LONG TERM AIRBNB

[Nakharin0]

I would love to learn about someone who has been successful with long-term airbnb and steady income say 20+ days/ month and how have your experience been? 

My other property’s HOA has decided to vote rental 30 days or more only and no longer able to do short term rental due to traffic. 

I live 40 minutes near the top 10 national park in the US. 

So, I would like to know if this would be profitable or I would lose money if I decide to do long-term on it. 

[Sarah977]

@Nakharin0  You wouldn't necessarily lose money, but Airbnb is not the best platform for long term as it doesn't provide any of the safeguards landlords normally use with tenants. And in most jurisdictions, a guest becomes a tenant in the eyes of the law after 30 days.

If you are going to rent long-term, you really need a proper lease, references, a real security deposit, and so on. 

Some Airbnb hosts take and have had hassle-free long term bookings, but it's risky. 

[Nakharin0]

What if I list 28 days for rent and a guest leave and I mark off calendar 4 days after that and accept a new guest day 5 for a minimum of 28 days. 

Also, what platform do you think is best? 

[Sarah977]

@Nakharin0  I'm a really small time host and have never rented for longer than 2 weeks. 

I only know what I told you from other hosts and because I know how landlord/tenant laws work. 

What you asked about fudging it by renting for 28 days is not something I can answer- that's something between you and your HOA. Do you know why they voted to do this? Were other residents complaining about constant streams of strangers coming and going from Airbnb rentals? If so, they could have just said no more than one person or group of guests in a month, not specifically 30+ days. Maybe you could talk to them about that. If the issue is too many strangers coming and going all the time, it seems like it shouldn't matter to anyone if your guest stays 28 days or 30 days as long as you don't rent more than once a month. 

Usually permanent residents don't like feeling that their area is no longer a neighborhood, with people they are used to seeing around rather than unknown strangers, and I can understand why they would feel that way.

Most of the platforms are set up primarily for short term rentals. I know there are sites like Furnished Finders which is used by people like travel nurses, or students taking a course, who may need a place for a month or two, but not a long-term year lease, so you might look into sites like that. 

[Christine2855]

This is a great idea.

[Nakharin0]

They are worried about increased traffic I totally understand that, though. 

[Christine2855]

Just so you know, most HOAs Will eventually have the following text in their restrictive covenants:

no tenancy less than 30 days, and no more than three rental periods per year. 

if your HOA doesn’t have A big budget, you can fight them, but it will be $500 an hour with an attorney.

Good luck. 

[Huma0]

@Nakharin0 

I host long term stays on Airbnb (not using other platforms) and find there is plenty of demand here in London but, there are a few key things you need to think about:

1. As @Sarah977 mentioned, you need to understand the laws around tenants' rights in your area. Because I host in my own home here in the UK, my long term guests do not have those rights, but if I was renting a separate property, that would be different.

2. If the guest would get tenants' rights then you really do need to have a proper contract and proper security deposit. In this case, I don't think that Airbnb is the best platform to use as the security deposit doesn't really exist, the guest can cancel and will only be charged for the next 30 nights, not for the whole booking, and if the guest defaults on payment, Airbnb will not reimburse you and then what if you do not have the legal authority to evict?

3. What is the market for long term stays in your area? You live near a national park, but how many people visit for stays of one month or more? My guests tend to be people coming here to study or work (including health professionals). You could try contacting local hospitals and universities for example to see if their staff/students are in need of this type of accommodation.

4. With long term guests, it's even more important to vet, vet, vet. Do not simply take anyone who will pay and do not ignore red flags as you will regret it. Make sure to have sufficient conversation with the guest before accepting the booking so that you feel as confident as possible that this person will be reliable and follow your house rules. If you use instant booking, remember you can cancel penalty free 3 x a year if you feel uncomfortable with the guest or suspect they will break rules.