the program at this time and will be watching to be sure they do cut back on the services we signed up for.
Sadly, not everyone is able (for many reasons) to manage their own rental property.

Are they giving you a list of what will be removed from your home?

What exactly are the items they will be supplying.

If it’s a mass linen service, it would be a hard NO for me. After over 48, years in OR wearing scrubs, that were either onsite, or offsite cleaned.
How many timeS you pulled your scrubs on to find stuff still in the pockets, tape, old blood, or other items, that made you want to rip them off, and burn them.
Yep they are sanitized to wear during surgery, so what kind of quality control will a ReMax have over any hospital facility.

We had the luxury of examining each item we wore, what will your renter do. Plus depending on the day, the mix that was used to wash and press scrubs were off. To say the least it not a fun day when everyone breaks out in hives, from scrubs that day.

Wrong, that is why as a landlord you have liability insurance and they will be the ones to defend it with their attorneys, been there done that.

Good idea

If we’d known, there were so many vacation rentals, we would not have bought our RETIREMENT home, in The Villages advertised retirement community. The Villages isn’t a Retirement Community, it’s a Vacation Club Community.

And when they’ve had to do that a time or two there will be no increase in your rates, right?

I would still sue the owner ... cost me nothing..cost of doing business....

amen

I doubt very much that there would ever be a law suit let alone more than one and again, they would be impossible to prove and would never get to court. I have had multiple claims over short periods of time and never have had my rates increased or insurance dropped. This is a non-worry issue.

It could cost you the defense legal fees if the court considered it a frivolous law suit Stanley. You are going nowhere on this.

Your short reply sounds like you may not have a full grasp of the situation, or might be a Relax employee pushing the agenda. The OP wanted feedback from property owners that are using Relax to manage their properties.
Those who do not fit that description are, most likely, not aware of the email we received.
From others that are Relax clients that did receive that email, it makes us wonder how good of a job they were actually doing in the first place. Many, if not all, we're given a list of what should be provided by the home in regards to the quantity, quality of sheets, towels, etc. Colors, patterns, etc, we're left up to the home owners decorating preferences. Now, among other suggestions is to de-personalize your property and go the way of industrializing/mass sharing those items. This would streamline their process, give them control of the items provided and remove the owners opportunity of adding a little Florida charm in favor of industrial uniformity which you have to pay for.
Along with this, stated in what I interpreted as a passive/aggressive way, was the statement that your property would be listed as "sanitized" and somehow superior to others.
I could go on, but will simply say that at a time of uncertainty, while people have many concerns and are vulnerable, this seems a way to take advantage of and manipulate the covid situation at the expense the property owners.
We will not be participating at this time and will be monitoring the situation closely.

Is "vh4r" you speak of
VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages

With the CDC is saying the virus does not live on surfaces like they thought, I think it is over kill

We own a short term rental in Northern Michigan. Our condo association is busy complying with sanitizing regulations. This is a sign of the times and you will need to show your rental is “properly sanitized”. This is not just the normal cleaning. We’ve been in the rental business over 40 years. Now is a good time to get rid of them. It’s not worth the liability. I’m sure, if your homeowners insurance knows you rent they will have strict requirements you need to follow. If you take the gamble and don’t tell your insurance agency you are renting, that’s even worse. Don’t fool around. Add the sanitizing to the rent you charge or you chance a lot of liability. Renters are going to expect it.

Please explain how rental propertIes effect your living in the villages , most of us are just like you enjoying our wonderful villages retirement, while also making a little money

We own 2 properties which are rented via Realty Executives. When we bought them they were 'partially furnished'. Glad now we decided to give what was left away and rent completely unfurnished instead. Easy to clean. But we rent long-term instead of seasonal and right now I can commiserate. One house has been vacant since Feb and summer ahead.

We recently moved to a new house in Fernandina, from a previous one in St. James.
We are seasonal and rented our house in St. James when not in TV several times, thru
VR4rent with great results, never had to charge one $ against Sec. Deposit.
For info. we had a meeting with REMAX to handle the rental in our new house, especially
about the "Sanitized Program". The meeting went fine, then we got the contract emailed to us. WOW, read all the details CAREFULLY, many things were NOT disclosed!!!
Will NOT use REMAX by our choice, very disappointed to not having ALL DETAILS
disclosed in the meeting.
We plan to continue to use VR4rent

CDC: Virus 'does not spread easily' on contaminated surfaces.
The virus does not stay long on surfaces. That said, the risk would be during the "season" when the time between renters is short, not during the other nine months. The ReMax program might be useful for marketing but too expensive for general use.

