Inside Vancouver
Bed Cheque
By Jennifer Van Evra published Mar 1, 2009
Hoping to cash in on the 2010 Winter Games by renting out your house or condo? You just might—but it’s not as easy as it looks
Ian Hamilton props the well-worn Vancouver map book against the steering wheel of his black Chevy Trailblazer and traces the route to the next downtown condo tower-one of hundreds he will visit before the Olympics descend on the city next February. A guy in a gleaming BMW makes a sudden U-turn in front of him, and Hamilton slams on the brakes. "Vancouver," he sighs. He parks in front of a two-year-old high-rise and steps across the flowing Gastown gutter.
In less than five minutes, he breezes through Chad McRae's 20th-floor corner suite, an 800-square-foot two-bedroom with two baths, granite countertops, and a million-dollar view of downtown and the North Shore mountains. Hamilton doesn't linger at the window or at the glass display case that houses McRae's carefully collected travel mementos: a hand-gilded silver egg from the Czech Republic, broken pieces of the Berlin Wall, a soapstone puffin from Newfoundland. He's more interested in the en suite washer/dryer and the small solarium that could be transformed into a "half-bedroom."
"This is a cool place," he says. "It works really well."
McRae's is one of 450 homes that Hamilton, an accommodations expert who travels from one Olympic Games to the next, plans to rent to corporate clients made up mostly of European media outlets and production companies that need rooms for their technicians. His tone is laid-back, with the perfect amount of undereagerness, as he gives the owner his well-oiled pitch.
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This article poses some interesting points.
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We also employ well written rental contracts and have some other safeguards at our disposal to ensure that the booking is completed without issue.
You can reach us online at http://www.emrvacationrentals.com or by calling 866-800-8880.
Thank you very much.
