Airbnb Anyone? Pros & Cons for Host
Curious to hear experiences, recommendations, advice from those who are Airbnb hosts. We are considering converting the lower level of our house (has a separate entrance) for guests. Thanks!
peaceout
in About Brooklyn 9 years and 5 months ago
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miss718 | 9 years and 5 months ago
I hosted in our downstairs apartment for about 18 months before burning out on Airbnb. We pulled the listing and decided we don’t want to rent to anyone, though it’s nice to have the option if we have to. Pros? Met some really great people, and the extra income was nice. Cons? It was so much work for me to keep the apartment pristine. I had great reviews but all the cleaning was exhausting. In order to maintain my high ratings, I did all the cleaning and laundry myself. It’s a lot of work! We had a few guests who were odd, and it gets old having strangers in and out of your house, even if they have their own entrance. And I did have concerns about insurance and liability, though nothing ever happened. For now, hotel tax is not required. We did declare the earnings as income just as we would have declare rental income. As more people jumped on the bandwagon, I also started to feel like rates were coming down so I would be working hard to keep up but earning less money. So I pulled the plug. But it’s worth a try if you have extra space.
Boerumresident | 9 years and 5 months ago
Obviously this is not legal advice buy my understanding is that 1\. Hotel tax — fairly sure this is required. 2\. Short term stay — the state prohibition on under 30 day short term rentals only applies to buildings covered by the Multiple Dwelling law, which is a 3 family or more. I think the law requires a permanent resident to be present while the short term tenant is in the apartment. However, there is also the question of the C of O — if the use of a house for a short-term rental is contrary to the certificate of occupancy, that would be a wholly separate violation of City code.
concord | 9 years and 5 months ago
@catbk Yes, very simple: ‘Tenant shall not rent the premises for any length of time through air bnb (include websitte link), or any other similar website, or arrangement as such tenancy is illegal under the laws of new york city and Tenant shall be liable for each and every expense incurred by the Landlord, including legal expenses, in case of loss, damage or other liability arising from, or related to, such rental by Tenant. In addition, such rental by Tenant shall constitute grounds for termination of the Lease by Landord’….or similar language
catbk | 9 years and 5 months ago
Is there a way to prevent a tenant from renting Air BnB? I would like enforcable language in any lease provided to future tenants to keep them from doing this. Has anybody done this?
resident2 | 9 years and 5 months ago
I have had a tenant that would rent out her apartment on Air BnB when she was away; it was nothing but problems. Her tenants would lock themselves out, one bought bed bugs with them, another rented the place for an orgy and at the end of the year this idiot tenant of mine was surprised that Air BnB sent her a 1099 so she then could not pay her rent after her income tax was more than expected! She is no longer a tenant and I make sure that no tenant ever does this again. The bottom line is that you do not really know who is coming and staying in your house. But for a short cash flow issue it may be worth it, but not as a long term income strategy, a regular properly screened tenant is easier.
concord | 9 years and 5 months ago
If one of your renters burns down the building your insurance coverage will be zero $ as the rental is illegal in nyc… So rent for $20K per night just in case…
carmenf | 9 years and 5 months ago
Keep in mind that many setups of airbnb violate NYC short-term rental laws- if your home is a legal multifamily and you are renting out a portion of the building that you are not living in, a less than 30-day rental is technically illegal. I imagine most people won’t have a problem, although we have heard of someone who got busted for it and got a fine (a neighbor probably called.) The most legal way to handle airbnb is to rent out a room/portion of a house that you currently occupy- this is seemingly legal even with nyc short-term rental laws.
nalusurf | 9 years and 5 months ago
Similar experience to the above replies. Have used VRBO/Homeaway for other properties and started using Airnbnb for our ground floor apartment last Spring. Pros: Flexibility with the space, we don’t like the idea of a full time tenant at this point and like the flexibility of renting when it suits us. Potential to make good money since the majority of your guests will be here on vacation. Along with the vacation notion, most guests don’t spend too much time in your space. In our case, we have had wonderful guests and only minimal issues (pretty standard for renting in any situation). Cons: It is a lot of work, scheduling and managing frequent cleanings (make sure you have a person you trust on back up who can clean if you are not available to do it yourself). You get out of it what you put into it, meaning that we pay great attention to little details to try and set our home apart from others. It is more work but it has paid off in consistently positive reviews which translates into more guests. And yes, the legalities are hazy. We are a legal two family and we own our brownstone so I think we are OK. Don’t know about the hotel tax situation but that does not seem well established at this point. We did take out an umbrella policy to protect us as landlords. So, if you like the flexibility of guests when you want and don’t mind the extra management that comes with hosting an “airbnb” I think it works rather well.
trudylou | 9 years and 5 months ago
We did vrbo for a couple of years. It was fun at first but then became a bit tedious to deal with reservations, deposits, questions, complaints. Ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it. Pros: allows you to keep control of the space so that you can host a big family gathering if you want Potentially earn more Cons: Tallying all the expenses against the revenue we didn’t make much more than if we signed a normal long term lease and that’s giving zero value to our time. We kept the place immaculate and everything working at all times. New sheets and towels when the old ones got dingy. All this adds up compared to an unfurnished rental where tenants fix some of their own issues. The legality is unclear. If you own a 2 family home, you are likely not violating housing laws but what about zoning or code? Is it a hotel? Do you need to pay hotel taxes? If it isn’t legal or up to code, will your insurance cover you if there were a accident or a lawsuit?
catbk | 9 years and 5 months ago
I advertised on Roomarama, which is a service similar to Air B n B. No problems with payment or anything.(I have a brownstone which had one vacant furnished apartment) The people were ok – I was more comfortable having guests when someone from our family was home, though. I preferred this kind of rental to having a full time tenant because I could decide when and if to have a tenant/guest. I made less money than I would have renting it conventionally, but the house was quieter and the extra cash was nice. Because the house technically WAS rented, expenses were deducted from taxes later on, also. I had many other guests who were family or friends of people on the a local parents list, and I managed payment myself via PayPal. (Now you could do that with Square.) Remember you have added fees with PayPal or other payment services. The most unusual problem we had was a guest staying almost 2 weeks when she was booked for a long weekend – her flight back to Norway was delayed when that volcano in Iceland exploded. It was no big deal, worked out fine. I did let her run a load or two of wash, though. Nobody was too loud or demanding. One Roomarama guest – although nice – kind of weirded me out because I got the strong feeling she had come to NYC to meet an internet lover for the first time and she vanished for a little longer than was comfortable. I was worried about her. My furniture took a beating – one older guy who should have known better put a hot teapot on top of a varnished wood dresser causing a ring, and the Norway woman let her kid use PlayDoh right on a marble table which sort of got messed up. Other stuff got indications of use, but nothing awful. But the parents list guests became regulars, mostly grandparents coming to visit opposite coast kids. They?d call every holiday to see if they could stay. Also, neighbors renovating would stay while their houses were uninhabitable. We had only one cancellation. It was a PIA, but worked out. (Long story) Notes: ? Make sure you have EVERY renter?s full name, home address and other contact information, including a local contact if possible. This is the most important thing – what if someone disappears, is the victim of a crime, etc? ? Make sure you have a good, reliable cleaner. Even so, every now and then you end up having to clean yourself if bookings are close together. ? Request your renters remove food, etc. and discard it. You don?t want to find 10 week old yogurt in your fridge later on. ? Have a firm policy about extra guests or parties. ? If you have pets, remember some people can?t cope with cats, dogs, whatever. Overall, it worked out OK and I?ll do it again as soon as my Mother in Law moves out of the apartment ; )