What's your feeling about long term reservations of 6 months?

[Kanani2]

I've had inquiries from tenants coming to work in a professional capacity and needing a fully furnished place for six months or more. What's your feeling abour running this through AirBnB, as opposed to just running it with a separate lease as a short term rental?

One thing I've noticed is that AirBnB does not require that all the co-tennants be named. With a short term rental, I would run credit and background checks on all 3 of the adults.

What's  your take on guests over 28 days?  Should I just move this off AirBnB?

[Sarah977]

@Kanani2   I wouldn't take 6 month guests through Airbnb. Any guest who stays for more than a month will put you into local landlord/tenant laws and if it's a bad guest who you want to cancel after a month because they're trashing the place, smoking inside, inviting other people to stay without your permission, you could have a nightmare scenario trying to get them out. Some guests are quite hip to this, well-informed as to the laws in this regard ( I've heard them referred to as "professional tenants") and there are many horror stories reported on this forum about exactly these kind of situations.

The only case in which I'd accept a guest through Airbnb for this long is if they had stayed with you before for long enough for you to feel assured that they are clean, respectful people. Just because someone is a "professional" is no assurance that they don't live like pigs or will be respectful of your house rules. I've known doctors and nurses whose homes were messy and dirty and people who are personally impeccably groomed and clean, but live in what I would consider to be total squalor- you'd never guess to see them or communicate with them.

[Huma0]

@Kanani2

This is a very rare occurance, but for once I'm going to (slightly) disagree with @Sarah977 and some of the other hosts posting here! I have hosted several long-term guests via Airbnb (currently have two of my three rooms occupied by them right now) and every time has been a positive experience. I am now looking into getting more long-term and less short-term bookings if I can. The important thing is to be CHOOSY when it comes to long-termers. I would never accept one without a lot of back and forth first to make sure I'm comfortable with them.

@Sarah977is very right to caution you about the law RE tenants' rights though. You should find out exactly what these are in your area. In the UK, someone renting in your own home with you is a lodger, not a tenant, and they do not have tenants' rights so you can kick them out if you want. The law is on your side. That is why I can feel pretty confident about my long-term Airbnbers and, to date, they have been much easier to live with than tenants. If it is an entire unit, on the other hand, that is a totally different kettle of fish and I would be reluctant (I have used Airbnb for this for a stay of one month, but not longer).

Before you proceed any further, make sure you know the law in your neck of the woods.

[Sarah977]

@Huma0 Haha, you are totally welcome to disagree with me. I don't have long termers as Airbnb guests, you have much more experience with this than I do, although I did rent rooms long-term privately when I lived in Canada. If the guest is great, it's very rewarding win-win situation. But since Airbnb doesn't do a great job of vetting guests, it's up to the host to do, and some are better at it than others.

In Canada the landlord/tenant laws are strict and very much favor the tenant. One of my guests told me she rented a room to someone in her Canadian home, they stopped paying rent after 1 month and it took her 5 months to get this person out (you're not allowed to evict tenants in the winter), nor did she get paid at all for those months, plus she had this horrible person in her home. That's where I first heard the term "professional tenant".

Another friend who used to rent her spare rooms privately in Canada had no end of trouble with not getting paid the rent, or the rent being weeks late, and people not caring for the space in a respectful way. She went to short-term Airbnb for this reason, has been really successful at it and never looked back.

[Huma0]

@Sarah977

You are absolutely right to advise caution, especially as @Kanani2's sitution is very different to mine, being a complete unit.

Here, the law is also very strict about tenants' rights (completely different to lodgers' rights) and we can't just throw them out either. It involves a long process and a loss of income, not to mention the stress.

I once had a very bad experience with this myself. I had foolishly allowed some friends of a friend to temporarily stay in a very nice flat I had just redecorated and furnished ready for rental, providing they would contribute a certain amount towards the bills, which they said they would. When I say temporarily, I mean for one week (then agreed to let them stay for two) because they were in a fix and told me they were planning to leave the country.

Well, five months later, they were still there, having not paid rent nor bills and clearly showing no intention of leaving.They had kept a huge dog there without my knowledge (also putting me in breach of my lease) destroying what parts of the flat they didn't destroy themselves, taken copious amounts of drugs and caused the neighbours to file official complaints.

