Mortgage requirement: 12 month lease. But i want to Airbnb

[Kelly Creamer]

I am purchasing a new condo and am hoping to rent out my current condo. This will be my first foray into being a landlord. One of the requirements the lender has is that I have a 12 month lease to meet income requirements. Here is the issue. My monthly out of pocket expenses are around $1,050. I can long term rent for 1250 per month, but I live at the base of a ski resort. Winters are high seasons, and short-term rentals do very well in summer too. Most people in my complex say that April is the one month where occupancy is very low.  I can gross $2500-3500 per month on Airbnb for my unit for 8-9 month of the year and can likely make $1300-1800 during the remaining 3-4 months.

If I do a 12 month lease, it would start on Dec 1st, so i would entirely miss ski season this year. 

Several people have suggested that i just have a friend sign a 12 month lease and then i just put it on AirBNB. I would have a difficult time doing this. I am rule follower :). 

Do I have any options? What would be the consequences of having a friend sign a lease, then putting it on AirBNB. Any suggestions would be appreciated! 

[Chris Mason]

Originally posted by @Kelly Creamer:

I am purchasing a new condo and am hoping to rent out my current condo. This will be my first foray into being a landlord. One of the requirements the lender has is that I have a 12 month lease to meet income requirements. Here is the issue. My monthly out of pocket expenses are around $1,050. I can long term rent for 1250 per month, but I live at the base of a ski resort. Winters are high seasons, and short-term rentals do very well in summer too. Most people in my complex say that April is the one month where occupancy is very low.  I can gross $2500-3500 per month on Airbnb for my unit for 8-9 month of the year and can likely make $1300-1800 during the remaining 3-4 months.

If I do a 12 month lease, it would start on Dec 1st, so i would entirely miss ski season this year. 

Several people have suggested that i just have a friend sign a 12 month lease and then i just put it on AirBNB. I would have a difficult time doing this. I am rule follower :). 

Do I have any options? What would be the consequences of having a friend sign a lease, then putting it on AirBNB. Any suggestions would be appreciated! 

 Find an airbnb property manager. Lease it to her. Include a provision that allows her to sublet, without specifying the platform/method. Fannie Mae's guidelines are generally silent on the issue of subletting. Pick a rent number that makes sense, given that you're allowing your tenant to sublet. No fraud required, boom.