being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

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Big Boy
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Re: being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

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MDMK wrote: Mon Jul 30, 2018 3:26 pm house has been empty for the last 18 months or so, has been let out via airbnb but only 3 times in 18 months, the 3 short term rentals together make a total of 5 weeks in 18 months - sp for all intents and puropses, empty for 18 months.
This is the bit that amazes me. The cleaner has only had 5 week's work from the owner in the last 78 weeks. It just seems crazy that he's willing to forgo regular income on his property just to help somebody he couldn't care less for during the other 73 weeks. Something is not quite right.
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Re: being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

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Big Boy wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:14 pm
MDMK wrote: Mon Jul 30, 2018 3:26 pm house has been empty for the last 18 months or so, has been let out via airbnb but only 3 times in 18 months, the 3 short term rentals together make a total of 5 weeks in 18 months - sp for all intents and puropses, empty for 18 months.
This is the bit that amazes me. The cleaner has only had 5 week's work from the owner in the last 78 weeks. It just seems crazy that he's willing to forgo regular income on his property just to help somebody he couldn't care less for during the other 73 weeks. Something is not quite right.
As an absent owner, he must have sombody looking in on the house on a regular basis. As an agent has not been mentioned, I would assume that the person is the disputed maid.
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Re: being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

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Homer, the neighbour would have been my "go to" guy if something was broken or there were any issues with the house like a plumber needing calling in or a vacuum cleaner needed replacing. The neighbour was also the person who showed us around the house in May. He could have been the early warning system. I wouldn't have had a problem had the owner said, "look, you hear so many stories of renters-from-hell, would you mind if the neighbour did a quick check of the property once a week". As long as the neighbur didn't let himself in without my (our) prior knowledge, then I'd have had no issues.

MLS, you hit the nail on the head of what pisses me off the most. It's the not being upfront from the start. We first spoke with this guy back in March, spoke of prices and time frames and he emailed me lots of pics and a very long list of house rules (which while it made me laugh and cringe, there were no rules we couldn't live with). We viewed the house in May while we were in Hua Hin. We firmed up the arrangements in June. Exact dates (with the option to extend by a month), exact prices etc. The fact that we couldn't use any cleaner but his only popped its head up last week.

Hin, I think he is perfectly happy if we don't take a cleaner. He just doesn't want us to use another cleaner.

PeteC, that could be it. But the gut feeling I get is that the guy just isn't cut out to rent out his house. He comes across as wanting the money that a 4 or 5 month rental would bring in, but not being able to relinquish any control.

Bigboy, exactly! It's not like his cleaner is losing a regular income. And if he'd told me back in March that I would HAVE to use his cleaner, I would have bowed out then. Pool boy and gardener fine, but I don't want the cleaner who cleans everyone elses house in mine, it's a recipe for gossip. It's different with the pool guys and the gardeners, they remain outdoors. A cleaner is far more personal.

Nereus, no the impromptu property agent would be the guy (neighbour) who showed us around in May. A really nice man. I had contact with him via whatsap to arrange a time for viewing and after we'd viewed the house we had coffee and a nice chat at his place. He has also been the person who has "facilitated" the 3 airbnb bookings (met the people, gave them the keys, showed them how things work etc). And the owner explained from the get go that this would be the guy we would go to if there were any issues. This guy would also arrange pest control and the like and let us know in advance when pest control were coming.

Just guessing here... but the words "control freak" spring to mind. I think he has issues. I think if we went ahead with the rental we would have more issues with him. And the sad part is, he will be very hard pushed to find better renters than us, ever. Hell even in hotels housekeeping love me. I am very clean and tidy - and 11pm is a late night for us.
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Re: being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

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hin wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:42 pm We do not have a cleaner, do not need a cleaner, and do not want a cleaner. What would a landlord do about that..? Bug the house..? We don’t want a life with spies lurking around us.
I hope I don't tick the mods off with going off topic here, but your post made me think of something. There is a lovely house on airnbnb. Soi 88 or 94 if I recall correctly. It was only when I looked closely at the comments left by people who had stayed there that I saw the owner had cameras outdoors around the pool, garden and sala.... not for security, no, but to spy on the renters and make sure they didn't have parties or become too loud. The feedback left by guests are hilarious. People who have rented the house come on and bitch, then the owner comes on and replies to the feedback and tries to defend her spying.

The owner explained at one point she had been stung by people renting it out as a party house. Fair enough. But the owner doesn't tell people of the the very intrusive and ongoing monitoring. Cameras that can hear every word your guests say outdoors. One young family left a comment about the wife being so creeped out that the husband wrapped the cameras in layers of clothing. The owner can obviously operate the cameras remotely. So people sitting at the pool and suddenly the camera begins to pan and tilt and zoom. Big Brother in Hua Hin, hehe. I laugh but I woulda been very pissed off had I rented that one. It was on my saved list too.
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Re: being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

Post by hin »

So twiwice lucky - you know the rest of that old saw.. I need one of those cameras in my liquer cabinet to learn how it evaporates so fast wit all the caps screwed on tight
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Re: being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

Post by dtaai-maai »

We had a control-freak landlord once.

It was a lovely house in Cha-am that suited us perfectly. Owned by an elderly Brit (a Yorkshireman, to be precise) and his very young Thai wife (early 70s and early 20s). We snapped it up at a decent rate and were enjoying living there. The only drawback was that they lived directly opposite, and he was constantly making comments about the grass in the front garden.

I could live with that until we went away for a few days. 10 minutes after we got back, he was over 'welcoming us back'. He said he'd popped in while we were away to make sure everything was ok, and he couldn't help noticing that there was a greasy spot on the tiles above the hob and some fluff in one of the kitchen cabinets.

I'm a fairly easygoing bloke, but that made me livid and I told him so. He wouldn't have it - "It's my house, I'll come in whenever I want". It was empty at the end of the next month.

I knew I wouldn't get my deposit back. When he asked for the keys (and there were an awful lot of them) I told him he'd get them the minute the deposit was returned. I'd also put a hefty padlock on the back door. Petty, but satisfying...

It was a shame all round - he lost good tenants, we lost a good house after just 6 months. But if we'd stayed, I'd probably have had to kill him at some point!
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Re: being stuck with the cleaner who comes with the house

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dtaai-maai wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:59 pmWe had a control-freak landlord once.
Horrible story dtaai-maai,and I would have felt the same as you. Some people just aren't cut out to rent out their homes. Some people refuse to respect boundaries (I don't mean fences, hehe, mean more... respect eachothers right to some autonomy).

I shouldn't grumble, I found this out on time.
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