Inside Vancouver
Bed Cheque - continued
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
He wants to offer up McRae's suite for the month of February 2010. He talks about how it will be occupied only by people working the Games, about how he pays up to 85 percent in advance, about how the apartment will be returned in the same condition it was left in (if not better), about how his company, Prime Strategies, is a fully insured, registered travel broker. He is not responsible for plants and pets-a previous Olympics, he admits, spelled the untimely end for a goldfish that a little girl had hidden in a closet-and any pricey artwork or items of sentimental value must be removed.
McRae, a muscular 30-year-old who works in law enforcement, nods along as he waits for Hamilton to answer the big question: How much?
Take a look at user-driven websites like Rent2010.net and you would think that Olympic gold will be handed out both on and off the podiums. For $300 a night, a 2010 visitor can have a basement suite in Abbotsford that "includes everything you need"-except a kitchen. A three-bedroom townhouse in Maple Ridge is listed at $600 a night, while a two-bedroom Whistler condo with a hot tub and fireplace will set you back $35,000 for the month. A Yaletown two-bedroom "sub-penthouse" is also listed at $35,000 for the duration of the Games. That's over $2,000 a night.
"One caveat, of course, is that these are asking rates," says Mark Szekely, an economist who, by day, calculates compensation amounts for personal injury and family-court claims and who launched Rent2010.net in December 2006 as a hobby. "It's the blind leading the blind in the sense that you can see what your neighbour is charging, but chances are your neighbour doesn't really have any clue what the market will bear."
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This article poses some interesting points.
In response to the lack of ways for renters to find a way to handle deposits, I would recommend investigating companies like ours, EMR Vacation Rentals and Access Vacation Group. We are a fully licensed Travel Agent with the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority (BPCPA) of BC. As part of our licensing, we must maintain a Trust Account to hold the Guest's deposits safely.
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.
