If you've never rented out a property before, the hardest part isn't any single task. It's not knowing the order things happen in, or which decisions lock in others down the line. This guide walks through the whole sequence as it actually unfolds in the Sea-to-Sky corridor, from the first decision you make to the day a tenant gets the keys. It's written for owners doing it for the first time, but it also doubles as a checklist if you've done it before and want to make sure nothing's missed.
A note before the steps: this covers long-term and seasonal rentals of 30 days or more, governed by the BC Residential Tenancy Act. It does not cover nightly or short-term rentals, which fall under different municipal rules across Whistler, Squamish, and Pemberton.
The decision that comes first
Before any of the practical steps, one choice shapes everything after it: long-term or seasonal. This determines your rate, your tenant pool, your turnover frequency, your tax treatment, and how much hands-on management the property needs. It's worth getting clear on before you do anything else.
Long-term
- Fixed-term or month-to-month, typically 12 months
- Lower turnover, more income stability
- Rent capped at the annual increase limit once a tenant is in place
- Less frequent marketing and screening
- Suits owners who want hands-off, predictable income
Seasonal / mid-term
- Fixed terms of 30+ days, often winter or summer season
- Higher rate per month, but more turnover
- Rent resets each new tenancy at market
- More frequent marketing, screening, and furnishing
- Suits owners who use the property part of the year themselves
Neither is "better." They serve different goals. The rest of this guide applies to both, with notes where the path differs.
The sequence, in order
Here is what actually happens, from decision to move-in. Each step sets up the one after it.
Confirm you're allowed to rent it out
Check your strata bylaws for rental restrictions or move-in fees, confirm your mortgage and insurance permit tenanted use, and make sure you understand any municipal requirements for your rental type. For long-term and seasonal rentals this is usually straightforward, but it's the step people skip and regret. A strata that prohibits or limits rentals can stop the whole plan before it starts.
Get the property tenant-ready
Handle deferred maintenance, ensure everything works, deep clean, and address anything that would show poorly in photos or a viewing. For furnished seasonal rentals, this is also where you furnish and inventory. A property that shows well rents faster and attracts better applicants, and documenting its condition now protects you later.
Set the rent based on real comparables
Price it on what similar properties are actually renting for right now in your specific area, not on what you hope to get or what you need to cover the mortgage. Overpricing is the most common reason a unit sits empty, and every vacant week costs more than pricing slightly under would have. Look at current active listings and recent rentals for comparable size, condition, and location.
List it where tenants actually look
Good photos, an honest and specific description, and the correct rate, posted on the platforms renters in this corridor use. The listing should answer the obvious questions up front: what's included, parking, pets, term length, available date. A clear listing filters out mismatched inquiries before they reach you.
Show the property and take applications
Conduct viewings, then collect applications from interested parties. A proper application gathers the information you'll need to screen: employment, income, rental history, and references. Take applications from more than one party where you can, so you're choosing rather than settling.
Screen within the rules
Verify income and employment, check references, and review credit and rental history. The key constraint: BC's Human Rights Code prohibits screening on protected grounds such as family status, source of income, or others. You screen on a tenant's ability to pay and history of meeting obligations, not on who they are. This is the step where getting it wrong creates real legal exposure, so it's worth doing carefully or having handled professionally.
Sign a proper tenancy agreement
Use a current BC tenancy agreement with the standard terms required by the Residential Tenancy Act, plus any addenda appropriate to your property, such as a pet agreement or strata Form K where the unit is a strata lot. The agreement sets the term, the rent, what's included, and the rules. A handshake or a generic template off the internet is where disputes start.
Collect the deposit correctly
You may collect a security deposit of up to half a month's rent, and if pets are allowed, a pet damage deposit of up to another half month, for a combined maximum of one month's rent. The deposit must be held, not spent, and returned within 15 days of the tenancy ending and receiving the tenant's forwarding address, unless you have grounds and follow the process to claim against it. Mishandling the deposit is one of the most common and most penalized landlord mistakes.
Do a condition inspection together
On move-in day, walk the unit with the tenant and complete a condition inspection report, documented with photos, signed by both parties. This is not optional paperwork: under the Act, skipping the move-in inspection extinguishes your right to claim against the deposit for damage later. It's your single most important protection, and it takes twenty minutes.
Hand over keys and set up rent
Provide keys and access devices, register the tenant with the strata if required, and set up how rent will be paid each month. Give the tenant the information they need: who to contact for repairs, emergency procedures, and any building specifics. A clean handoff sets the tone for the whole tenancy.
If you do only one of these perfectly, make it the move-in condition inspection. It's the step that determines whether you can recover anything from the deposit if the unit is damaged, and it's the one first-time landlords most often skip.
What comes after move-in
Getting a tenant in is the start, not the finish. Once the tenancy is running, a few things stay on your plate: collecting rent on time, responding to maintenance, handling the annual rent increase correctly if you choose to apply it, and eventually managing renewal or turnover.
On rent increases specifically, since it's the rule owners most often get wrong: once a tenant is in place, you can raise the rent only once every 12 months, by no more than the provincial cap for that year, which is 2.3% for 2026, and only with three full months' written notice on the official Residential Tenancy Branch form. A casual email or a larger increase is not enforceable. The cap applies to the existing tenancy; when a unit genuinely turns over, the next tenancy is set at market.
Where this gets handled for you
Every step above is something an owner can do themselves. Plenty do. The question is usually whether you want to. The screening, the agreement, the deposit handling, the condition inspection, the ongoing compliance: each is manageable alone, but together they're a real time commitment, and a few of them carry legal exposure if done wrong.
As a licensed rental property manager, this sequence is the work we handle for owners, start to finish. We're not the right fit for everyone, and if you'd rather do it yourself, this guide is meant to genuinely help you do that. If you'd rather hand it over, that's what we're here for.