Whistler Olympic Rental Properties and Homes
Rents may top $100,000 a month for luxury homes in Whistler during Olympics
WHISTLER - Owners of luxury homes in Whistler are looking for rents in the $100,000-a-month range for the Winter Olympics.
“I would say we are looking at $8,000 to $15,000 per bedroom for a 31-day period,” said Sylvia Koltzenburg, who is running an Olympic accommodation matchmaking service. “We’ve certainly got homes over $100,000. It all depends on the number of bedrooms. It’s easy to get $90,000 if you have a fairly high-end home here.”
Koltzenburg has been fielding scores of calls and e-mails since she started advertising earlier this year.
“I got 177 e-mails [in one day] alone,” she said, en route to visiting with another potential Olympic home-renter.
Jim Watson is renting out his three-bedroom-and-den home at Black Tusk, 10 minutes south of Whistler, for an undisclosed sum through Koltzenburg . “I am not particularly interested in being here for the Games,” said Watson.
He wouldn’t say how much he’s getting for the month-long rental but added: “I’m extremely pleased.
“I think it will be a bit of a zoo and . . . there is a financial opportunity to go on a nice holiday and do something positive. I am planning to take my motor home and go down to the Baja with my toys.”
Koltzenburg, who lives in Seattle and has a second home in Whistler, is renting out her Whistler home and moving into its suite for the Games. Well aware of the controversy surrounding the displacement of workers living in Whistler’s small pool of rental housing, Koltzenburg said she will give her tenant three months’ free rent and a vacation for the duration of the Games. She said most of her clients are making alternate arrangements for their tenants.
Brad, a tenant who said he was afraid to give his last name because his landlord might evict him, said: “I’ve been working here for five years in the service industry and living in the same place for two and I have already been told to get out for 2010 by my landlord. I guess I will be leaving. It just makes me sick this cash grab. The Games are all just about making money.”
Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said he’s worried about the displacement of workers. “It’s an enormous concern,” he said, noting council recently decided not to relax bylaws that would allow short-term rentals - less than 30 days - in homes not zoned for it. “I hope I am right when I say the expectations [of homeowners] are exceeding the demand.
“I want to urge residents and businesses to think long-term. Think beyond the 17 days of the Games and really consider being here and opening their homes for homestay opportunities . . . That in my opinion is a much more enriching way to participate than simply seeing this as a cash grab to go on holiday.”
Blake MacKenzie, of Vancouver-based Access Vacation Group/EMR Vacation Rentals, said demand is outpacing supply. “The number of rooms that we have been asked to supply so far is more than what we can handle,” he said. “The actual orders are in the thousands of rooms needed and we may have 300 to 400 available if we combine all our inventory.”
He believes Vancouver homeowners can get about $400 a night per bedroom. “We’ve got homes in West Vancouver, Richmond, North Vancouver and downtown condos, as well as people on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, wanting to see if they can lure guests to stay over there as well and take helicopters and planes,” said MacKenzie, who has been in the tourism business for five years.
Martin Schoenberg of RentfortheGames.com, a division of ESC adventures, said: “We do think there will be some kind of rush and panic among people who haven’t booked yet and that might represent an opportunity for some people to gouge.
“We have a commitment to fairly price our properties and we will not be auctioning off houses” in a bidding war for accommodation.
By Clare Ogilvie, The Province Published: Thursday, March 06, 2008
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I can’t believe that Martin at RentfortheGames.com can say
“We have a commitment to fairly price our properties and we will not be auctioning off houses” in a bidding war for accommodation.
Yet he has outlandish prices for properties that are complete dumps!
We have been renting high-end properties for 6 years in Vancouver and are a fully ‘licensed’ property managment Real Estate company under the Real Services Act and I see as it is appalling that people are jumping into the game just to see how much they can guage people to come and participate in the games.
We are committed to ensuring any owners we represent are offering accommodations that are not only fairly priced but represent a ‘reasonable’ premium without an outlandish price point.
Vancouver is playing ‘host’ to the world and to think that the overall mentality of people is that guaging is the way to go then we will be seen as an very unpleasant place to come and visit or even live for that matter.
Let’s hope the general public are smarter than this and people coming her to enjoy the games don’t fall prey to booking their accommodations through these unscrupulous companies looking to make the ‘quick buck ‘at their expense.
How is it gouging? Somebody has a home they wish to rent for a sum of money, somebody else is willing to pay it, sounds fair to me. If you don’t want to pay the money don’t rent the property, the said somebody will drop their price if no one chooses to rent. Before Mayor Melamed comments on the housing maybe he should look at the approval for the Whistler projects Rainbow and fitzimmons walk. Would it not have made more sense to build staff housing seeing as there is such a shortage for workers. He can’t be that worried about the displacement of workers!
HOw is that we can condone GOUGING!!! yes, it is plainly spoken, Gouging. Just for a quick buck ,a little greed to think that we can benefit at all from taking from the people and putting it in our pockets. If you have agreed to have a rental property than that is what you are. Not a quick buck to gain at the expense of tennants. How is it that money has become the be all end all. Do we not have any kind of morals or values that place people NOT the almighty buck, as priority?? We live in a world where money is god. Do we also have to succumb to the peer pressure? Can we not stand alone? Does not a just feeling bring enough satisfaction?
If you ask for a normal rent price and list you rental on few free rental 2010 web sites, you will do much better than with sites where you have to jack up your price $1,000.00 just to cover their commission charges
Some of these places “if rented want 25% of the gross rent ” + 200.00 for listing your rental + taxes…. WTF?
YOU CAN DO IT FOR FREE AND GET MORE LEADS
TRY IT >>> list your rental house FOR FREE on
evancouver.en.craigslist.ca/
vancouver.kijiji.ca/
rental2010.ca/
Spend 20 minutes - save 1,000.00 dollars
LIST ON THOSE 3 SITES AND I GUARANTTE YOU WILL GET MORE LEADS - ” with in a week ”
People who have money got get rich by not spending anymore than they had to.