Only seasonal rentals?

Wondering if any hosts have experience only opening part of year? We have one major event for nine days in our area. We are considering just renting for that period and only accepting a single booking for a nine-day minimum although we would accept someone staying for a longer period.
It’s a separate guesthouse on our property and rental from that period would cover more than 50% of carrying costs (insurance, taxes, etc.) and we have the rest of the year available for friends and family. We’ve been hosting about three years and our goal has only been to cover some of the costs and not “max” out the property or have a fulltime job.
Appreciate any stories, good or bad. Thank you.

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We are far from experienced in the airbnb market but are also dipping a toe in the limited booking area - mainly to keep below a certain tax threshold (in the UK), which we will reach with 6 or 7 bookings per year,and only offering when we are in holiday AND only to a specific audience i.e. wedding parties. We have turned away a lot of bookings but are not overly concerned, our original plan was just to let when we are in holiday (2/3 months of the year) but covid has kept us close to home and more hands on than we envisaged. Which has actually been very useful. So, sadly we can’t offer any advice as we have only had 3 bookings so far this tax year with another one next week, but would suggest not to come to any conclusions until you have dipped all your toes in …

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Since covid I’ve been closed a lot. Every time I open I get bookings. Since you’ve been renting awhile and know what you’re doing I don’t see that you’d have any problem doing that. Lots of hosts only open for special events though I don’t know that any of them post here.

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I just re-opened and between my insurance going up 2x more than homeowners, the extra nights I have to blocks due to covid and the extra time cleaning, I’m beginning to have my doubts. Usually in the fall I’m fully booked but not this year.

Just keep in mind that there are overhead costs ie insurance that can be spread out over the year.

I already did the plunge on the insurance so I’m going to ride it out this year and then reevaluate but I’m going to take the advise of folks on this forum and rent it out less often. Once my spring season hits (busiest) I’m going to offer long weekends, offer 3 day minimums with no Saturday checkouts. I’m also blocking dates when I go out of town instead of hiring someone.

So my point being is that I’m going to customize my days available at my convenience, not hire extra staff and enjoy the income but not expect to make the kind of money I used to from the suite but also not be tied down to my airbnb.

Just wish the insurance wasn’t $3000 a year. (Only insurance offered in my state of MA.)

Another thing I like (which may work for you too) is now I can deduct the fall leaf cleanup, the snow removal and the landscaping costs for in front of the house. I also get to deduct partial heating, water, electricity, etc. too. All bonuses for a bigger tax return.

My area has the International Furniture market for 7 days in April & 7 days in October. For one year we rented my Dad’s condo. His condo was 1 mile from the market shuttle parking.

Limited season listings require a surprising amount or prep work. Yours may not be so much because you plan for relatives to use the property for stays.

We set up a listing on Airbnb & blocked all dates except the 14 days available (actually we left available days on the beginning & end in case someone wanted to arrive a little early or stay late)

Having internet available was critical. Although you may not use the rental full time, it needs internet access.

It went well until the HOA changed the rules to require all rentals be 30 nights or more. It was too late for the guest to find something else so we honored it by having a 30 day rental agreement and they “left early”.

The money was good so worth the effort.

And in the U.S. you can rent out a residence for up to 14 days without having to report the income on your federal tax filing.

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That was my attitude from the time I started hosting. Unless hosts really need or want as much income from str as possible, it’s so freeing to host in a way that doesn’t make you a slave to your rental. I think some hosts get themselves into a stressful rut that they don’t sit back and reassess from time to time.

I’ve always happily blocked off dates if friends or family want to come- I’d much rather hang with a friend I haven’t seen for ages than make money renting. When I go out of town, I block, not get someone else to take over. And I’ve always had a 3 night minimum and 1 night between bookings.

Luckily, I don’t need to get insurance, as my listing is just a private room, and I don’t live in a litiginous country where people try to sue because they failed to hold onto the railing when walking down the stairs.

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No one wants to schedule travel very far ahead given COVID history.