Farmhouse remodeled

[Jeffrey628]

Hello Everyone,

we are just finishing up remodeling our old farmhouse with the original intention of listing it on Airbnb. It is a great location, surrounded by nature preserves and our organic farm. While we were not paying attention our township banned short term rentals before we got our application in. Does anyone have ideas on getting around this? Can we list classes and events and not list it as a rental? Just thought I’d ask before we get a long term renter in there. Thanks!

[Nur785 · Accepted solution]

@Jeffrey628 What state is this in? Most of the recent ordinances passed for STRs have provisions for 28+ day STRs. Also, the ordinances may not apply if you are offering your primary house while you are in residence and it sounds like you are in a farm and offering a spot there. 

In any case, I would recommend that you download the ordinance and the town board meeting minutes which are usually available online or by request from the town clerk and figure out the parameters of the ban just passed (I'm assuming you are in the States) 

[Jeffrey628]

Hi,

thanks for your response. I’m in Pennsylvania. I will look into these. The house is actually the only house I own so maybe it would be considered my primary residence. 
cheers,

[Helen3]

You won't find people on an Airbnb forum recommending ways in which you can illegally operate a STR @Jeffrey628 

There have been Airbnb restrictions in Pennsylvania  since 2021.https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/876 .

I am not sure why they wouldn't have come up when you did a search for any restrictions before remodelling your home to use as an STR. 

I don't know which specific restrictions relate to your township but it would be unusual for STRs to be banned completely.

[Jeffrey628]

They are not banned completely, you can have them in the resort overlay district of which I’m not a part. I’m not asking for ways to illegally operate a short term rental. It was still possible to have str when we started remodeling. I even started filing state and county hotel use and occupancy tax for it. So we had the intention of having the str before they made the ordinance. We thought maybe they would grandfather us in because we had already started filing taxes but they did not. I have no intention of joining the handful of illegal str operators in my township. If that was the case I would just list it without getting a permit. I was merely asking if anyone had any legal ways to get us on board, before we totally give up and rent it long term. Anyways, it’s a long story and I’m obviously having trouble explaining myself fully. Thanks for your reply. 

[Helen3]

In which case ask on your local host forum. They are much more likely to know how your regulations work than hosts here on an international community @Jeffrey628 

[Jeffrey628]

K