Frequently asked questions

We offer a commission based pricing model that is based on the amount that your rental has made each month. The rates vary depending on the size and quality of the property along with length of rental season you commit to. Owners can expect to keep 70% to 75% of the gross nightly revenue earned!

Read more details on our fees and others here

If your property is already furnished with linens, owners can expect a small start up fee to cover initial digital set up and required smart home equipment. Recurring expenses that are the owner responsibilities are: consumables guests use like paper products, toiletries and cooking essentials and all repair and maintenance expenses to keep to property in excellent condition.

We use multiple cleaning contractors covered by WCB. We train each contractor and their employees in person to our brand standards. We also employ an inspector to go in afterwards and ensure the property is clean, safe and guest ready. The cleaning costs are paid to you in full by the guest and we invoice you monthly as we pay the contractors. The cleaning expenses are always covered by the guest and you shouldn’t expect any additional expenses beyond the initial clean, occasional deep cleans and any post-construction cleans due to maintenance or repairs.

We have managed to furnish a 3 bedroom home for approximately $35,000. The most important investment is in the bed linens and mattress quality. We can help coordinate the interior design and furnishing of the property and have it set up to launch in as little as a few days because we know where to look, what to buy and what works for a vacation rental property.

We set up the payments to come directly to you. They typically arrive in your bank account 3+ days after a guest arrives. So you are constantly receiving payments throughout the month. We invoice you monthly for our commissions, cleaning fees and any variable expenses for the property plus GST.

The only exception here would be when we receive reservations through our partnership with Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy as they will only issue payments to one account.

You will have access to an Owner Portal where you can review the financial reports each month.

We highly recommend enlisting the help of a tax professional BEFORE collecting your first rental revenue from your short term rental to understand your tax obligations. PST of 8% applies to sales of short-term accommodation provided in BC. In addition to the 8% PST, a 3% MRDT applies on behalf of municipalities. At this time these 2 occupancy taxes of 11% are collected and submitted on your behalf. If you earn more than $30,000 of gross revenue over four consecutive calendar quarters through the supply of taxable goods and services, which includes the provision of short term accommodation, you are required to register and start collecting and remitting the GST. The GST is built into the nightly rate so your tax professional can help you calculate what you need to submit for GST.

The speculation tax and vacancy tax is an annual tax paid by some owners of residential properties in Kelowna. Short-term rentals for periods of less than one month do not count towards the six-month total to qualify for the tax exemption. 0.5% of the assessed value is the tax rate for Canadian citizens who are not members of a satellite family

We get to know our guests with several points of communication before they book, and we keep consistent communication with them during their stay. Our guests know we are hands on with a very quick response rate. With years of experience we first engage with the guest to discover their intentions for visiting. There are telltale signs from their communication that help us decide whether or not to proceed with the inquiry or if not to let them know they would be suited to stay elsewhere. Guests that come in via platforms like Airbnb must provide Government issued identification. For first time guests, we engage in web searches, social media exploration and check public government databases. If an unworthy guest does obtain accommodation we act quickly to evict them while still maintaining their full payment. If we wouldn't rent our own properties to a particular group, we certainly wouldn't be renting yours to them either.

Damages are rare but they do happen. We find mostly stained towels, sheets and broken glasses are the biggest casualties in short term rentals. Common wear and tear to the property tend to be the walls from suitcases. Often a magic eraser will help with those and other times a little wall patch and paint is used in between tenants to help keep the property look its best. The process of the recovery of funds needed to replace the damaged items is part of our service offerings and is all inclusive in our fees. We also utilize the Airbnb Host Guarantee which provides protection for up to $1,000,000 USD to a host for damages to covered property above the security deposit or if no security deposit is in place. This also covers things like fines from strata or bylaw for infractions such as noise.

We understand that you may wish to host personal guests (friends, relatives, associates etc.) to stay at the property, and we are happy to help host. Typically our investors sign in to the owner portal and identify a last-minute gap in the calendar in non-peak seasons to take advantage of, but some owners prefer to book far in advance. Either or works for us.

