Do Airbnb hosts sign contract with house owner?

Hi all, I’m a newbie to the Airbnb world. Just wondering if any Airbnb hosts in here have a specific contract that they sign with the house owner to sublet the house? Or a standard contract that states house owner agrees the host to sublet is sufficient?

Do you mean you are subletting without the owner’s permission or you plan to?
It’s good you are thinking ahead and wanting to get their permission.
There may be a few owners that allow it, but I would say most of us wouldn’t.
It’s a huge liability, causes excessive wear and tear and possibly bad relations with neighbors.

If you are going to do it, yes, get permission first. Then worry about the contract.

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I rent and have my landlords permission. I have lived her for several years, never paid my rent late and undertake basic repairs and maintenance myself at my cost. He does nada, as a result it was vacant for 6 months before I moved in. Jungle garden etc and we have spent $2000 clearing, planting lawn, vegie pathch, repaired paint on ceilings etc this was my bargaining chip. I am also in a half house situation with my place on bottom and another separate 3 bed house on top. Both are permanent rentals and he inherited both for free. He just wants the cash.

I got written permission to sublet the spare room, no conditions. He just wants his rent paid and what I offer is free maintenance and rent paid so he doesn’t care. Neither do the 3 students in the house upstairs who we share a garden with. So I’m lucky, you have to work out a way to sell what you offer to your landlord.

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Like @konacoconutz said, get permission first. I know personally 2 people who didn’t and got kicked out. Not worth it and getting kicked out could be the least of your problems.

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I haven’t got the property yet. But I will definitely get permission to sublet from the owner to do Airbnb. I mean, will most host sign another specific Airbnb contract with the owner if they are managing it on behalf of the house owner? This contract may stipulate clearly who is responsible for the costs of items (eg: consumables or if roof leaks) in the house. This scenario is particularly relevant if host is purely managing for the owner only like on a 80/20 percent sharing basis.

As already mentioned most landlords won’t let tenants doing STRs at their property.

If they do you would need to get this written into your lease.

You could offer profit share on top of your rent to sweeten the deal.

If you are a co-host that is a completely different proposition.

Right… seems like you are asking about two different scenarios.

Definitely get is spelled out specifically in your contract because you don’t want to just do a gentlemen’s agreement and then get kicked out later. Owner has to make sure homeowners insurance covers him, HOA or neighborhood allows it and things like that.

Your name makes me smile. My sis dog is Eddie and we call him Edster.

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It sounds to me like you have not rented before yourself? I also don’t know what you mean about ‘managing for the owner’? You’re not co-hosting, you asked about renting a property yourself. Regardless, a co cost would not pay for maintenance unless that are stupid.

Rental contracts do not stipulate who fixes a leaking roof or otherwise, in fact they usually list the emergency numbers for you to call and how much you can authorize to be be spent in an emergency. Your rights and the landlords responsibility is embedded in the relevant rental Act in your state. The landlord is always responsible for repairs and maintenance to the property, they own it, you must not conduct any illegal activity, keep it in good order and report any damage/faults immediately. Sometimes a lease will say tenant responsible for garden maintenance but you can’t be contracted to do something in the lease or give up rights, not permitted in the Act.

Any approval of subletting, I wouldn’t limit it to Airbnb, should be in your lease. If you request it after, it must be in writing (the approval) as your lease is in writing. There should not be another ‘contract’ but you may wish to suggest restrictions if you get push back. Eg no more than guests, I will not sublet wholehouse in the event I am away, no pets etc and empathize you are doing this as a modern alternative to a flatmate. Also plug you will get relevant insurance, and make sure you can.

IMHO it will be very difficult for you to get a landlord and suitable property that allows you to Airbnb. This is because of the risks to the landlord, extra damage you might not be able to afford to repair; a landlord wants to know you can afford the rent without your business venture; and because most rental agents tell landlords not to do it, even if a landlord was open to it.

@Edster

First, if you are the tenant, what you need is the owner’s permission to sublet. Read your lease or rental agreement. It is rare not to have that clause addressed and rarer still to find that subletting is allowed. (For some reason, I recall that one state (NY or PA?) allows it.)

Second, if the owner/landlord allows you to do Air on the property, you need a management contract. It will consist of whatever the two of you agree on and ideally, be drawn up by or reviewed by an attorney.

The simplest solution would be to obtain a copy of the management agreements from several property managers or PM companies in your area. Then you can compare them and customize one to fit your situation.

There may be state laws that govern contracts as to format. Basically, you and your landlord must have a meeting of the minds and put everything in writing and sign it so it becomes binding.

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