Policy: Guest, Tenant and Owner Same Day Arrival and Departure

Company Position:

Property Providers’ vision is to “Help People Live Better” by being Sydney’s most flexible residential rental company. This vision is driven by three core values: Passion, Performance and Partnership. Importantly, we seek profit not through dollars and cents but through the pursuit of partnership through our guiding principle that all meaningful long-term partnerships have a strong foundation of mutual investment, respect, risk and commitment. We aim to create these virtues in all our relationships and touch points with long-term leasing tenants, short-term rental guests, employees, suppliers, partners and our property owner partners.

Document Purpose:

To clearly communicate Property Providers’ Policy in relation to same arrival/departures which applies to guests, tenants and owners relevant to both Short-Term Rentals (<6-month occupancy) as well as Long-Term leasing (>=6 months occupancy) and Property Owners.

Background:

In Sydney, there is almost always a high demand for premium accommodation/rentals. As a result, properties often get booked or leased in situations that result in guests/tenants arriving and departing on the same day. This presents a significant challenge for the agency to achieve an optimum guest/tenant/owner experience in a narrow window of time. Importantly, this is compounded by the reality that people sometimes arrive and depart later than expected.

Property Providers require adequate time to clean, facilitate necessary repairs and maintenance, minimise risk by addressing any safety issues, as well as make sure that the property being rented is not only presented professionally, but in a way that tries to deliver delight. The time and resources exerted in a same day arrival/departure scenario need to be given the same care and due diligence as a changeover with several days in between it. (In fact, greater care is often required in situations where the property has been occupied by the outgoing tenant/guest/owner for an extended period).

These same-day changeovers present time constraints that hinder quality assurance and negatively affect the experience of incoming parties. With the delivery of a strong customer experience in mind, we have been proactive in implementing the following policy.

Policy Objectives:

To be clear, concise, consistent, reasonable and fair in relation to Property Providers’ position and capabilities, and to effectively manage expectations regarding what we will and will not do for same-day arrival and departures.
To be clear about the role/responsibility and liability of the company staff in connection to managing these kinds of scenarios.
To proactively anticipate, as well as avoid problems that may arise internally and at the customer interface.
To minimise touch points, conflict and cost.
To implement a simple, clear, consistent and fair framework.

Agency Policy:

Generally, the agency would like to avoid same-day arrivals and departures, however, where this is unavoidable the owner will incur an additional $150 (plus GST) surcharge to prioritise resources effectively.
For back-to-back arrivals and/or departures during peak season (from 19th December to 19th January), 2x the normal charge shall be applied – $150 x 2 + GST = 300 + GST.
Where the same-day rotation must occur, the Property Manager and/or Cleaning Supervisor will be responsible for doing an onsite inspection while the cleaners are executing the cleaning. This is to make sure that the company standards and procedures are implemented even for a small time frame between check-in and check-out. It is also to identify issues for repairs for action or gain approval to minimize turnaround (i.e. getting things fixed up as quickly as we can).
Exit cleans for same-day rotations will require a minimum of two (2) cleaners per property (irrespective of its size or location). The time required to do a normal clean will be limited for these kinds of bookings, yet the result should still be to standard.
For arrivals after a previous occupant exceeding sixty (60) nights, Property Providers will:
- Require a one-day (24 hours) interval before a guest/owner/tenant can check in a property. This will allow the cleaners and property manager to make the necessary preparations so that the property will be in its best condition before the next client,
- Send a feedback request to the guest/tenant or owner seven (7) nights before the expected departure to try and identify any issues that need to be addressed well in advance. We are conscious of guests/owners/tenant privacy and are more than happy to visit the property personally, however, it is often difficult to identify issues while the property is being occupied. We have found that the best source of information comes from the people who are “living” on the property and using it in normal day-to-day activities.
If the property is pivoting from a Long-Term Lease to Short Term Rental and/or vice versa, an allowance of seven (7) working days minimum will be required.
All the above rules shall apply to all owner occupancy that falls on the same day of check-in and check-out.

Rationale:

This policy supports one of our core company values which is Partnership. We feel it is important to collaborate to effectively drive results.
This policy supports our overall terms of business which is outlined in our Terms and Conditions (PT 3.13)
Time is required to do a job properly. Property Providers’ core purpose is to “Help People Live Better.” We, therefore, believe that it is important to give our staff and partners a reasonable preparation time to do their respective jobs.
As per our booking data, the majority of our same-day check-in and check-out occurs when an owner is exiting or entering a property. Owner bookings do not yield any agency revenue, however, we do request that all parties are set up for success and that we are given adequate time to fulfil our services.

Effective Date: This policy is effective 18 May, 2021.