Welcome back to the Hosting Hotline! This is an Ask Me Anything where each week we’ll answer your questions on Airbnb, STRs, real estate, and everything in between.

Kim asks:

What should I do if the neighbor of my short-term rental property is a drug dealer? I’ve already involved the local police and they’re monitoring the situation, but I’m concerned about how this will affect my reviews and the overall safety of my guests and property. I’d appreciate any advice!

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Resources:

• #STRShareSunday: @queenstreetretreat

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SEGMENT GAP Hello.

Welcome back from another great episode.

My name is Sarah Karakaian.

I am Annette Grant, and together we are--

Thanks for Visiting.

And this is the--

Hosting Hotline.

Today's a doozy, listeners.

We got to help this one out.

Hi ladies.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to my question, and thank you for

all that you do for so many listeners.

We love you.

But anyways, I'll make this short.

So just bought in April my first STR.

Woohoo.

Finally made that happen.

And super cute, cute, cute bungalow.

Actually, turnkey because I work full-time, kids, the works.

No time for renovating.

Did that on my primary home.

Turned out great, but just could not do it again this time around.

So anyways, great little house.

Up-and-coming area.

Hip and trendy.

Lots to do within walking distance.

Bars, restaurants, close to the beach.

The problem is my neighbor is a drug dealer.

Lots of bad activity all day, all night.

Not sure really how to handle this other than I've reached out

to the local police department.

They've actually been very helpful.

They're doing daily runs now, actually patrolling.

Once, if not twice a day for us, which is amazing.

They were already aware of the problem house.

They've been keeping an eye on things.

I think there's been several arrests made in the area where they've

watched people come from this home, so they are working on it.

But as so far as short-term rental goes, of course, I'm really concerned what

this is going to do for my reviews when people show up to have a good time and

they see the activity happening next door and they see police officers driving by.

I would appreciate any and all advice on this one.

Very new to this.

I'm pretty freaked out, so thank you for your time, and your help.

I look forward to hearing from you.

And by the way, first name Kim.

Instagram handle @queenstreetretreat.

Thank you so much.

Take care.

Bye.

Kim.

Man.

We have some thoughts for you, Kim.

Obviously, we don't have a crystal ball.

We don't know how this is going to end up, and every situation's different.

There's so much we don't know about your situation, but Annette, something came

to mind when I was listening to her.

One of our mentors, my husband, my mentors, they're home builders.

So they will build brand new homes for clients.

And when a client finds a plot of land, they tell them to go have a picnic

there, or go work from your car there for several hours a day before you buy

this land, before you commit to it.

That's just part of their plot finding--

Their due diligence.

Due diligence suggestion for their clients.

I know this is hindsight for Kim, but how nice would it have been-- I

don't know if it was-- she said it was turnkey, so I don't know if it was

existing short-term rental and the seller maybe sold up because of the stuff.

And listeners, if you're able to go and stay at a place that might already

be a vacation rental to think about purchasing it, if that's something you

can do, I know not every time, think about maybe doing that, because I think that

could have been helpful for poor Kim.

It sounds like, a, you've got the local police on your side, which I'm

really happy to hear that because that could have been in a different direction.

So hopefully with them heavily patrolling, it doesn't sound like it's deterring

any of the activity, but hopefully with the consistency that will help.

My first thing that I wanted to ask about is, is the DD-- we'll

call the drug dealer the DD.

Are they the owners of that house next to you?

There might be an opportunity to see who the owner of that home is.

And do they understand?

Maybe if they are leasing the property, I'm not sure, but that

might be an avenue of just taking a look at who owns the property?

Would they care?

Or maybe this person does own the property.

So I would start there and do some research.

And a lot of times, sometimes there's neighborhoods that it's often that someone

might own multiple properties, so I would try to see, do some research there.

The next thing I heard you say that it's day and night, all hours, I'm

assuming from that-- have you went and stayed for an entire week to see exactly

how much activity is going on here?

I mean, is it something that is around the clock nonstop or does it

just feel like that because-- I don't even know how you were alerted to

this, um, if it was you when you were over there designing and moving in.

But I'd really get some idea of if there was a guest there for a week,

what would they be encountering?

I know you're nervous about the reviews.

I think we need to even go a step further here and really think about

the home and having guests there.

What is the activity happening there?

What's the future of the home?

I don't want this to continue to be an issue that you're

up against in perpetuity.

AD MARKER

Let's just also say this.

I know it's not comforting, but this can happen anywhere at any time.

