All you need to know

FAQ for lessors

Questions frequently asked by our lessors

KURZZEiTmiete is your expert for work-related moves, offering rental objects based on monthly contracts. That’s why we have a minimum rental period of one months or 29 nights respectively. Our platform is not intended for tourist rentals. Our rental objects are rented out for anywhere between one month and six months. 

You can rent out a flat with KURZZEiTmiete if you are authorised to do so and if your object is available at least for one continuous month. By authorised we mean that you are the owner of the respective object or entitled to sublet it. What’s more, only fully furnished objects can be rented out via our portal. Moving straight in without much hassle – that’s what our tenants want.

Of course you can enter your object into the KURZZEiTmiete database yourself. If you need any help, we are always happy to assist. As part of our Completely carefree package we will be happy to explain the functions and processes of our platform as well as the presentation options to you in detail in person or by video call.
Should any problems arise in connection with putting your accommodation online, please feel free to contact us at any time!

You are in no way restricted to the use of KURZZEiTmiete. We want our lessors to choose our platform because of the many benefits and great services we offer. Our availability calendar shows how flexible and independent you are as a KURZZEiTmiete lessor. Simply enter occupancies manually or synchronise your object with other platforms such as Airbnb or booking.com via iCal-Sync.

For the quality of KURZZEiTmiete's service, it is immensely important that the short-term flats displayed are actually available. Therefore, we regularly remind lessors to update the availability calendar!

In the calendar - top left - you will find a text: Confirm availabilities including a timer, which you must click in order to confirm that the availability is up to date. If you enter a new occupancy for one of your accommodations, we assume that your availabilities are correct.

Alternatively, you can connect the availabilities of all your accommodations to other portals via iCal link. This way, occupancies are automatically matched. This also means that you will no longer receive a request to confirm your availabilities.

As soon as you receive a non-binding request, you have 24 hours to get back to your potential tenant and confirm the rental. The tenant will then be notified and requested to confirm the booking and make an online down payment. Following this payment, the booking is basically binding for both parties. In general, short response times have a positive effect and increase your rental chances.

You need more than 24 hours to get back to your tenant? In special cases, for instance if your tenant asks for an appointment to view your flat in advance, you can extend your response period in your booking details. However, try to keep response times as short as possible and inform your potential tenant of any delays.

This largely depends on the type of service package you choose.

All of our packages have one thing in common: Costs only incur once your object has actually been rented out. The respective fee is simply subtracted from the first month’s rent.

Our Easy package includes payment and deposit management as well as marketing measures, the KURZZEiTmiete availability calendar and a pre-prepared modal rental contract with all details. The price for this package is 2.5 % of the total turnover invoiced by KURZZEiTmiete.

The Say cheese package includes all services of the Easy package plus a professional one-hour photo shoot at your rental object. Prices for this package amount to EUR 150,00 plus 20 % VAT and 2.5 % of the invoiced turnover.

Our Completely carefree package is the most comprehensive choice. It includes all services of the Easy and Say cheese! packages plus a personal consultation and a two-hour online-viewing of your rental object. In addition, we put your rental object online together with you. The price for this package is EUR 250,00 plus 20 % VAT and 2.5 % of invoiced turnover.

Images are an extremely important part of your flat description. They greatly influence the emotional booking decision of your potential tenants. That’s why KURZZEiTmiete places great importance on high-quality pictures. Experience shows that rental objects with higher-quality pictures are booked more often than those with less professional images. What’s more, realistic images of your flat are important to avoid on-site viewing appointments.

Present your rental object in a favourable light!

Here’s a few tips:

  • Avoid overexposure by shooting in daylight.
  • Turn on all lights in your apartment for illustration purposes.
  • Create an appealing atmosphere by adding decorative details.
  • Shoot your rental object in a clean state and without any personal belongings.
  • Use flowers or fruit to make your flat look more appealing.
  • Create a cosy atmosphere by including details such as made-up beds or towels in the bathroom.
  • Show the furniture in all rooms.
  • Don’t include objects that are not intended for the tenant’s use.
  • Rather use landscape format instead of portrait format – at least for your title image.

 

Good to know: We are happy to assist you with high-quality photos and video of your rental object. Our Say cheese Package includes a professional photo and video shoot of your flat.

Consider adding videos! A video guiding the user through all rooms of your rental object is an excellent opportunity to let potential tenants view your flat in advance. Simply upload the video to your YouTube channel and add the respective link to your object description on KURZZEiTmiete!

The modal rental contract including all names and dates is drawn up by KURZZEiTmiete and sent to the lessor once the rental procedure is completed. The lessor and the tenant are responsible for the final conclusion of a contract. As a general rule, this takes place directly after the rental and is exchanged by e-mail.

