Author Topic: Getting paid to have someone watch my pets  (Read 10429 times)

EngagedToFIRE

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 422
Re: Getting paid to have someone watch my pets
« Reply #50 on: October 30, 2019, 02:55:16 PM »
This is kind of interesting.  It would be my hypothesis that the people on the extreme ends of the "It's 100% definitely going to be fine!"/"Dear God, they're going to steal your stuff and murder your pets!" probably generally parallels the Left/Right political divide.  People on the Right end of the spectrum tend to have a much more intense disgust response to some things (https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528731-800-the-yuck-factor-the-surprising-power-of-disgust/) , and to have a larger amygdala, while people on the Left tend to have a larger anterior cingulate gyrus (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092984/). 

Without turning this into a political thread, I am curious where respondents fall on the political left/right spectrum?  Obviously you don't have to answer if you don't want to!  Just curious.  Maybe I'm totally wrong!

I'm quite "right" I guess, but left on many social issues.  My family member whose apartment was turned in to a brothel by AirBnb, she is way left.  And yet after the experience, she would absolutely never rent out her apartment again.  Maybe you are proving that the "right" are right, and the left just have to learn their lessons the hard way, lol.  :)

ilsy

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 242
Re: Getting paid to have someone watch my pets
« Reply #51 on: November 08, 2019, 01:36:51 AM »
I've been renting lower level in my house for 5 years to visiting students, and now, since I RE and don't get many student referrals, I full time Airbnb (I guess I have started too cheap for the area on Airbnb- my first Airbnb tenant told me, so I'm booked till mid January now without breaks). I'm new to Airbnb (I allow booking without my approval), so it's a learning curve, but my first two were better than my typical student-tenant. In my arrangement, my tenants don't have an access to my quarters, and I give them privacy in theirs, but leave the right, in case of an emergency, to access their lower level without their permission (if I can't get the permission soon enough).

It's a mitigated risk, there is not much they can steal, but a few small items "walked away," like a pair of wireless earphones (I would have not even noticed, but they were on one of the pictures I post to advertise), then one time it was an iron, but they sent it back, so I guess an "accident." One of my student-tenants left me her TV for free, she didn't want to drag it with her across the country. Actually tenants leave behind many usable items; I did a "final walk-through" with my student-tenants, so they do leave those items.

I'm surprised that so many people voice their fear of strangers, when in fact most murders, rapes and such are committed by family members, friends, or someone who victims knew. Police always starts with family members and friends. In my case, the biggest mess I had to clean in my lower level was left by a tenant who I personally knew very well. I had to actually help him move out, load things into his car, patch walls that got somehow damaged (not a big deal for me), touch up some paint and spend significant time returning the place to my level of cleanliness. The second place takes a student who brought a friend and the friend brought his wife and... drum rolls ... a baby, without telling me. I knew about the friend, but the wife and the baby were a surprise. Wasn't that big of a deal overall, but since then I introduced mandatory lease signing, first, with a provision - no guests without my approval, second. Those tenants also left some mess (baby wall paintings) that required some walls touch up paint.

Otherwise, for 5 years my house only got better because of the tenants.
-I have installed Nest thermostat for the tenants (was rebated by our local electrical company, plus an annual discount). Not only it saves energy, but it also gives me a piece of mind when I'm out of town and a storm passes my area, I always know if the power in my house is out. This is also my first step to the smart house upgrade.
-I have found out that I had mice infestation (without tenants I didn't go to the lower level often enough to notice). I got two farm kittens who took care of the problem and now keep the whole neighborhood in shape; my neighbors told me that their flowers that were not blooming for years, are finally blooming again - our rabbit population got under control.
-I got a clone for my Internet (tenants complained enough that some places in the house are dead). Now, with the clone, the Internet got stabilized throughout. $50 investment, and everyone's Internet improved tremendously. The clone is on the opposite to the router side of the house and now I can get a desktop for my son that he can plug into the clone directly to have a wired connection. Before the clone there was barely any wireless connection and it seemed pointless to buy him a desktop.
-Tenants also complained about my loud sprinkler system, which bugged me too, but without the tenants I wouldn't have been on to "solving the problem" so much. I finally figured that I needed to replace my water meter and while doing that also installed a pressure reducing valve (now standard in any new builds). And that solved the problem of phantom toilet flashing and leaking faucets throughout the house, in addition to very quiet sprinkles.
-Plus, there is less of a chance when I'm out of town, that someone would break in, since my tenant's car is in the driveway.

In short I'm left (politically speaking), but I do NOT trust people. I do a thorough google check of all my tenants, but to be fair it's a very poor predictor of messiness, or how clumsy they are, or if they are going to use a white towel as a floor mat, or wash it with their dark clothes. My fault, no more white towels, dark grey it is. I can write a book about all my tenants, weird things they did, or left. But those are mostly amusing stories, nothing that would make me stop renting. And the person who I knew very well, who left a huge mess, in life is very clean (more than me even), but in my place was a total mess (maybe he was depressed, who knows, overwhelmed).

CanuckExpat

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2994
  • Age: 41
  • Location: North Carolina
    • Freedom35
Re: Getting paid to have someone watch my pets
« Reply #52 on: November 20, 2019, 04:38:33 PM »
Hi Meat grinder. I'm a bit curious, how much details did you write into your original CL post?

SeanTash

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Getting paid to have someone watch my pets
« Reply #53 on: November 25, 2019, 04:16:43 PM »
I'm also surprised how fearful many are here about this.
I've often rented out on airbandb, both a room and the whole place. Probably had over 100 people stay, without one single issue. Granted, as a Moustacian, I don't waste money on expensive crap, so there really isn't much to steal..

I've also stayed at 10s (maybe 100s) or airbandb places, and never one thought to steal anything.
I've pet sitted many times, without any issues. One lady did ask for a police report, and I did try to organise one, but it took so long that I had finished the sit before it arrived.

I've also done long term rents of IPs, mostly been fine, but I did have one tenant disappear mid lease with a month due and left the place in a mess. Those ones had been vetted through an agency, with good references, so you never no.
As others have said, bad things can happen to anyone anywhere.

Maybe the difference for me is,  I don't have personal attachment to stuff, and I don't have other family members to think about.





meatgrinder

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 157
Re: Getting paid to have someone watch my pets
« Reply #54 on: November 25, 2019, 05:26:37 PM »
Hi Meat grinder. I'm a bit curious, how much details did you write into your original CL post?

@CanuckExpat  Sure. Here is the full post. My goal was to be as transparent as possible?

$75 / 3br - 2000ft2 - house for rent 7/3 -  7/17. $75/night (wallingford)
© craigslist - Map data © OpenStreetMap
(google map)

3BR / 2Ba 2000ft2

furnished
house
w/d in unit
no smoking
street parking
private bath
private room
Wallingford craftsman for rent. We are leaving on vacation and thought it would be a win-win if we list our house for rent at a below market rate to someone who loves dogs. We have a 60lb Labrador that requires to be fed 2 times/day, let outside and walked once every other day. She is an old lady (14 y.o) and is very calm, friendly and full of face licks.

House has 10ft tall ceilings, fir floors, updated kitchen, back deck with grill and yard, washer/dryer, wifi and hottub. Less than 5 min walk to either Greenlake or Wallingford.