What A Rental Reveals – Albert & Michael – Saba Island Properties
How a person treats a home that isn’t theirs tells you a great deal about how they see the world. This is worth thinking about whether you’re the one looking for a place to rent, or the one handing someone the keys — because the same trust runs both directions.
We’ve managed rentals and long-term leases on Saba for more than a decade, and the pattern never really changes. It just wears a different face each time.
Most vacation (short-term) renters get it right. They make things neat before they leave, start a load of laundry, wipe down the counters, take out the trash, leave the kitchen as they found it. Often, we find a thank-you note on the kitchen counter along with cash for the pool and yard caretakers and housekeepers. The vacationer may never have met them, but noticed the changes and care and like to thank them for the work they did.
Long-term tenants who get it right are just as easy to spot. Rent arrives on time. Small repairs happen quietly, without a call to us. If something breaks by accident, they tell us plainly, and we fix it together. They understand a house is not a hotel with just walls and a roof. It is something someone built, renovated, maintained, and loves — and they treat it that way. They follow the lease regulations to the letter.
A smaller number don’t see it that way at all. They paid for the week, the month, the years, and, in their minds, that payment buys them permission to treat the place however they like. We’ve walked into homes after check-out to towels and sheets used past reason, bottles left in the pool, and garbage for someone else to deal with as well as missing items
Among long-term tenants, the pattern looks different but rhymes: repairs pile up, rent and utility payments run late again and again, and by the time they move out, things are also missing and repairs and replacements are needed that were never reported.
If you’ve ever owned a home, you know what it costs to keep one standing — the money, the time, the attention. Renters who understand these costs and commitments are wonderful to work with. It’s the rare few who don’t that make clear terms worth having, as well as knowing what action can be taken to have them exit.
So, our advice is simple, and it applies whether you’re renting for four days or several years. Get a reference from the prospective tenant about their past rental experience. Write a lease that clearly covers the details, not just the broad strokes. Take a security deposit, even from someone you already know. None of this is about distrust. It’s business. It’s about professionalism, clarity, and respect — which protect everyone, including the honorable renter who has nothing to hide and every reason to want the terms in writing, too, and to live up to their responsibilities, no matter what.
Know the rental laws. Protect your home and your investment. And if someone bristles at a fair, detailed lease before they’ve even moved in, that tells you something, too.
Most people, given a good home and a fair agreement, will treat both well. A house, its neighbors, and its community remember who has lived in it — and we’d rather it be remembered with kindness.
Rentals are part of the business we take as seriously as the sale of land and homes. A home well cared for is worth more to everyone, including the next person who lives in it… or ends up buying it.
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Albert & Michael – Saba Island Properties
Creating a Caribbean Lifestyle for a Week or… a Lifetime
Saba +1 (599) 416 – 2777
Emails: Albert@sabaislandproperties.com or Michael@sabaislandproperties.com
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Michael’s writing is published at Arianna Huffington’s – Thrive Global, The Huffington Post,
Medium, Maria Shriver’s Website, LinkedIn, Michael Port, The Fordyce Letter, Mélange Magazine and others.
Along with this international monthly Blog Michael publishes Daily on his coaching website – Commit2Change.
