Downsizing after divorce is painful, but financially clever. I decide house hackingOpening my Victorian Brooklyn brownstone to Airbnb guests hopes to bring some life to my cash-starved bank account and a spark to my stately home.
Well, I got more sparks than I expected.
Moved to a lower floor and I was woken up at night by clanking and banging sounds like a ship on the high seas and loud moaning. I’m sure the whole neighborhood could hear it. It turns out my 100-year-old house is more than just a short-term stay.
My grand old mansion looked like an X-rated movie set every time the same repeat customer booked. After guests leave, I immediately investigate to make sure they don’t come back. But according to Airbnb’s rules at the time, if I rejected guests within a short period of time, my online rankings would drop rapidly, and so would my future income prospects.
My tenants rented out their apartment without my knowledge and allowed filming
This wasn’t my only bad experience with Airbnb. I want to know why my long-term tenant went missing over the weekend and why I found the lockbox around the exterior railing. It turns out she Unbeknownst to me, she was working on a side job, subletting her apartment to short-term guests.
Another time, a neighbor asked me, “What movie are they making?”
“Movies?” I replied, confused.
“Yeah, there’s a whole camera crew here. Actors, lighting, sound. About 20 people,” he said. “I thought you knew about this.”
I don’t.
The shorter the booking, the greater the chance of something going wrong
I learned a lot of Previous about Airbnb as a host New York City bans vacation rentals for less than 30 days. The basic rule of thumb is that the shorter the reservation, the greater the chance of something going wrong. this This is especially true during national holidays, leading Airbnb to ban overstays by one night Memorial Day and Fourth of July.
“In the off-season, bookings drop,” said Max Kostyashkin, the company’s president. Mai Real Estate, he rented a high-end apartment on a short-term basis at Miami’s famed Fontainebleau Hotel, he told BiggerPockets. “That was summer Miami, when interest rates fall and The quality of guests has also dropped sharply.
Kostya Shkin manages apartments owned by colleagues, investors and family members. “Instead of having high bookings for a week during peak season, During the offseason, We get one to two day bookings and 50% off the peak price. That’s when we’ll see more problems.
always have insurance
Kostya Shkin tells this story:
“We had an incident a few years ago before New Year’s forward, When a suite reserved Made up of a group of young people in their 20s. Rude behavior must have occurred., Because someone walked through a huge mirror frame, the mirror was fixed to the wall with four wooden corners. He claimed that the mirror fell on him while he was asleep, which is impossible. He was seriously injured and was eventually taken to the hospital and Stitches were required and he ended up paying $4,000 in hospital bills.
“The guest accused us and tried to ask for money. We spoke to Airbnb and they agreed that the story made no sense. The guest gave us a bad review and because the mirror was custom-made and part of a high-end hotel apartment, it had to get replace. The room was closed for a week. As business owners in the hospitality industry, we have full-time vacation rental insurance, but ultimately, we lose money through no fault of our own.
Beware of vacation rentals in high-rise buildings
Miami is a unique and popular Airbnb market. Vacation Rental popular in certain areas of the city, and A surge in Airbnb-compliant apartments is brewing. However, Kostyashkin urges caution from other Airbnb hosts and landlords who believe regulating high-rise vacation rentals will be smooth sailing.
“Anything that happens in your rent affects the entire building,” he said. “Five years ago, one of our guests burned down his room. We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars in damage. The entire building had to be evacuated, all 37 floors. Like many Airbnb owners, he’s trying to do just that cheap And there was never insurance, so he had to pay the entire bill.
One bad thing in your neighborhood could affect every nearby vacation rental
A high-profile Airbnb horror story could impact other nearby vacation rentals, causing business to suffer. Cities could get involved, and even banks might be wary of financing other nearby vacation rental projects.
For example, two years ago, two teenagers killed Eight others were injured When hosting a party on Airbnb pittsburghThe number of participants exceeds 200 in the south area of the North District. This is the third time in nine days that gunfire has erupted at an Airbnb party. Pittsburgh City Council is about to convene suggested tougher Laws about Airbnb and limit the length of stay.
At the time, I was financing myself Multifamily Airbnb projects nearby. My lender also financed the building where the shooting occurred and warned me against short-term rentals. for a while, I think They may deny my loan.
this property manager I installed a sophisticated noise monitoring system and another system that detects the number of mobile phones is using In buildings as a safeguard against uninvited guests and parties. So far, so good.
final thoughts
For every vacation rental horror story, there are more investors cultivating profitable businesses without having to deal with evictions or the hassle of having full-time tenants.
While it’s difficult to passively rent a vacation if you’re looking for a passive investing experience, great vacation rental software like Hospitalable can make it easier. Hospitable can help your vacation rental go on autopilot by automating 90% of guest messages, syncing calendars across all platforms, streamlining cleaning team reminders, and more.
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Notes on BiggerPockets: These are the opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BiggerPockets.
