Long term rental (6-12 months), how would you handle it?

[Queta-And-Blanca0]

I have a guest who wants to rent my house for 6 to 12 months. What is better? month by month? 12 months altogether? What happens if you block the whole year waiting for the host to reserve? Does Airbnb allow you to block for a whole 12 months?

I don't want to put my house out of the Airbnb market because I don't want to deal with a "renter" and be a "landlady",  I'd rather pay Airbnb a commision to do it.

Thanks for any advice or ideas. 

[Marit-Anne0]

Please take time to learn about long term hosting and long term cancellation policies

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

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Only you can decide if you want to take long term bookings like this. As you say, you become a landlord and there are legal and probably tax implications too once you rent a property for this length of time.

[Jiw0]

I think this is a sure indication that your pricing is much too low.

If your pricing can compete with long term rentals then very likely you're too low.

I suggest to not do it, and raise prices.   (Or if you feel that the value of your place is low then consider making home improvements that will allow you to charge more, altough I just looked at your listing and it looks wonderful already.)

You're renting for $60.. I think you could be charging double very easily.  (Or start with $100 to see how that goes.)

[Andrea9]

@Queta-And-Blanca0

I'd also like to suggest you put a maximum # of days in your rental settings.

So if 30 days give a guest tenant rights, set your maximum to 28 or as long as you want to 'tolerate' one single guest.

You might also want to implement a mandatory once-weekly cleaning on set days if you haven't already. That automatically gives you access and lets you keep an eye and control over things. And there's much less chance of you coming back to the house after a long guest stay to find it trashed and filthy.

[Janice33]

Andrea, or anyone else with knowledge in long-term rental.....

Medical doctor and wife want to rent our place for 6 months while he works at local hospital. Do I have them rent our AirBnB each month? I can't block the 6 months, I don't think, would make it difficult for them to rent each month. This 6 month will take us through winter which is really slow for us so I'm willing to have them tie up the property during winter. Thanks, in advance, for your ideas!

Janice ***, Cowboy Country Bunkhouse, Elko, Nevada, USA

[Deborah233]

They can rent via AirBnB for the six months in advance and AirBnB will block those months. Yet, you will still be paid monthly.

Hope this helps. Just make sure you select the cancellation policy that fits your needs in this situation.

[Mary-Jeane0]

Hi I have the same issue. Does this mean I don't have to do anything on my end to block those dates. Like once they do the 6 months reservation it means, they get charged Monthly only? I was wondering if they have to pay the 6 months on the first check in? You know what I mean?

[Queta-And-Blanca0]

That’s right. And they bill the guest on a monthly basis too. And I agree, make sure you have the appropriate cancellation policy. Because if they cancel before the 6 months, you are left without guests for a while. 

[Johanna251]

What cancellation policy do you recommend in that case? 

Thanks

[Janice33]

I'm unsure how to have this MD and wife sign for 6 month stay in our BnB. through winter it will fill our place which is desireable. Do I have them sign for each month and pay for each all at one time? That's quite a financial outlay all at once. If not, all at once should I block out months 2, 3, 4, 5? Ideas, anyone? Janice at Cowboy Country Bunkhouse, Elko, NV, USA

[Marit-Anne0]

@Janice33

Long term is in monthly instalments and on different cancellation policy terms.  Perhaps look it up in the help section.

[Theresa448]

Hey @Janice33 ,

we had the same request today.  How did you handle?   Any good lessons learned?

Theresa 

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

Just because the money flows through Airbnb, it does not relieve you of the tenant laws of Chicago.  You need to arm yourself with some major knowledge before booking someone  for this length of time... 

Rooms in hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, rooming houses, and boarding houses are not subject to the Chicago Landlord Tenant Ordinance unless the tenant stays 32 or more consecutive days and pays monthly rent;

http://bc-firm.com/tenants-rights-chicago/#2

http://bc-firm.com/chicago-landlord-tenant-ordinance/

https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/rents_right.html

[Peter662]

I am really looking for advice here. I orginally found an apartment via Airbnb and my partner dealt with the bookings as she was native to that country. We had never used the site before so was not conversent with the terms and conditions and to be honest, didnt even know they existed.

We booked the apartment multiple times over the last three years and told him that it was going to be a regular occurrance, for at least 1 or 2 months in the winter and 3 months in the summer. On the first booking which was for a few months, the host gave us his personal email address and said that any future bookings, to email him directly. He mentioned that we should only book for one month on the site and we would deal with the rest of the stay personally face to face. So over a period of 3 years we only paid one month via the webiste and every other payment has been done in cash. We had no idea that all payments should have been done online via the Airbnb website. Most recenly we discussed renting the apartment for 2 years but due to the size it quickly became clear that it was too small so we asked for a months notice, which he agreed to. After finding a bigger apartmnet we gave the agreed notice period which ran 8 days into Janaury. He replied to our email stating that as we gave notice during the month and not at the end of the month, the 8 days in Janaury he would charge us almost double. All in all we have booked the apartmnet this time around for 5 months at full rate and what he seems to do is remove the apartment from the website for the time we book and then place the apartment back on the site once we leave, obvioulsy because he knows we are trustworthy and careful with his apartment. We cleaned the apartment spotless before leaving, which cannot be said of others becuase we arrived once to an apartmnet that was a right mess, so obviuously others have not cleaned the place prior to leaving. My question is, has the host breached the terms and conditions of the site. Thanks