Have you rented your house short term?

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Wannaretireearly
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Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Asking for a relative who may do this if comfortable. Also curious if this is an option for myself.

Caveat: We’ve never dealt with renting, either as a renter or landlord.

If we are out of the house for a significant amout of time (>2 months), why not put the house up for rental?

I’m thinking if one could net $10k+ this would be worth it.

Anyway, I’ve done a few quick searches. Curious, if you’ve done this before, did you use a local agency? Did you use airbnb or Vrbo etc?

Pros, cons? Would you do this again?

My thought is once you’ve done this, it would be very comfortable and lucrative to do it again. But I have no experience!

Note: I’d only do this if it was longer term, multiple weeks/months, with one person/family. I wouldn’t want partiers come in for the weekend and wreck the house. But, you guys can tell me otherwise if this is not always true :)

Thanks.
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
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Sandtrap
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Sandtrap »

2 months
your "home"
not a good idea
you won't make as much money as you think
the downsides are huge
liabilities
ruined carpets n floors
permanent strange herb and nasty cologne smells
lawsuits
et al

not a good idea
j🌺
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Topic Author
Wannaretireearly
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Sandtrap wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 5:47 pm 2 months
your "home"
not a good idea
you won't make as much money as you think
the downsides are huge
liabilities
ruined carpets n floors
permanent strange herb and nasty cologne smells
lawsuits
et al

not a good idea
j🌺
Thanks sandtrap. You got me with lawsuits ;)
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
bradinsky
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by bradinsky »

Ick! I don’t want anyone touching the contents of our home. I’ll pass on the cash.
Northern Flicker
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Northern Flicker »

Sandtrap wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 5:47 pm 2 months
your "home"
not a good idea
you won't make as much money as you think
the downsides are huge
liabilities
ruined carpets n floors
permanent strange herb and nasty cologne smells
lawsuits
et al

not a good idea
j🌺
Homeowner's insurance may not cover the house without changing to a landlord's policy or adding a short-term rental rider.

The biggest risk may be that the renters refuse to leave at the end of the rental period.
bombcar
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by bombcar »

I'd only really consider it if I was doing a "house swap" type of thing, and even then, it'd be a bit skeevy.

Search "airbnb horror stories" or something similar, and have fun.

You have to "depersonalize" your house if you're renting to strangers (as opposed to family or friends), and hide everything of easily stolen value.
renter
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by renter »

Watch "Pacific Heights" first, then consider it.
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Watty
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Watty »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 5:12 pm Pros, cons?
I don't know how they would work but your taxes would be complicated and might even involve having to take depreciation for the time that it is rented. I would want to budget to have my taxes professionally done.

If you have some sort of owner occupied property tax break you would also need to look into how renting out the house would impact that.

Rentals may also need to be inspected and meet high building codes for things like sprinkler systems and handicap accessibility.

You would also need to make sure that short term rentals are allowed with any HOA and local zoning.

That said I do know someone that lives in Augusta Ga. and they rented out their new upscale(ish) house for about two weeks during the Master Golf Tournament. I do not know any of the details but they seemed happy with the results and it sounds like they may do that again next year. It sounded like they got a very high price for it and I would not be surprised if it rented for several thousand dollars a night so the money made it worth their time. Apparently lots of people fly their private jets into the masters so that is a very special situation.
Bikesy
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Bikesy »

We don't rent our primary but we do rent our ADU on a short term basis. If you rent through Airbnb or VRBO they cover the insurance and liability so I think the lawsuit argument is moot. Unless you're in a vacation destination or have some kind of unique feature to your home it likely won't rent for as much as you're thinking. One cool thing is that if you rent your house for 14 days or less during the year there's zero taxes owed. As a one time thing I wouldn't think this is worth doing; however, if you travel for a month every year and have a desirable house in a good location it could work fine. Any money you make is extra anyways and its a good excuse to de-clutter and clean. We've probably rented 1,000 nights so far and have yet to experience all the horror stories people talk about. Bogleheads is all in on the 3 fund portfolio which is great, but you won't get much support for real estate ventures here. If you're serious about doing this check out the bigger pockets forums and podcast.
TN_Boy
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by TN_Boy »

Bikesy wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 6:03 am We don't rent our primary but we do rent our ADU on a short term basis. If you rent through Airbnb or VRBO they cover the insurance and liability so I think the lawsuit argument is moot. Unless you're in a vacation destination or have some kind of unique feature to your home it likely won't rent for as much as you're thinking. One cool thing is that if you rent your house for 14 days or less during the year there's zero taxes owed. As a one time thing I wouldn't think this is worth doing; however, if you travel for a month every year and have a desirable house in a good location it could work fine. Any money you make is extra anyways and its a good excuse to de-clutter and clean. We've probably rented 1,000 nights so far and have yet to experience all the horror stories people talk about. Bogleheads is all in on the 3 fund portfolio which is great, but you won't get much support for real estate ventures here. If you're serious about doing this check out the bigger pockets forums and podcast.
But you are not renting out the space YOU live in, right? That would make a huge difference to me. I'd have much less concerns about renting out an ADU (especially if it was detached) than I would the space I live in. If I'm renting out space I live in, I have to make sure that I have secured personal documents (tax records, financial statements, yeah I can lock them in a filing cabinet). I'd want medications secured. I'd have to store elsewhere things like expensive camera gear. I'd not be happy about random strangers being able to look in all my cupboards, medicine cabinets, closets etc. But an ADU that I didn't live in ... don't want to mess with it myself, but a whole different ballgame.
Carefreeap
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Carefreeap »

