Calgary Short Term Rental Management

Subleasing (also known as sublet or subletting) is when the tenant who is leasing a property turns around and re-leases the same property. Subleasing is completely legal as long as it is part of a written contract between the landlord and the original tenant. 

For example: The landlord leases their property to RSL Empire (the tenant). RSL Empire then subleases the property as a short term rental on Airbnb. RSL Empire remains the long term tenant and continues to pay monthly rent to the landlord, the only difference now is that RSL Empire isn’t occupying the property, instead the guests from Airbnb would be occupying the space.

Cohosting is when a current Airbnb host adds a ‘co host’ to their listing. A cohost takes on a portion of the work load from the host, and this work load can vary from simply managing bookings, to taking full control of the entire listing and all the other logistics associated to managing the listing. 

Subleasing through RSL Empire means that rather than having a long term tenant in your home who you really know very little about, you have a professional company taking care of your home for the duration of the lease agreement. Our business only works if the properties we are managing are in perfect condition 100% of the time. This means that your property is being regularly cleaned, inspected, and taken care of, which all ensures your investment will hold its value much longer than with a traditional long term tenant. 

We have several safety measures in place to ensure your home is never abused or taken advantage of. When we sublease properties as short term rentals we only use Airbnb because it is the safest short term rental platform on the market. We only host guests who have positive reviews, who are recommended by other hosts, and who are verified through the Airbnb identification process. We install smartlock safety locks on doors to make sure there is no chance of keys being duplicated. Noise tracking devices can be installed to monitor the decibals of noise being produced inside the home, this ensures there are no parties or events that can get out of control. Each property we manage also comes with two separate insurance policies; Aircover through Airbnb, and a second policy which is through our own company. 

We install smartlock door locks on the entrance door of every property. These smartlocks can be accessed remotely at any time by our company. This means that at any moment we can change the passcode for the lock, we can monitor every single time the door is locked or unlocked, and at any given moment we can completely lock out the door.

Any damage that is caused by a guest will be repaired immediately and is covered by Airbnb. This coverage is a part of Aircover, a new protection plan that covers liability and damages caused by guests. This coverage covers up to $1M in damages, as well as $1M in liability. 

If the property has damages then it will impede our ability to effectively rent it out on Airbnb, so as soon as any damage is discovered it is of utmost importance that we remedy the situation as quickly as possible. 

These are the worst case-scenario situations that no one wants to think about, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to be prepared for. In the case of any serious accidents there is the Aircover protection that covers up to $1M in liability, and if for any reason there were any disputes or not enough coverage, our own insurance policy covers up to $2M in liability for each property we manage.

Like any rental situation, it’s hard to know exactly who will be renting your property until they’re really there and spending time in your home. The advantage of using Airbnb is that we have the reviews and recommendations of other hosts who have already had these guests occupying their home. Of course, there’s always the possibility of having a bad apple in the bunch, but with short term rentals it is a much easier process to evict the guests if needed. With long term renters, once they take possession it can be nearly impossible to evict them no matter how bad they are, not to mention having to move out their possessions and then find a new tenant. But a bad guest on Airbnb is only occupying the space for a short period of time and then they’re gone, and in worse case-scenario situations a guest can be forced to leave for not following the house rules put in place by our company. 

The best defence to this is to clearly define in the house rules that there are NO parties and NO events allowed on the premises. This is often all that is needed to deter guests from getting out of hand; if any house rules are not followed then it is immediate grounds to be removed from the property. We are also able to install noise detection devices in properties if the landlord would like an added layer of protection. These devices are set to send a notification directly to our company as soon as the noise level exceeds 75 decibels, once this happens the noise level is closely monitored, and if there is no reduction in noise then we take action by contacting the guests or visiting the property if needed. 

Majority of the time our company furnishes the property ourselves with our own furniture. In rare situations we will take a property that is already furnished, but not often. Our company creates high end, modern, and enticing spaces for our guests, and as such our interior designers demand an extremely high quality of furniture and household items. 

If you would like to use your own lease agreement that you’re comfortable with then that is great, we have an addendum that can be added to the agreement which states the landlord’s approval of having our company sublease the property as a short term rental. Once both parties sign the agreement and the addendum then we’re all set; we take possession, we furnish the property, and then we list it on Airbnb. Once the property is listed, you’re the first person we send the link for the listing to, that way you can see the amazing job we did by transforming your home into an elegant and desirable short term rental! We also provide copies of the photos to you so you can have for your own records. 

We also have our own lease agreements in place that we can use if you don’t have one of your own that you’re comfortable using. We go over our agreements in depth with each homeowner prior to signing anything, that way we are all on the same page and have a clear understanding of the terms and conditions.