How to Make Your Vacation Rental Property Safe and Secure

Guest Article by Mark Harris

Investing in a rental property can be highly lucrative when approached carefully, but it can also be a major undertaking. Caring for a second home and ensuring that your renters are safe, comfortable, and happy takes a lot of work — many people consider it a business for a reason. Owning a rental can especially be a challenge if your year-round home is far away. One particular aspect of owning a rental property that you should pay close attention to is security. After all, how can you make sure a home is safe when it’s occupied by other people?

Fortunately, technology has made it easier than ever for homeowners to keep an eye on things from afar. Whether you want to make sure there are no prowlers lurking around the perimeter or just check on the home’s smoke detectors and smoke alarms there are many ways to go about it even when you can’t be there. Taking advantage of these important tech resources will allow you to keep your property and renters safe while giving you a little peace of mind.

Location Is Important

The location of your vacation rental property is very important; not only do you want it to be in a safe area, you want to make sure it will attract a lot of renters without drawing a huge crowd of tourists. Salt Lake City is the perfect option. As Turnkey reminds, the city offers quite a few natural attractions, from the Wasatch National Forest to skiing in Park City or hiking in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Guests who stay in your rental home will expect a level of security that will help them feel safe bringing their families along, so it’s important to find the right security system and coordinate it with the platform you use to book guests.

Go Remote

These days, more homeowners are finding ways to monitor their homes using smart tech, and you can do the same with your property. Surveillance cameras that send a live feed to your smartphone, automatic lights for the interior and exterior of the home, and motion sensor alarms that will alert you via text when someone is on the property can all help you feel more in control even when you can’t be there, and they won’t break the bank if you’re on a budget.

Use a Keyless Entry System

The problem with keys is that they can be duplicated pretty easily, which means that anyone who has had access to your rental in the past could potentially still have access to it. With a keyless entry system, however, you can give guests a code to use for the duration of their stay, then simply change it when they check out. Not only is this more secure than having physical keys floating around, but it’s also easier on property owners who don’t live nearby.

Hire a Property Manager

A property manager can keep an eye on things when you can’t, but they can also help keep the rental maintained and assist with bookings, giving you access to a portfolio of all your rentals so you can stay organized. Having a caretaker who can make sure repairs get completed or get things secure before a big weather event will take some of the stress off you, especially if you live too far away to address this concerns in a timely fashion.

Owning a vacation rental property can be a big responsibility, especially if you rent it out year-round. Having guests rely on you to make their stay safe can be daunting, but with some preparation, you can make sure everyone has a good time while keeping your property secure.

END OF ARTICLE

Guest article provided by Mark Harris

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Special note about this article

Note that Peak Alarm and Larry Love the author of this blog site are in no way affiliated with Mark Harris or the companies he promotes and we are not compensated for this article or any of the links that appear in this article. Peak Alarm and Larry Love do recommend that you have security systems in your rental properties which should include smoke detectors that will dispatch the fire department, water sensors, temperature sensors and you should also include intrusion detection.

Be very careful when picking a security company to do your monitoring or your installations. Many of the sites that claim to tell you the best or the top companies are just paid sites where you pay for a position. Check the BBB.org Better Business Bureau before you buy. Peak Alarm has 3 complaints on the BBB and two of our competitors have over 3000 complaints in the last 3 years so check before you buy. One of the companies on the top lists has been sued in over 30 states and another on the list just lost a law suit against another security company here in Utah. Make sure the company is licensed through Utah DOPL the division of occupational licensing. Check their BBB rating and understand that many companies pay for ratings.

Many companies offer cameras, thermostats, lighting controls, garage door openers and other devices that you can connect to your smart phone through apps. If you buy all of these separately you will have to access each item through a different app. This can become confusing to have so many different apps.

We suggest that you tie all of those into one security app and have your system monitored by a professional security company..If you do decide to install smart locks do not tie them into your security system to disarm the system but just to open the door. Then the person that comes in also has to disarm the system. . You can remotely disarm your system using your smart phone letting someone like a neighbor into the home while you watch them on your cameras, after they have left you can arm the system back up.

Peak Alarm does not promote any specific property management companies,, we work with many different PM companies and treat all of them well.

Picking a local Security installation company and a local monitoring company is highly recommended. Peak also has a Guard and Patrol division that will respond to alarms often much sooner than the police depending on your area.

You may contact Larry Love for corrections or suggestions on this web site at Larry@peakalarm.com or call direct at 801 428 1384 at Peak Alarm