Bikesy wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 6:03 am We don't rent our primary but we do rent our ADU on a short term basis. If you rent through Airbnb or VRBO they cover the insurance and liability so I think the lawsuit argument is moot. Unless you're in a vacation destination or have some kind of unique feature to your home it likely won't rent for as much as you're thinking. One cool thing is that if you rent your house for 14 days or less during the year there's zero taxes owed. As a one time thing I wouldn't think this is worth doing; however, if you travel for a month every year and have a desirable house in a good location it could work fine. Any money you make is extra anyways and its a good excuse to de-clutter and clean. We've probably rented 1,000 nights so far and have yet to experience all the horror stories people talk about. Bogleheads is all in on the 3 fund portfolio which is great, but you won't get much support for real estate ventures here. If you're serious about doing this check out the bigger pockets forums and podcast.
Lots of good advice here.

I will also concur that you and your wife absolutely need to be on the same page about renting your personal space. We have had my FIL's house in vacation rental service for over 20 years and my husband STILL can't handle it when people move furniture around or put things away wrong. If one of you is picky or possessive about your "things" it won't work out.
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Northern Flicker
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Northern Flicker »

Bikesy wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 6:03 am We don't rent our primary but we do rent our ADU on a short term basis. If you rent through Airbnb or VRBO they cover the insurance and liability so I think the lawsuit argument is moot. Unless you're in a vacation destination or have some kind of unique feature to your home it likely won't rent for as much as you're thinking. One cool thing is that if you rent your house for 14 days or less during the year there's zero taxes owed. As a one time thing I wouldn't think this is worth doing; however, if you travel for a month every year and have a desirable house in a good location it could work fine. Any money you make is extra anyways and its a good excuse to de-clutter and clean. We've probably rented 1,000 nights so far and have yet to experience all the horror stories people talk about. Bogleheads is all in on the 3 fund portfolio which is great, but you won't get much support for real estate ventures here. If you're serious about doing this check out the bigger pockets forums and podcast.
This may effect the capital gains exclusion on your primary residence if the ADU is part of the same property.
bene1
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by bene1 »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 5:12 pm Have you rented your house short term?
I did this and was happy with the results. My circumstances dictated that over a two year period, my family and I would be out-of-state for several months at a time. While away, we rented out our single-family detached home, fully furnished. We locked and excluded two rooms and the garage. In those two years, we had four renters of 2-3 months each. We returned home between tenants and after those two years, returned permanently.

We used the website https://www.furnishedfinder.com/. While anyone can use the site, their target demographic is travel nurses on temporary assignments of 2-4 months. This worked out well for our schedule and there were some appealing aspects of having travel nurses as tenants such as: known income source, professional/responsible mindset, solo occupant, few local contacts (so no parties), working many hours (so not home that much).

The website helps landlords and renters find each other. Then it is up to you to make all arrangements (tenant decisions, lease terms, payment, etc.). For simplicity, I included all utilities in the monthly rent. I kept the bills in my name and paid them. We had enough inquiries that we could be somewhat choosy in finding people. Everyone was good-to-great. Our neighbors gave good reviews of our tenants as well.

Overall, we were satisfied with the experience. Re: taxes. I have done them myself for many years using H&R Block. During the rental years, I paid extra to have assistance from a tax pro. They helped with the particulars of rentals and I found it to be worth it.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

bene1 wrote: Tue May 30, 2023 2:51 am
Wannaretireearly wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 5:12 pm Have you rented your house short term?
I did this and was happy with the results. My circumstances dictated that over a two year period, my family and I would be out-of-state for several months at a time. While away, we rented out our single-family detached home, fully furnished. We locked and excluded two rooms and the garage. In those two years, we had four renters of 2-3 months each. We returned home between tenants and after those two years, returned permanently.

We used the website https://www.furnishedfinder.com/. While anyone can use the site, their target demographic is travel nurses on temporary assignments of 2-4 months. This worked out well for our schedule and there were some appealing aspects of having travel nurses as tenants such as: known income source, professional/responsible mindset, solo occupant, few local contacts (so no parties), working many hours (so not home that much).

The website helps landlords and renters find each other. Then it is up to you to make all arrangements (tenant decisions, lease terms, payment, etc.). For simplicity, I included all utilities in the monthly rent. I kept the bills in my name and paid them. We had enough inquiries that we could be somewhat choosy in finding people. Everyone was good-to-great. Our neighbors gave good reviews of our tenants as well.

Overall, we were satisfied with the experience. Re: taxes. I have done them myself for many years using H&R Block. During the rental years, I paid extra to have assistance from a tax pro. They helped with the particulars of rentals and I found it to be worth it.
This is great! Thanks so much for the link. This is the kind of thing i would be most comfortable with. We live in a healthcare/hospital area so the travel nurse/doc would be ideal tenants.

I'm nowhere close to doing this. But, this is giving me good ideas/options.
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
Topic Author
Wannaretireearly
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Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:39 pm

Re: Have you rented your house short term?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

A general response to the fantastic responses above. Thank you!
Many points that I would not have considered, pros/cons. Definitely need to be on the same page as my DW!

It's a long time before i would/can do this. Hope this thread helps others too.
IMO there is always a price that is worth 'selling' at :) That's just me talking.

e.g. If i could fund a 3 month world cruise paid for by a travel nurse, what's not to like? ;)
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
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