As soon as your tenant has made a reservation, KURZZEiTmiete provides you with a sample contract specifically tailored to short-term rentals. 

Good to know: If you have any questions in this field, KURZZEiTmiete is happy to recommend a professional tax accountant or compliance advisor.

The deposit is one month's rent and is collected before moving in. This ensures payment security for both parties. The deposit is returned to the tenant immediately after the end of the rental period, at the latest within 14 days. We therefore ask our lessors to report any damage to the rented property to us actively and as quickly as possible so that we can transfer the deposit to settle any justified claims of the lessor arising from the tenancy.

Our tip: We advise our lessors and tenants to make a short video of the state of the rental object upon moving in as well as upon moving out. In case of dispute, this can be extremely helpful.

Invoicing is exclusively done by KURZZEiTmiete. All prices are communicated to the tenant as total prices including fees and taxes for the entire rental period. That’s why it’s not possible to charge items like electricity, gas or water separately.

With every reservation, we draw up a payment schedule listing all payments with their respective due date and reason for transfer. You can access this payment schedule before the final confirmation in the reservation details of your online account. Our contracts are generally based on monthly rents. To protect tenants from fake rentals, the first rent is only transferred to the lessor once the tenant has actually moved in.

KURZZEiTmiete guarantees your first rent, meaning that if your tenant for some reason should not show up and pay his first rent, these costs are covered by KURZZEiTmiete. In turn, we encourage you to try and rent out your object again as soon as possible. The availability calendar of your flat is promptly cleared to ensure that it is immediately available for new tenants.

Important: This guarantee becomes invalid if a lessor lets a tenant move into his rental object despite prior objection on part of KURZZEiTmiete, for instance because the tenant has not paid the rent and/or deposit in advance as requested.

Any questions your potential tenants have are forwarded to you via e-mail or text message. You can activate or deactivate the text messaging service in the contact addresses of your account. Before confirming a booking request, you also have the chance to get in touch with your potential tenant via the messaging tool.

The rental object that your tenant has chosen is only available a couple of days later? You have another flat that you want to offer him or her instead? Our platform offers you the opportunity to contact potential tenants regarding alternative objects or dates.

This is how it works: Open the tenant request and create an alternative, adjusted offer, with the original booking request visible below. If the tenant is interested, you can send them your adjusted offer for confirmation.

As is the case with many areas of life, this is a question of supply and demand. That’s why we recommend having a look at similar objects in our database before calculating the rent for your object.

Discounts are a useful option to encourage long-term renting. As a landlord, you can offer discounts for certain objects as well as seasonal price increases or surcharges for multiple tenants.

The text messaging service can be activated or deactivated under “My data and addresses” in the contact addresses of your online account.

According to the Austria registration law, tenants are obliged to register their place of domicile within three days of moving in. This also includes short-term rentals. As a landlord, you are obliged to inform your tenant of his obligation to register and supply him with a signed registration form.

Our tip: Also inform your tenant that he has to unregister with the respective authorities upon moving out.

Download registration form

Normally, rental contracts in Austria have a legal minimum term of three years. After 12 months, the tenant has the right to terminate the contract subject to a three-month period of notice. Keep in mind: Minimum terms of less than three years are not legally allowed and automatically lead to an open-ended contract.  

Short-term rentals are based on an exception provision regulated by § 1 Paragraph 2 Line 3 of Austrian Tenancy Law. This exception only applies if …

... the temporary contract does not exceed an original or extended duration of six months,

… the rental object is a category A or category B flat according to § 15 Paragraph 1 Line 1 and 2 of Austrian Tenancy Law,

… the tenant states in writing that he or she only rents the flat as a secondary residence due to a temporary work-related move.

This exception also applies to flats or apartments that are only rented as secondary homes for leisure purposes (§ 1 Paragraph 2 Line 4 of Austrian Tenancy Law). According to § 1 Paragraph 2 Line 5 of Austrian Tenancy Law, the same is true for rental objects in buildings with less than three accommodation units (detached or semi-detached houses).

If your rental object is situated in Germany, the regulations of the German Civil Code on short-term rentals (§ 549ff BGB) apply. In this context, German lessors are only allowed to rent out to temporary tenants that are not planning to set up a permanent residence there. That’s why rental contracts have a legal maximum term of six months, making them particularly suitable for temporary work-related moves (e.g. for construction work, trade fairs etc.).

You would like to offer a rental object in a city that is not listed on KURZZEiTmiete? Well, you have to start somewhere and who knows: You might benefit from being the first in this “niche” market!

You still have questions?