I'm considering listing our 1875 victorian as a "0 bed" rental for local people to rent out for small events like baby showers, birthday parties, ect. Does anyone else do this? The reason I'm considering going through AirBnB is because I cannot, for the life of me, find an insurance company that is willing to figure out what coverage I'd need as a residence.
Everyone wants us to convert the space to a commercial building which would in turn mean we have to put lots of $$$$ into making sure it's compliant ( widen doors, add wheelchair ramps, exit lighting -all that). We aren't interested in doing that because we are still keeping the house on the market, for sale by owner as a residence. Any way, I spoke with an AirBnB rep who wouldn't actually say "YES, YOU MAY DO THIS", but was vague and pretty much said there was coverage up to 100K for our home and I could do whatever I wanted with it as a rental, all they ask is that we provide seating and lighting, and assured me that I would have liability coverage for people.
I'm not really concerned with vandalism, as I only really see this being rented by local people -and even though the home is gorgeous, it isn't worth that much money because we live in a small town. My main concern, is that I have liability coverage for PEOPLE who are in my home during the rental period by AirBnB. Of course in addition to all of this I'd still be carrying Homeowners insurance.
So my question is: are there any of you out there that are renting out a home with zero beds to people, specifically for the purpose of hosting events? If so, have you been able to verify with AirBnB that you have complete coverage for people -even if there are 50 at a time on your property and something happens? Have you been able to specify in your house rules and description "Check in" and "Check out" times that are short term? Say, 4-5 hours?
Thanks for any advice!