Lay My Hat

I´ve just realised that I have posted this on the wrong forum! Not sure how to move it so will post again! Apologies!

I got the shock of my life yesterday when I opened the door to my guests to find 6 teenagers (17-18 year olds) standing there!!! They had booked my apartment by email (i.e. I had no phone conversation with any of them) and when they sent me a security deposit cheque it was from the account of Mrs xxx, obviously one of their mothers!

They were very polite and well spoken, but at the end of the day they are teenagers! I don´t mean to sound ageist but I´m very worried about my apartment now - I remember what I was like as a teenager on holiday with my friends I guess.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how this can be avoided in the future? I´m not sure if it would look too good if I put in my advert "I do not rent to teenagers without their parents"! And I can hardly ask for ages before confirmation....or can I? Your thoughts would be much appreciated!

Linda

Linda, I know my villa is not in France, but the booking procedure is the same for all of us.

Do you not have a booking form? On mine I ask for the ages of all guests as I have a policy of no under 21s. Can often tell by the email addresses (particularly the American ones) or the dates and length of time they are looking for.

However, we did let 4 youngsters (19,20) stay a few years ago (one was the son of our accountant) and they left the place immaculate, far tidier and cleaner than many of the families .

You also need to have something in your T&Cs which I do as well.

Do you not have a booking form? On mine I ask for the ages of all guests as I have a policy of no under 21s

Hi Fiona

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I do have a booking form and on it I do ask for "Children´s ages (if under 18)". In the UK you are considered an adult at 18, so I´m not sure if I could change this to 21 - I wouldn´t want to insult a 20 year old by calling them a child!

I like your idea about including this in my terms & conditions though.

Thanks again

Linda

Linda...I have had such a chuckle at the idea of 6 teenagers arriving at your door...bless them, their first grown up holiday. I personally like teenagers.

I think I possibly would become mother hen, making sure they weren't getting sunburnt and eating properly....knowing kids of that age I'd probably get a stock of condoms to put in bathroom in case they forgot...stop a few teenage pregnancies!

Hopefully they are well behaved kids - sleep all day - go to the beach for a few hours in the afternoon and disco from 10 p.m. - 8 a.m. so won't disturb the neighbours.

Good luck with it - do keep us updated with how they are behaving...I'll carry on chuckling whilst I carry the thought of innocents behaving and not offending anyone.

Hi Linda,
I agree with Tansy. Playing Mother Hen would be fine in the situation and maybe your water heater has been playing up recently and needs "resetting" inside the apartment every couple of days?

Our policy is not to rent to "young adults" unless accompanied by a "mature adult". This means whatever we want it to mean, but I think most people get the idea that we are looking for people in their 30s and 40s and above, not teens and 20s.

When we receive an inquiry, we include in every reply something along the lines of, " Before we can offer you the house, we like to know a little more about you, including the approximate age and occupation of the person who will be responsible for our home and the ages of the children, if any".

Those who are evasive in their reply are declined. If the inquiry is for 6 adults, my alarm bell goes off (or as they say in the US, my "hinky meter!!!!), in which case I ask for the ages and occupations of everyone who will be staying in the house.

Hope this helps,

Joanna

Is it usual to ask for the occupation of the rentors?It seems a bit intrusive?

Perhaps on the booking form, instead of asking for numbers of children and adults, you could say something like:

Number of people in your party between the ages of:
____0-5 ____6-15 ____16-21 ____22 and above

or something?

I've never even considered this issue -- I should have!

I put on mine - how is the party made up and ages of children for sleeping arrangements...I usually get it all - who is with who etc.

But wouldn't get ages of "grown up's" or occupation...would be fascinating to find out as my favourites are service personnel or ex service...the place is always immaculate AND no moving about!!!!

Fraise wrote:Is it usual to ask for the occupation of the rentors?It seems a bit intrusive?

Fraise,
Yes, it is a little intrusive, but so is asking them for a personal cell/ mobile number for the duration of their stay and we do that as well. However, my view is this: I'm the one taking all the risk.

There is no way that $500 deposit covers the amount of damage that can be done to my house, and therefore I am entitled to ask whatever I want to get to the point where I am comfortable with handing over the keys.

Is a plumber more likely to breach the lease or damage the house than a lawyer? I don't know, but I do know that a lawyer will definitely read the contract and there's a better chance of his understanding our agreement and therefore sticking to it.

But that's not really the purpose of the question, which is twofold; first to screen out college students who state themselves as adults once they hit 18 years old and second, to understand better to whom our house appeals and make it even more appealing for that market share.

Since we started asking about occupation, we have discovered a predominance of bookings (as opposed to inquiries) from Doctors, Lawyers and Accountants. Knowing what is important to them and their area of expertise helps with communication and management.

For example, I had a query about a clause in the rental agreement from a lawyer and gave a completely different response from the one I would have give to a lay person. The same applied to my discussion with an accountant about payment in a foreign currancy, and a conversation about cleaning services with a doctor and so on. And yes, we have rented to plumbers and do not discriminate on the basis of occupation (except college students).

We ask for the names of all renters and the ages of children. This is usually a telling tale and you can quickly tell the type of people travelling.

If all names where different we would normally contact them to get a feel of who they are. Don't want any stag or hens nights coming through.

In your circumstance I would find an excuse to have a daily visit.

Joanna,

I take a very different view. I don't understand what is intrusive about "knowing your guests".

I want to know who they are, I want to know where they live, I want to know how I can contact them. The more I know about them the better I can deliver the holiday (vacation) they are looking for. As an example (extreme I know) if I got an enquiry from a chap called Bin Laden I would ask if was the Bin Laden and I might even ask if he was interested in explosives.

If I was selling washing machines I wouldn't give a damn, but I am not. A very small part of what I am selling is a personal relationship. I will continue to ask the questions.

Alan

They have left and not only did they leave the place immaculate but they almost left me a lovely entry in my guest book thanking me for having "allowed" them to rent the apartment! Bless

I did have a chuckle though, when I found a note they had left behind obviously written by one of the parents listing the things they had to buy including 6 rolls of toilet paper, as they would need at least 2 a day as there were six of them!! He/she had also recommended that they have a "kitty" which they should all contribute to.....takes me back to my student holidays!

Although I think I was lucky this time, my neighbours did mention that they were playing loud music at 3am and had had to knock on the door to tell them to turn it down. I have therefore decided to include a clause in my T&C indicating that I do not rent to under 25s!

I am so pleased they were good kids....I have to say I've been recently to some parties here in France and we've had the music on full dancing in the garden at 5 a.m (not my house I hasten to add!!)....and I'm with a 5 in my age!!

So 3 a.m. isn't that bad for a holiday area....

Must be acting my shoe size again!!!

So 3 a.m. isn't that bad for a holiday area....

I would agree with this if they were staying in a hotel where they are all holiday makers however there are many residents that live in the apartment complex where I have my property, so I don´t think it´s unreasonable to ask guests to be considerate....it´s not fun being woken up at 3am when you have to be at work the next morning!

tansy wrote:we've had the music on full dancing in the garden at 5 a.m (not my house I hasten to add!!)....and I'm with a 5 in my age!!

Aww, Tansy, 25 isn't too old to join the party!

They probably didn't even realize that it was 3 a.m. or that the music was too loud. As long as they turned it right down, I'd be pretty forgiving, but the next time I rented to teenagers I'd make sure they knew what was out of bounds.

(And this may be bad of me, but I don't think I'd rent to a group of all-male teenagers. All-female possibly, but the fraternity isn't invited...)