Air B&B in San Diego

[Jeremy Clarke]

Good morning everyone, I am a Realtor here in Fort Collins, CO considering buying property in sunny San Diego. Most of my immediate family is out there. I'd like to have a place to stay when I go to visit them as their downtown apartment is not huge and could be a nice investment for me. My thought is, I could go out for a month or so at a time and when I'm not using the property air bnb it. I am looking for information on that. Everything from laws in San Diego for or against, personal experience, management companies who specialize in this, carrying cost (ball park is fine). I would be looking in or around the downtown area. Nothing huge. An entry level condo / studio would be great. Thanks in advance! Jeremy

[Justin R.]

@Jeremy Clarke I'll just chime in on the current "by the book" situation...

Current City Attorney ruling here is that short-term rentals (ala AirBnB) are prohibited based on municipal code.  This ruling is not being enforced and is waiting on City Council to clarify.  There's a permanent proposal that was unveiled last week and a public meeting next Wednesday for community feedback.  In short, proposed regulations are:

- To AirBnB, you have to apply for a STOP permit and pay transient occupancy taxes.

- If it's your primary residence, you can AirBnB extra rooms all you want, so long as you're on site.

- If it's your primary residence, you can AirBnB the whole property for no more than 90 days per year.

- If it's not your primary residence (an investment property or second home), and it's in a residentially zoned area (including RS, RT, RX, and RM), you can't AirBnB at all.

- If you're AirBnb'ing something, you have to post a scarlet letter sign outside listing name and contact info for who should be called if there's a nuisance on the property.  That person has to respond within 1 hour to any complaints.

In short, it prevents investors from buying units and operating AirBnB as a business.  This is PROPOSED and still open for public comment - I'll be attending the community discussion next week (you have to RSVP if you want to go) and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Now, whether people will feel compelled to follow any future law is a different story...

Here's the draft ordinance: https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/170821-sto-draft-memo.pdf