Re: Short Term Lets

Thanks so much Stumped! I may have confused you.  

You said “People come into my home, ie the building in which I live.  Imagine if we came and stayed at your home, used your house(?) and all the gardens, garage, driveway etc.”

– You are more than welcome to come into my home, the building in which I live, use my apartment, all the gardens, garage and driveway, as long as you pay a reasonable amount, the same as the other occupants of the building. If you want to come for a few minutes to do whatever, that is your business.

Re your short-term lets:

Are you there to ensure that there is no damage to (common) property and that there are no parties, or is this left up to residents or the EC to manage?

– Yes I live in the building and why would I allow my investment to be trashed, really!

And the issuing of by-laws? – Yes

And the registering of all your ‘leases’ on the Strata Roll?

– We do not have any ‘leases’ to register as previously stated.

And your Bank and the terms of their loan to you?

– My bank are more than happy because they know the property is kept in peak condition being cleaned at least twice a week, in fact my loan guy said he could not believe the high standard in which the property was kept. 

And Council…which takes you to the Land & Environment Court if you are in breach of Council’s DA – you know the extent of the fines don’t you?

– All good there, they are very happy with me as we only allow it to be used as a residence, so no breaches there.

And the terms/conditions of the Strata’s Building Insurance?  You all have unlimited liability – but you know this don’t you?  What if the Insurance Company uses short-term letting/non-compliant use to refuse to pay a major claim…

– My insurers have visited the apartment and confirmed in writing the residential use and approved the 20Mil Public Liability. 

We have people book for a night, but the reality is that a few of them stay for an hour or three. I’ll leave it up to you to imagine what they’re doing.

– And?

I imagine your immediate focus is trying to maximise the return on your investment – is this where you’re coming from?

– I do live in Australia and last time I checked, making money was not a crime. We actually add to the local community by allowing people to stay who will go to the local restaurants and shop locally and they spend more because they are on holidays.

Might you perhaps be able to see where resident owners/tenants using the property as their home are coming from?

– I know exactly where they are coming from and that is because my people prefer to live in a home rather than a hotel, because they want to cook as well as do their laundry and not be interrupted by maids. 

When people use our building for a holiday their attitude towards the building/property is very different.  And their attitude towards those who live in the building often leaves a lot to be desired.  

And then there is the lack of Community because of all the transients, if you’ve ever considered that?

– Yes, my neighbour loves the fact that he has new people to meet on a regular basis, he has met some amazing people from so many different cultures around the world. He has even been invited to dinner by some of them.

My people contribute well above the average to the local community.

Finally – the facts are that poor behaviour and bad attitude will occur in every building irrespective of the length of stay.

Every building has it’s bikies, drug dealers, prostitutes’, noise makers and party animals, just read some of the other material on this site, it is all related to long term tenants. 

Cheers