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Hi,
New to short term rentals. Just received an inquiry to rent our cabin for 1 month. Anything I should be concerned about? Does this happen often? I’ve hear horror stories of when short term rentals become long term and you can’t kick them out.
Thank you for your help!
Julian
You have to know your laws. I won’t rent for more than 28 days under a STR agreement, because by definition anything longer is not a STR where I live.
21 days for me. Then, if there’s any problem, I’ve got a week to get them out before they become tenants.
Thank you, that’s exactly what I was looking for!
Julian
Tricky. Assuming you are on Airbnb’s platform, and given that you are new to STR, a series of shorter rentals enables you to (hopefully!) collect some good reviews from the off.
Do you have a maximum stay set for your listing? Is this inquiry over and above it? If above your max set, you have a fair reason to just say no and why. You don’t have to click on Accept or Decline either for an inquiry, just respond in timely fashion.
OTOH, the money might be tempting.
Joan,
Yea-- the money is tempting, but I know myself-- I’d rather rent for 21 days and lose money then try the 30 and run in to issues. Maybe down the road, once I get a good track record I’ll be more relaxed.
Thank you everyone for quick replies!
Julian
Also you will get only one review that month, and what if it’s a bad one?
I would block out days in the middle, tell them it’s not available and set max for 7-10 days
Good luck
RR
I’m on VRBO-- but I can’t seem to find where to set the Max-- only able to set the Min.
Oh, sorry, can’t help with VRBO, but I’m sure someone will.
If I recall correctly, you cannot set a max on VRBO. It is in my rental agreement and rules there.
I do a lot of long terms. I am not encumbered by issues like 30 day guests becoming tenants. Anyone who is putting a month on Air up front is also fronting serious money. Serious cake more often than not means less problems.
But don’t get too comfy.
I would be absolutely certain to find an excuse- any excuse, really - to inspect while they are there. My insurer demands it and it’s just common sense. Smoke detectors, generators, cisterns, etc. are routine.
A big factor is the number of people, and if you know them. Multiple cars, tracks, lots of litter, tents, etc - not cool.
We also do a lot of long terms with our Cape Town apartment, where the “30 day” rule doesn’t exist either. We mostly did it because we started in the low season where most visitors were going to be working or students, and the security of being booked for several months at the beginning outweighed for us the drawback of getting fewer reviews. As @justMandi says, though, keep an eagle eye on things if you do it … I’d do a cleaning at least midway through.
I like your plan of doing longer term once you’re feeling more experienced.
As a new host you’re working kinks out of your setup. Each stay taught me something about what I was lacking, a missing house rule, better communication, etc.
It’s easy to change things up between short stays; harder to change the agreement mid-stay on a long-term stay. (For example: Perhaps you thought you’d include firewood, but after a 3-day stay goes through half a face cord, you change your mind. A LTR guest might be calling Airbnb after you refused to deliver another truck of endless firewood on day 10.)
I also agree with @justMandi’s suggestion to check on things occasionally. Some hosts have a regular cleaning requirement every 1-2 weeks on LTRs.
Thank you. I appreciate all your responses. Funny thing is I got another inquiry for a lease from October through April. This person is selling his house in that area and wants something to rent while he finds a new place. My response was the same-- short term only.
Since this is my first short-term rental (I have 2 long term rentals), can you please give me a quick list of things to watch out for or common scams to know in advance? Anything that you yourselves ran into while doing short term rentals?
Thank you again,
Julian
I have had no problem with long-term rentals. The chances of running into tenant rights issues is extremely low. Would be much more likely for someone to do this in a normal apartment where rent is cheaper. Even then it is rare. I rent both long term rentals and Airbnb.
HOW TO EVICT A LONG TERMER
Just to be contradictory, I evicted a long termer yesterday. There are certain signs early in the game that suggest incompatibility. My long term is very similar to my Air offering. I KNOW I have a good placr. Above all trust your instincts.
Here is a few hacks to cya.
HACKS
Advertise your quirks up front, such as no stove.
Cash is king.
The closer they are to you physically, the more you screen.
Strongly consider a “no visitors” clause. You could end up accommodating whole families.
They are renting a ROOM. Forget shared spaces.
Sign a lease, but don’t be in a hurry to give them their copy.
Musical instruments can be surprisingly pleasant.
Disabled persons can be well worth it too.
Think about others. Will they be compatible with others in your home?
If you are going to have to evict, sooner is better than later. (And another good reason to hold off on that lease.)
IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS
Very similar to Air. Texts after midnight for non essentials, taking liberties with other guests like knocking on doors late, accessing the modem etc despite being told not to, and not accepting responsibility.
Bottom line; do you really want to put up with months of this? When a home is running well, it will be all you can do to get rid of them ;). Stuff like this is very draining. And why I kicked this chap.
EVICTION
You must be certain that the law is on your side. Where I am, if you share a kitchen or bathroom, you are fine.
This chap committed no crime. The bottom line is that he disregarded you as a host and bothered another guest. Thinking it through carefully, he expected a meticulously clean room without giving an arrival time. He has been on the computer 24/7 and never left the house in 3 days but he said he was a student.
Is this what you want?
Odds are this is the last you will hear from them. It’s a lot like firing someone. And if you are a good manager, you will ask yourself what your role was in this.
Ready?
When I didn’t get an arrival time, I should have done what any Airbnb host would do! And when he showed up unannounced, it should have been a major red flag. Instead my people pleasing kicked in. I own that.
AFTERMATH
Evictions are unusual but a part of the business. They are never pleasant but there will be a collective sigh of relief and a mess to clean up.
I believe the most important part is the last one. I did not assert myself. I will have to wait for the next one.
Some potential issues with one month rentals would be:
Renters getting too comfy with your home - anecdotally, they start becoming comfortable if they stay past 7-14 days. Being too comfortable brings a host of issues e.g. they stop respecting your place, move furniture around, damages that are left too late to repair which ends up costing a lot more, you not being able to clean your home in the space of that one month (nightmare if they are dirty tenants)
Significantly higher risk of them cutting short their stay e.g. via altering their booking request.
You losing out on revieews especially if you’re a new host. Plus, there’s some anecdotal evidence (including my own experience) to suggest you will drop down in your search ranking if your calendar is completely booked, and it takes a while to recover, and forces you to take in lower priced bookings to compensate.