Anyone can move into any home next door, whether your next-door neighbor is across

the street or smacked up against you.

So this episode, if it doesn't pertain to you now, it might, and that's where

I am going to plug in our next thought is-- love that the police are involved.

How about city council?

How about local government?

Are you involved there?

Do you have connections there?

Do you have your local government on your side understanding what's going

on, and how can we come together as the community to look at it?

What about your neighbors?

Are they as concerned as you are?

Could you have some allies in this mission so you're not at it alone, Kim?

And then let's talk about the tough stuff.

Your home, who are you marketing to right now?

Are you marketing to families?

I'm not saying people without families you aren't concerned for their

safety either, but after you have that stay, per Annette's suggestion,

because sometimes we know something's happening next door that isn't

great, we create things in our minds.

So we don't want this to be this feeling of all day, all night.

Get the facts.

And if it really is all day, all night, and if it looks like unsafe conditions,

I might change my marketing until this gets nipped in the bud because you don't

want to be in the middle of a lawsuit or of, like you said, a very honest

review of someone's safety being--

It's rough.

It is hard.

Right now, do we pivot to a longer stay person who understands the

area and the neighborhood, Kim?

They may understand that this is an up-and-coming neighborhood.

They may understand, and get a lay of the land.

When to go outside, when not to go outside.

They may be fine with it.

I am one of those people.

I've always lived in metro area.

I'm not saying that your area is a metro area, but a lot of people around me.

So you don't know who you're living around.

And I've been okay with that.

I can look around me.

I'm all right with that.

So maybe a longer stay guest right now until this gets nipped in the bud.

Mm-hmm.

I don't know how to say this, and, ooh, there's different levels to--

Drug dealing.

No, there really is.

Do we have any idea what kind of drugs?

Different drugs bring a different--

Mm-hmm.

I don't want to say clientele, but there's just-- different drugs

do different things topeople.

Well, it's like different short-term rentals bring different guests.

Different hotels bring different guests.

What's that--

Different stores bring different guests.

Right.

Is there some brownies being sold outside, or is there

things that need more of needles

and--

More equipment.

Yeah.

So not to make light of your subject, Kim, but I also just want to say,

what is happening over there, I also don't want to identify that what's

going on there is completely out of hand or dangerous when maybe it isn't.

I don't know what's going on over there.

But, man, this is a tough one, Kim.

We're not going to sugarcoat it for you at all, but this is a place where I would

really understand your numbers that if you need to pivot to a long-term rental,

to a mid-term rental, this is something where I would already be prepping

your listing and your description.

I don't know how to preface this because this is something, I can just say, if I

was a guest and knew that the owner of the home had visibility to the things that

were going on, I think I would be a little disheartened that, I don't know, that--

They opened it.

But here's the thing, Kim.

People do this every day.

Yeah.

People open up rentals in sketchy areas or places where

criminal activity happens, Kim.

So the fact that you're asked this question that you're

on top of it, kudos to you.

Are there safety elements you can put into place?

Are there exterior cameras?

Do you have lights that come on when there's motion?

Can you put taller trees to separate the visibility, or a privacy fence to

separate your property from your neighbor?

I'm sure you've already thought of these things, but just trying

to give you as much as we can to help you against the situation.

Kim, would you please also keep us posted?

Let us know what happens.

I can't imagine that with you giving the local authorities insight into this that

this is going to be a forever thing.

So hopefully, now that you've brought it to light, get involved,

this is your business, Kim.

So the fact that you are sitting in that CEO seat and you are

taking action, that's amazing.

And here's the deal.

If it's not a good fit for you after a while and the numbers aren't there,

and with your education and your gut, and you need to pivot, Kim, you pivot.

So maybe it needs to be a permanent residence or a longer term rental.

And just know that there's going to be another short-term

rental out there for you.

Things like this happen in business.

I don't care what industry you're in.

All the time.

Hopefully that gives you some comfort.

You're not alone.

And listeners, if you have any other ideas for Kim, let us know.

We'll share them with her.

But yeah, thanks for reaching out.

And this is a real concern.

Yeah.

And this is something where, I don't know if you have a turnover team, a cleaning

team, who's helping you with the home, but this is where I would ask them to be on

high alert if they see anything specific.

You really do want to involve them, letting you know ASAP there.

But good luck, Kim.

We appreciate you calling in and sharing because I'm sure it wasn't easy.

Keep us in the loop for sure.

With that, I'm Sarah Karakaian.

I'm Annette Grant, and together we are--

Thanks for Visiting.