Regarding fees associated with these stays, all cleaning fees will be billed for every departure. If you are looking to host anyone except your immediate family (parents or children), we ask that our service fee be covered for the stay based on the market rate posted online for rent. This fee for friends, extended family members or colleagues ensures our management services are covered for the nights blocked for your guests.

Yes. New bylaws to allow and regulate short-term rentals in Kelowna and West Kelowna are now in effect, and anyone operating a short-term rental must apply for a business licence. Under the new rules, a homeowner or primary resident can legally rent their principal residence for periods of 29 days or less. We can help you obtain a license and also conduct the monthly tasks required to maintain the license. Annual business licences for short-term rentals in Kelowna cost $750 for non-principal residences.

The following Kelowna condos are zoned for short-term rentals which means the owners of a property here have the legal ability to rent their suites for periods of time less than 30 days 365 days of the year without needing to have lived there for at least 8 months of the year:

Aqua Waterfront Village by Mission Group - 550 Truswell Road

Caban by Cressey - 3477 Lakeshore Rd

Sunset Waterfront Resort - 1128 Sunset Drive

Brooklyn on Bernard - 1471 St Paul Street

Zara at Lakestone - 9678 Benchland Dr, Lake Country

Discovery Bay - 1088 Sunset Drive

St Paul Building by Innocept - 1215 St Paul Street

Playa Del Sol Resort - 654 Cook Road

Sole Kelowna - 1290 St. Paul Street

Sole Downtown - 1350 St Paul Street

Cambridge House - 925 Leon Avenue

Mission Shores - 3880 Truswell Road

Pinnacle Pointe - 1875 Country Club Drive

Borgata Lodge - 3185 Via Centrale

Barona Beach - 4028 Pritchard Drive, West Kelowna

Boucherie Beach - 3075 West Bay Road, West Kelowna

The City of Kelowna allows a homeowner or primary resident to legally rent their principal residence for periods of less than 30 days.In order to be eligible, the rental must be located in your principal residence where you live for 8 months out of the year and cannot exceed advertising more than 3 bedrooms for 6 adults. Short-term rentals are not allowed in secondary suites or carriage houses.

There are some Properties in commercial zoning that allow for 365 days of short-term rentals in Kelowna. Have your realtor look for homes with Tourist Commercial Zoning: C9, parts of CD18 (McKinley Beach – Hilltown only) & CD24 (Hiawatha – Area A only) and the Health district: HD2.

Popular addresses for full-time vacation rentals include:

Lakeshore Villas at 3756 Lakeshore Road - C9 Zoning

Many investors offer their properties for rent to a tenant whose intention is to live there for 8 months. The tenant is also given permission by the landlord to list the property on the short-term market for the 4 months of the year should they so choose. This is one example of how investors structure partnerships in Kelowna to offer single-family homes for nightly rentals.

Without a doubt, short-term rentals are better maintained. First, there is a substantial difference in how long-term tenants treat the properties. Most guests aren’t living in the properties but rather enjoying the area and just using the home for rest and relaxation leaving behind very little wear and tear. Secondly, our team is in your property often cleaning, maintaining and protecting your investment. Long term rentals come with more risk and you stand to earn more annually on a furnished rental sold by the night opposed to a yearly tenant. If you would prefer to receive a steady, predictable income each month, similar to what you receive from a long-term tenant then ask us about our lease model agreement.

Our services are suited perfectly for the remote investor as we care for our clients‘ properties like they are our own and we keep great relationships with our clients. Many of our investors want to be very hands off and they just enjoy watching the payments come in without the hassle of the day to day operations. We offer a full suite of services 24/7 for short-term rentals in Kelowna and beyond. We handle every aspect of guest relations, marketing of the property, cleaning and we coordinate regular maintenance schedules and take care of any emergencies that arise.

If we didn’t answer your question, please don’t hesitate to ask. Please use our Contact Us page to submit your question. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.