Needing advice regarding long term stays. I’ve only done short term stays in the 2 1/2 years I’ve been hosting, reached SuperHost status within first year. I vacate while guest(s) stay. Yet, wondering what things I should be considering if I decide to transition to 3+ weeks, or months.
Do you want to vacate your home for that long? Are you planning on buying another home and transforming your current home into Airbnb-only?
I should of clarified in the post, this is a shared home that I use a secondary residence. My primary home I’ve blocked off for Spring Break, have one booking during the 4th of July. I’m concerned about the lack of bookings in general, between my primary residence, a shared residence (the secondary) and his residence. Also concerned about how to properly clean and not risk myself. All three residences have been 2-13 day STR’s yet thinking of transitioning the shared to long term. It is located in a subdivision in the woods, near lakes, and away from population centers. Might be an option for a family to get away from the madness of school closures and area lockdowns.
Sorry, I’ve never thought vacating your place for strangers was a wise move. I sure as heck don’t want total strangers ramaging about in all my private spaces and places – and you know darn well that someone will.
I wouldn’t do it for two days, let alone two weeks. Either stay there or get another place to live and let out the current place short and long term. If you do long term you’ll want a contract for guests to sign, not just the usual Airbnb things…
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I’ve vacated for 2.5 years. I lock off my bedroom, pantry, linen closets, and storage. I’ve don’t have issues with people in my home when not there. It’s been quite profitable. I do have the random broken plate, glass, stained sheet, yet so far so good.
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@BendMom You are aware, aren’t you, that a stay longer than a month can give the guest the benefit of falling under landlord/tenancy laws? And that if they were awful, or couldn’t come up with the rent, that you could have a hell of a time getting them out? I certainly wouldn’t do long term through Airbnb.
@KenH I agree- although I home-share with guests and enjoy it, I can’t imagine letting out my entire home and going elsewhere. Even when I take a month off in the summer to visit my kids and grandkids, and could probably make good money renting the entire 2 bedroom place, I get a friend to stay and house and dogsit for me. Which ends up costing me a bit of money, as he is doing me a favor, so I pay for all the utilities while he’s here. The thought of some strangers being in my personal space is bizarre to me. But I know alot of people do it, so to each his own.
Indeed LTR can be very profitable. We have done a lot of it for the last 12 years.
I would never take any via airbnb. Ever. They are no longer Guests - they are Tenants, with the full complex legal situation that applies for your particular state or country. You’ll want an iron clad lease and full deposits (first, last and security).
Make sure that you have a very good understanding of the tenant-landlord laws for your situation.
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@muddy Yes I am aware of the landlord/tenancy laws. I’m just wondering if anyone has encountered that when renting out through Airbnb.
Yes, @BendMom, they have. I’ve read multiple posts from other Airbnb hosts who’ve had to deal with evicting Airbnb “tenants”—guests who stayed long enough to gain tenant rights, with no lease in place to specify how long they could stay, how much they would continuing paying, etc. It’s an expensive and lengthy legal process under the best of times. In today’s world, probably impossible.
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I agree that Airbnb isn’t a suitable platform for longer term stays. The question I’d always ask myself is why are they using Airbnb? The chances are that it’s more expensive than ‘traditional’ rental methods. Is it because the can’t pass the credit check that many landlords require? Or that they can’t pay first, last and security? Or that they can’t produce any references?
As others have said, you’re going to need a proper lease.
Also I’ve just said in another post that where I am, the country bed tax (TOT or whatever your local authority calls it) might still be payable by you for longer term guests. The limit is six months here. So it’s a good idea too to check to see what local taxes you’ll be liable for.
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