New Technology to Help with Noise
One of my beach rentals is located in a social neighborhood. Saturday night’s action was rotated often from house to house. Although many of the tenants who leased this property were aware of this ‘fact’, some preferred to ensure the loudness ceased at a certain time of the evening.
A new item on the market helps with ‘monitoring’ decibel levels from the exterior of residences. Noise Aware does not actually record conversations. Instead, it keeps tracks of the overall noise.
As a landlord with several properties, this device may be useful if your unit is located in a low density or rural area. Additionally, if your neighbors actually observe you placing this device on your home, you may encounter recalcitrant neighbors, which is something all landlords should avoid at all costs. Still, keeping an eye on noise may not be a bad idea to protect your home from unwanted property damages — notably, for the AirBnB landlord.
Concerns with Technology
Technology used by landlords to manage property extends the reach of the owner and opens up avenues for quality control and verification of events and actions. However, Baron urges caution with these applications when the property is occupied by a tenant. The future may actually permit anyone from a form of voyeurism simply by knowing where the Wi-Fi transmitters are located inside of a residence.
As such, for any/all devices which can be remotely activated Baron recommends:
i. Full disclosure of all devices, explicitly, with the tenant in the lease.
ii. Transferring the remote capabilities of these devices to the tenant–so that they are the sole operators– once the lease is signed. Disconnecting or removing any devices the tenant elects not to accept.
iii. Providing training to the tenant, if necessary, so that they understand the capabilities if they so choose.
iv. Ensuring tenants are financially responsible for any monthly fees, and also any costs caused should they be damaged or lost.
Progressing technology is changing remote property management.