1.
|
It is best to have "single family residential" in your Declaration. If you don't
have that, it is more difficult. |
2.
|
You need tough, specific corporation rules (They are easy to pass in large buildings.) |
3.
|
You need WARNINGS
right on the status certificate request form. Also see the tab for
"investors". It's pretty clear we hate them. We're not interested in
pleasing
bad owners and we make that clear. |
4.
|
Most of all, you need tough 24/7
security guards. Management companies are
useless for this purpose because they are not here 24/7 and
nobody—nobody—is going to bother to explain to them what goes on during
weekends, holidays and evenings. |
5.
|
DO NOT have the management office
register new owners or tenants or you're just wasting your time. Always
have security do it. Understand that management companies WANT
short-term rentals, they WANT to be the manager of all these short-term
rentals, it's a good easy commission for them and gives them supreme
control of the building. I have seen management
companies betray owners by acting as landlords for individual unit
owners who run STRs! |
6.
|
Have either an involved, active board or an uninvolved, distant
board. One or the other but not both types of people on the same
team |
7.
|
It helps to have an over-occupancy by-law but it's not mandatory. |
8.
|
It
helps to have cameras but it's not necessary if you have security
guards and door alarms. Cameras are really important for security and
charge-backs, though not so necessary for STRs. |
9.
|
Have alarms on ground-level doors, so when somebody sneaks in, there is
an audible chime. We have found "suitcase people" hiding in our
garbage/compactor room! |
10.
|
Make bloody sure that people have to swipe a fob to GET OUT of the
building, unless there's a fire alarm. That's so important. |
11.
|
Alert all staff to watch for important clues and suspicious behaviour
and particularly bulky garbage dumping (when STRs move out, they leave
a lot of garbage) or intake from the Visitors' Parking (People who try to
bring a mattress through the parking levels, etc). |
12.
|
Your owner register must be 100% up to date and I mean daily. |
13.
|
Inspect all units at least
annually and before any change in ownership. Do not allow locks on
doors except for the bathroom (fire precaution,
tell them, and we have had fires so it's worth it for that reason
alone). |
14.
|
Your fob and building access system must be 100% up to date and you
deactivate ANYONE and EVERYONE who is not registered with the building,
ON THE SPOT. You deactivate everybody that is associated with a unit—not
just individual people—because you are forcing them all to come to
Security at the same time to explain themselves (they don't!). |
15.
|
If
anybody is using someone else's fob, deactivate the whole unit on the
spot. |
16.
|
There's no bloody point in having a guard if he doesn't question
people and it's too bad if "visitors" who don't speak English don't
like it. They don't pay the bills around here. |
17.
|
You need a lease register. |
18.
|
you need a RO/NRO (resident owner/non-residential owner) register . |
19.
|
you need an OOCL register (out of country landlord), and those people
can go to HELL). |
20.
|
Automatic door openers are the most unsafe and insecure things
possible, but the Ontarians with Disabilities Act really f*d things up,
really stupid and bloody dangerous in any area of town. |
21.
|
Do NOT allow real estate agents to function as landlords unless they
have validated Power of Attorney for the unit. (Rare!) |
22.
|
If you don't have security, it's hopeless no matter what else you have. |