5 WAYS TO GUARANTEE TRUST BETWEEN LANDLORDS AND TENANTS

When managing rental properties trust really is the key and it can easily ruin the success of your business. We'll share with you 5 situations that both property managers and guests have identified as critical when choosing the best option.

On one side we have the property managers, who not only have to ensure that their properties remain in perfect condition, but also that all guests enjoy their stay. Whatever the outcome is, it will always be their responsibility to report it to the owners.

On the other side, we have tenants, who ultimately want to have a great experience, feel protected, and get the most value for their money without losing deposits. They will have to choose the best option based on what they see online or hear from old guests and find a property that looks legit, which hopefully won't give them any trouble.

Let's take a look at how the 2 parties might have some trouble trusting each other:

1. Doubting photo accuracy

We all know that when you're trying to attract people you will do what you can to make your asset look as good as possible, so other people can see its true potential. But unfortunately, some people take it to the next level and make their properties look completely different from reality, which leads tenants to be very suspicious of the photos they see online and go into a location not 100% confident with their decision, hoping the real-life version of the property is as portrayed online, or better.

2. Assessing damage responsibility

As usual, there are multiple sides to the same story, and damage responsibility is no different.

When you book a place to rent, it is common practice that you pay an additional fee or deposit for possible damages that might occur during your stay, which is usually refundable at the end, if nothing gets damaged. As a result of that, you might get scared of the possibility of being charged for damage you didn't create because you have no legal proof that it wasn't related to you, even when you know it wasn't.

Once again, we also have the owner's perspective, who has properties to protect and take care of. When you have different people coming in and out of your house every week, month or year you may feel insecure and have a hard time trusting your guests, especially when you find your property in poor condition after checkout on some occasions.

3. Commitment

When managing a property you have to deal with a lot of external factors and actions that can compromise your future. Not only do you have to rely on your guests, but also trust that your cleaners will be effective and respectful, or that the maintenance team will show up on time before a new tenant arrives. You end up spending so much time on calls to schedule the appointment and commuting to each property every time you need to check if the job is done. It can be nerve-racking and affect your business performance in the long run.

4. Fear of the unknown

Whether you're booking (and paying for) a place from a distance or hosting new guests, you don't really know what you're getting yourself into. It can be a smooth and amazing stay, sometimes better than expected, or it can be a nightmare to deal with. Sometimes you have to put your fears aside and hope for the best.

5. Lack of support

Lastly, if for some reason that stay doesn't go as it was supposed to and you find some "bumps on the road" (hopefully not literally) it helps to have great customer support that can provide quick responses and can find a solution for the problem. If guests have some issues with their stay and can't find the help they need, not only will they be disappointed and never come back, but will also recommend that others stay away from your property and give negative reviews online and through word of mouth.

As you can tell, there is a lot that can go wrong when you have a property to manage or are booking a place to stay. Any of those situations might compromise all your hard work and lead to a bad customer experience.

Well... we have good news for you. As you'll soon find out, that doesn't have to be the case!

For the past two years, Checkfirst has been developing a platform that builds trust between multiple parties, especially in the property management industry. With each problem we find, we come up with a transparent and easy-to-follow business process that acts as the solution, and that's exactly what we'll do with the 5 scenarios mentioned above.

Let's dig deeper into the solution:

1. Doubting photo accuracy

Checkfirst encourages the landlord to create legally binding reports with live images/videos with a time & location stamp so guests have an accurate vision of the property they will be staying in.

2. Assessing damage responsibility

So guests don't have to pay for damage they didn't make, and landlords can prevent damages and assess responsibility, Checkfirst allows each guest to perform Checkin/Checkout reports with a pre-existing checklist to go through (created by the landlords) and images to make sure everything is in perfect condition at all times. That way guests have a way to prove the damage was already there when they got in and landlords can assess responsibility for the damage made while increasing the pressure for guests to take good care of the property.

3. Commitment

With Checkfirst you can send the template of your reports to every member of your team so they can perform the report without you having to be on site. Your cleaning and maintenance teams can send you as many reports as you need and fill your checklist of items with live images that prove they are doing a great job. That way, it is also a great way to congratulate them for consistency in doing a great job once you track the results over time.

4. Fear of the unknown

When you don't know what you're going to get out of a certain situation, any assurance that you can get might help. When you start using Checkfirst you'll see how it improves transparency between multiple parties. It will not only allow guests to create reports during their stay to show the property remains perfect but even beforehand when they are booking their stay, they receive an accurate report of the property with recent images (time & location stamped) that is signed for accountability by the person that's performing the report. It improves trust and generates a better experience for both parties, that can easily rest and enjoy their time without having to worry.

5. Lack of communication

Even though Checkfirst can help you prevent damages from happening, there will always be some issues that no one can control and if you have properties to manage, we're pretty sure you already know that. With that in mind, we developed a digital platform where you can create an issue report for your guests that they can fill out at any time during their stay, in case something happens to your property.

The good news is that you can fix all these problems in one single platform that was developed with the detailed input of property owners, managers, and guests who have already experienced these and many more issues. Checkfirst will allow you to create, access, track and share visual reports for all your properties with a digital platform in just a few seconds.

If you make it quick, you can still join the waitlist for the Early Access Programme with an exclusive offer that not only has a special price but also allows you to shape the future of our product with our tech team, so Checkfirst becomes exactly what you need it to be.