I tried to reason with them, but they were the type of 'professional tenants' you refer to and I realised they had surely done this before (the girl got fired from work for stealing and after they left there were endless demands for payment from various companies dropping through the letterbox).

I had to consult a solicitor and luckily they upped and left when, on his advice, I sent them letters by recorded mail. Luckily, I say, because it would have taken me at least two months more and who knows how much in legal fees to get them out. I was already thousands of pounds out of pocket (it affected my credit rating too) and deeply stressed by the whole experience.

So yes, be cautious about any long-term letting situation and vet, vet, vet your tenants as far as possible. However, I'm not sure that one should rule out Airbnb guests for this reason. I don't think they are riskier than any other kind of tenant On the contrary, I find them to be more respectful. Plus, you CAN have a rental agreement with long-term Airbnbers too.

The only downside is not having control over the deposit. However, in the UK, a regular landlord doesn't have control of that either as it has to be put into a deposit scheme and, like Airbnb, someone else has to approve any claims.

[Huma0]

PS @Sarah977 is definitely right about doctors and nurses. I have lived with several and NONE have been clean. Quite the contrary. They have also always been either heavy drinkers or total stoneheads or both. Lovely people though!

[Emiel1]

@Kanani2,

Using a renting contract is good idea anyway, it is even recommended by Airbnb:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1354/what-are-some-differences-between-long-term-hosting-and-sho...

I never host for such long periods, i change to short term renting contract. I then take inital booking via Airbnb (for max 4 weeks). A guest is not a tennant and vice versa, there is some legal stuff involved.

And offcourse the amount of service provided is different.

best regards,

Emiel

[Helen3]

Airbnb is not a suitable platform for long term rentals.

If you want to do long term rentals - Credit check all tenants, take a deposit and first month rent, get them to sign a contract.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Helen3said all I wanted to say

[Kanani2]

Thanks Helen. Those were my instincts as well. A regular renter comes with a lot more rules, and financial obligations and background checks. I'd know the name of every renter, including the license plates on his cars, his employer --the kit and kaboodle!

[Pete69]

What if they're an absolute pain in the @Ss0?

6 months is a roommate -- not a guest. You would want to screen them. A norml guest would want to screen YOU too. Airbnb doesn't allow any of this. 

6 months stays are normally done as a lease. That's why you virtually never get an inquiry about an Airbnb guest wanting to stay long term like that. Most people understand this.

[Huma0]

@Pete69

I agree with the first part of your post, i.e. you need to screen them and they should want to screen you and that is why I have never had a long-term guest (i.e. staying a month or more) instant book, even if they can. They always want contact with me first and have questions. I would be worried if they didn't. You can find ways to do your own screening. Even if they did IB, I could cancel the reservation penalty free should I feel uncomfortable with it.

None of my long-term guests have been a pain. In fact, they have been the best guests and SO much better than the average roomrate. You don't get the review a roomrate! It's not long-term Airbnb guests in general that need to be avoided, but the scammers, long or short-term.

You will virtually never get an enquiry for guests if your calendar is not open for them. If you specify a longer minimum stay on your listing (thereby preventing it from being filled with short-term bookings), the enquiries start to roll in, providing the listing meets their needs and the price is right.

Lots of people use Airbnb for long-term bookings and some hosts like @JessicaandHenry

only do long-term. The reason being (in London at least and I'm sure other cities) that it's very hard to get a normal lease for less than a year and almost impossible for less than six months, unless you rent a short-term rental through a letting agency and that costs a fortune (I know because I have rented out a place this way and the rent was triple the norm). Having to open a foreign bank account and get contracts in your name for all the different utility, WiFi etc. bills for a short period can be a major headache too.

So, for people coming between one and six months to do a course, internship or short-term work contract, Airbnb can make a lot of sense.

[Kanani2]

@Pete0,  Yes, I agree. I've had properties with six month and 1 year leases, and of course --those rental agreements were preceeded by credit, background  checks and references. Plus, if there were three adults requesting to rent, each had to pass all the checks. AirBnB really isn't set up for that! I've declined his request because too many other things didn't seem right!