If someone wanted to they could just run an ozone generator to sanitize their home Medical Professionals Sanitize COVID-19 Transports with Airthereal Ozone Generators

They are inexpensive $89.00 on Amazon. I use them to clear the air if any guests left an order of some kind (cooking, whatever). Remove it before guests arrive so they don't operate it while the home is occupied.

Ozone generators are why no used car smells like anyone had ever smoked in it.

Smells like after a thunderstorm. One to two days run time gets rid of any odors.

Question
 

Just a question? Isn't a rental property in TV actually business? And I thought no businesses where allowed to be ran from the homes? Very interesting!

Read your policy and exclusions. Get it in writing from your agent that you are covered

Renting is far different than proving a product you sell out of your home. Topic has been discussed many times, using search engine you will find a wealth of information on the subject

I am also leaning toward not participating for the reasons you mentioned.

when in Rome do as the Romans do-- rent out my house or buy a couple of rentals ---why not -- this is not a retirement community anymore

If you have any questions about the RE/MAX Certified Sanitized Homes please give them a call at 352-460-4633. Really frustrating to see people on social media platforms speak about issues that they are not fully educated on. This is a new program that is on a voluntary basis for the homeowner. In fairness, one should know what they are talking about, prior to making a comment. I realize this program is not for everybody, but for me it is. I like knowing that the "spread" on the bed is clean for my arrival, not to worry about the last time the owner had the bedspread at the cleaners or even having to put the spread in the corner of the closet during my stay. There are many other perks to this program that will bring comfort to renters, as well as owners, as the world is certainly navigating in a new direction in what is acceptable in the rental world.

I get your concern, however on our first rental home 10 years ago we used, a Well know agency That rented our home and cleaned after our full time renter left.

Charge to deep clean was $225. Month later and cheap tickets we flew down for a Long weekend. We arrived at 2am. Tired I went to take a shower and as I entered the entire floor In the shower was filthy. Pulled the bedspread back, and the sheets had not been changed.

After taking pictures of master and cleaned it was 8am. Called the management company, owner came out, went room by room, with us. To see the condition each room.

Then open the refrigerator with eggs, and moldy bread still in it. I offered her a cup of coffee as we went over the issues. Took out the filter, with old coffee grounds molded in the holder. She declined the coffee.

Returned our cleaning fee, we declined their services for rest of contract. Company was to let go the persons who did our cleaning. Who knows.

For us if We didn’t do it ourselves We could never trust someone else to do a better job. Sold the home so no longer have the worry

I agree, in part.
 

Frustrating to not have all the facts, for sure. Have not yet had the opportunity to learn all the facts yet. My main points were,1: pour timing to try hitting the property owners with a bill for several hundred dollars (which benefits them) at a time, typically high season, when many of us have a major part of our projected annual earnings with no clue to when/if our market will return. 2: due to recommendations, many of us have invested a lot of money in higher quality sheets, towels, etc that we are being told we must now remove in favor of what they will place in all properties (like hotel linen/towels, etc) to be laundered off site some industrial site?. 3: charge us ongoing fees while they save money streamlining their operation.
So far all the information I have is what was written in the email which I interpreted, correctly or incorrectly, that they want me to pay more, de-personalize my property. The only thing that I get for my expense is they will add the word "sanitized" in my ad. If you opt out, well, who knows.
Sadly, we had a very bad and very costly experience with our previous management company. When I first read the email, my initial reaction was "maybe it's time to get out". But I want to get more information before deciding.
My first post was in response to the OP who seemed to have similar concerns. She asked for our opinion, that is all I gave , an opinion based on the only information either of us had.

My thoughts are they could push the homes in the sanitized program first. Our management company didn’t like the fact we were a long term home, we didn’t want the revolving door of weekly rentals. Many phone calls to get us to change, we always thought they Didn’t have our best interest.

It seems those who have received the email have many questions about the program. I would make a list of concern, email back for a written response.

If a home sits empty for months at a time will they still charge you a fee each month for a no need sanitized home? Or do they offer a sanitized cleaning just before renter arrives, and while the home is occupied. Just a thought

Just my opinion.
 

I agree with your point about pushing the "sanitized" first. As to your comment about not having your best interest, they are a business and, like any business must look to their bottom line first and foremost. They are not a charity. As your agent the base principle is "the more $ you make, the more$ they make". But, sometimes what you believe is in your best interest may not be in theirs.
As to your next point about getting more information, that is necessary before moving ahead.
As to your last paragraph, I understood (right or wrong) that there would be a monthly charge. As to the sanitizing schedule, no idea yet. We will see. As to your question about clean and sanitize before each guest, that is what I thought the cleaning fee paid for. I may have been mistaken. Further investigation needs to be done.

If I own a home in the villages that I rent out can I get a season pass to come down . Coming from nyv