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The greatest challange in the renting bussiness is charging the stay in advance – espetially if the customers are seasonal vacationeers: famillyes on holidays. Not charging in advance opens one to all kinds of stressfull situations:
The weather changes for worse and the guests suddenly remember that they have a „situation“ back home (a „funeral“, a „sick father“ etc. – whatever „the case“ may be) which, regretfully, requires their sudden departure ahead of time. You bite your lip and stay with the empty renting space till the next guests arrive. You lose money, of course.
The free-riders:
They come, they unpack and settle in for a few days at which point one of them knocks on your door with a complaint/reclamation on something (a discovered dust under a TV set or a simillar „unaccaptable condition“) which entitles them for a lowere price, so they claim.
How to deal with such ?
First you ask weather they were unable or denyed the right to inspect the apartment afore of their moving in – no they were not, they say. So why didn't you ? – you press on. Oh, I don't know. I didn't want to, they say lamely. In that case, I am afraid, your reclamation is not valid, I lead on. And since that is the case you will pay the full price for the duration of your stay untill now and I will respectfully ask you to vacate the premises in 20 minutes – there is no point for you to stay a minute longer in a filthy apartment . With an astonished look they remain speatchless. To fill the void and chackmate them from thinking that it is in my interest for them to stay now that they are inside, I lead further by being helpful and arguing their case for them: There are plentifull other, cheaper apartments (here I am inserting a subliminal light insult in the conversation that is to, hopefully, initiate the inverse psihologycal responce on their side - I calculate) in the area which, I am sure, will be to your liking. They are still silent. I myself do not feel well if my guests do not enyoj their stay and I understand your need to seek a more becomming accomodation. Seing hesitance on their part, I tell them to please let me know in 15minutes about their decision.
Later they come and inform me that they would like to stay anyway, never mentioning the „complaint“ again. A few days later, while having a barbicue in the garden, they bring me a plate full of goodies. Go figure !
The con artists:
The family of four arrives. Joyfullness and pleasantness they radiate. On a fourth day of their stay, a father and a 12 year old son come to me, wearing sad faces, to inform me that their bank is regretfully not able to transfere them their money from their country of origin to the local bank (technical dificultyes, you see, they explain) but that they will send me the money as soon as they get back to their homeland – the kid even makes a Chaplin like gesture of spreading the hands sideways from his body, to indicate „no money in the pocket“. A bad play and a lousy excuse is written over the whole scene.
I cooly inform them that that is absolutely no problem on my part because I will send them their documents back to their country as soon as they have sent me the money that they owe me. Perplexed by the reply they go away.
The next day they come to me and ask for the documents because they would need them since they are going to visit the national park that is some 70 miles away. Do you have a driving licence ? – I ask them. Yes, of course they have, is the reply. Now that is ALL the documents that you will need. They lower their heads, ears slightly bent towards the earth and away they go.
Not two days later they appear smiling ear-to-ear. They have brought the money, they say – only half of it, actually. I thank them and inform them that since they have payed only half the amount that they owe me, I on my part will give them half of their documents – those of the mother and the daughter.
Sad faced again, they take the documents and leave.
There were (to keep the long story short), all in all, six attempts (!!) to extract the documents without paying the full sum. I will not account the rest of the theatrics but you get the idea. In the end they „somehow“ presented the full sum and left for good, somewhat serious looking. I wonder what that was all about.
How to be naughty and prosper :
The potential guests arrive and I lead them to the apartment on the first floor because I was still tidying the one in the ground floor. Judging from their faces, they are looking for something else and I will lose them if I do not come up with something quick. Very quick.
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Remembering the modest make of their car, I deduct they are not really well off, so I make a suttle, desguised insult: I do have one more apartment, you know, but it is very expensive (hinting that there is actually no point for them to even consider looking at it), I cast the bait. No, no – it is ok, we would like to see it, they responce. Now they are psychologicaly in a position where they have to prove themselves to me that they are worthy of the expensive stuff and (naturally) they like it on the spot.
Give them „options“
When the potential custommers are inspecting the apartment and the price is being negotiated, it is always a good thing to throw a few „options“. There is a „hook“ – the highest price that you would like to get and there is a „softener“ – it is either a possibility to reduce the price by excluding an air conditioner (all that is needed is removing a remote control gadget), or locking away a living room or …something.
Always give them choices. People respond well to choices and turn away from fixed high prices (that basically represent a „take it or leave it“ dillema). In 95% of instances they opt for the all inclusive solution that they themselves have chosen.
In order to spare yourself the theatrics described above, and to prevent your designatet money earnings and nerves to be „blead“ dry, ALWAYS DEMAND ADVANCE PAYEMENT. Now that you have been payed, it is you that have the leverage and the upper hand – you are in control of the situation … and your health.
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There will be, of course, those that will strongly object to paying in advance, on the grounds that the service is to be payed after it is being consumed.
Counter that with a ready argument (story) that you USED TO do that and you got burned as a consequence: your (imaginary) guests have reserved a stay for 10 days, and on the 8th day they vanished without paying. It had happened to you once and you do not intend to repeat the painfull experience. This will be enough of an argument for them to agree with you and see it from your (valid) perspective.
I have been a summer season renter for 30 years.