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
"We are being flooded with calls and emails, and the inventory is very high out there," says Doig, who has also been fielding dozens of inquiries from people wanting to offer up their homes during the Games. "I mean, we have a hotel that has come to us and said, ‘We have 12 apartments, and we want to rent them out because we don't know what to do with them.' Builders are coming, too. So I'm not convinced that people will be saying, ‘I can't find a property to rent for the Olympics.' "
For now, Doig and her colleagues are doing their best to inform owners of the legalities of renting their homes for the Olympics, including the fact that tenancy agreements stay with the property, not the owners-so if you decide to sell between now and 2010, you'll have to tell prospective buyers that their new home will be rented out during the Games. To boot, it's against zoning bylaws in most Lower Mainland residential areas to rent for less than a month, and condo owners need to check with their strata councils, because some are relaxing restrictions on rentals during the Games while others are tightening them.
Property managers are also telling owners that, while they can expect a premium for their rentals, it likely won't be the 100 to 300 percent lift that those mythical friends of friends are getting.
"People call and say, ‘A friend of a friend got $40,000 for an East Side apartment.' That's fascinating. But do they have a deposit, and are they going to follow through? It's just numbers and words," says Doig, sitting in her North Vancouver office. "I have spoken to a lot of clients who have been to many Olympics over the years, and they all say the same thing: that a handful of people cash in and the rest sit empty or get a fair market value rate for their property. So that's the mind-set we're running with."
Again, what you can charge has a lot to do with where you live. So far in Vancouver, properties in downtown, Yaletown, Gastown, Coal Harbour, and False Creek-as well as those immediately adjacent to venues such as the Richmond Olympic Oval and the Pacific Coliseum-are in high demand, but most other areas, including Kits, South Granville, and South Main, are being left in the cold. Games goers are beginning to warm up to North and West Vancouver, but mainly to the neighbourhoods near Cypress Mountain (where the freestyle skiing events are being held) and Lonsdale Quay, a short SeaBus ride away from the broadcast centre, BC Place, and GM Place.
Recent Comments
Discussed
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.
