Ah well - perhaps you'll see why Kevin is not very happy with me - I gave them their deposit back! - they were away for a few days and came back on Tuesday when I was again alone at the house. When I went in to light the fire so that the gite would be cosy for their return I left their deposit too as I just didn't want any more hassle.
They had left the dishwasher full and dirty dishes in the sink - the kitchen sink was very bad too. In fact I don't think they had cleaned during the two months of their stay.They had cleared the fridge and taken their rubbish so it was not all bad!
Anyway - it's clean again now - I did an hour on the shower last night and another hour this morning. By the way the wireless connection to the gite was working just fine so listened to radio 4 happily. I have learned another hard lesson.
Thanks to you all for the advice.
Long Term let Headache
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Giddy Goat
- Posts: 9054
- Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:38 am
- Location: UK
- Contact:
Oh Enid I'm so sorry for you-it's annoying when people take advantage and they're so close too!
For that reason I'm being overly cautious when it comes to lonk lets. Our first ones stayed 11 weeks and tried to rob our wood-they had agreed a VERY cheap rate and were goint to buy their own wood. our wood could have been supplied at the cost price but although we think it's cheap 55euros per M3 cut into third of a metre lengths it wasn't good enough! We had to go out when their wood was delivered so we didn't get stuck with the bill!
The 2nd stayed 13 weeks and what we didn't know was they didn't drive or have a car. They said they would walk to town (4 miles) but this was too much really. We felt a bit obliged and ended up taking them around the place.
For this reason I've just turned down a long let as they started becoming demanding before they'd even booked!
Living on site, I'd rather take the short lets at full price this year, sporadic though that may be, but for the sake of our mental health I think it's got to be!
Perhaps I'd like a 2nd property one day further away so they can stay there, and pay their bills!
For that reason I'm being overly cautious when it comes to lonk lets. Our first ones stayed 11 weeks and tried to rob our wood-they had agreed a VERY cheap rate and were goint to buy their own wood. our wood could have been supplied at the cost price but although we think it's cheap 55euros per M3 cut into third of a metre lengths it wasn't good enough! We had to go out when their wood was delivered so we didn't get stuck with the bill!
The 2nd stayed 13 weeks and what we didn't know was they didn't drive or have a car. They said they would walk to town (4 miles) but this was too much really. We felt a bit obliged and ended up taking them around the place.
For this reason I've just turned down a long let as they started becoming demanding before they'd even booked!
Living on site, I'd rather take the short lets at full price this year, sporadic though that may be, but for the sake of our mental health I think it's got to be!
Perhaps I'd like a 2nd property one day further away so they can stay there, and pay their bills!
home is where you lay your @
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Alan Knighting
- Posts: 4120
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
- Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France
Boberry,
There are two sides to every coin and I think I have seen both sides.
During my first few years of letting in France I was very happy with my holiday guests, none of them were the “tenants from hell� but it was all a lot of hard work. The constant marketing, the weekly handovers, the laundry and the cleaning; they were all hard work.
Over the last couple of years I’ve tended towards longer term lettings. With carefully chosen tenants I’ve cut out all the hard work, I’ve secured my annual income and I’ve finished up with some genuine long-term friends.
It’s not for everybody but it works for me.
Alan
There are two sides to every coin and I think I have seen both sides.
During my first few years of letting in France I was very happy with my holiday guests, none of them were the “tenants from hell� but it was all a lot of hard work. The constant marketing, the weekly handovers, the laundry and the cleaning; they were all hard work.
Over the last couple of years I’ve tended towards longer term lettings. With carefully chosen tenants I’ve cut out all the hard work, I’ve secured my annual income and I’ve finished up with some genuine long-term friends.
It’s not for everybody but it works for me.
Alan