Rental Insurance via Airbnb

[Zach Milburn]

This is my first post on here so I apologize in advance if this is slightly off the mark. 

I am interested in renting one of my properties for a short period of time before either selling it, listing on Airbnb as a day-to-day thing, or rolling it into a full-time regular rental unit. That said, I don't necessarily want to go through the process of setting up regular renter's insurance, contracts, credit checks etc. with a 2-3 month rental. 

I've looked into Airbnb's rental policy, and it seems to be pretty comprehensive. Considering that their commission rates are relatively low, it almost seems like the logical thing to do to just rent it out month-to-month using the Airbnb platform. The tenant would then be covered under Airbnb's typical insurance policy - and although I understand it is highly recommended to have backup insurance - they don't require it. 

Has anyone had any experience here? Again, I would rather be over-insured than under insured, but there might be some less cumbersome ways to set up a legitimate system for a situation like this with the help of the Airbnb platform.

[Account Closed]

I'd just call my homeowner's insurance company and ask them.  It's not that expensive.  When my daughter rented out her first home, she was surprised that there wasn't much of a change in cost.

I'd rather have my own insurance, in case I had to fight with AirBnB.  Wouldn't want to trust them to have my best interests at heart, in case something happened.  There'd be a conflict of interest between them, the renter and you, seems to me.

[Sean Walton]

I ran into a challenge doing airbnb long term because like you I would rather be over insured than under. If you are not living in the place between guests it is more of a commercial policy that you need at least that is what State Farm told me. The catch was in order to get a commercial policy they wanted a signed lease. You should talk to your insurance agent some are fine with keeping the homeowner policy in place some aren't. I ended up having to go with CBIZ which I have been happy with. Only about 50% more than state farm was. I haven't thankfully had to make a claim so can't speak to that. Having a "innkeeper's policy" also allows me to use other sites like Homesuite so I like the flexibility.

[Zach Milburn]

Good stuff. Thanks for the info. The main benefit in my mind was the ease of setup - 7% commission for insurance and basically a lease agreement all done through a third-party vendor. Would only make sense if the lease was 2-3 months max in my mind. 

I've never actually leased a property yet, so I really don't know how cumbersome the regular process is. Glad to hear it's pretty straightforward. I built this house as a sort of tiny cabin and figured that if I were to upgrade someday (which seems will be the case now) I could rent it as a themed cabin getaway on there. 

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Zach Milburn:

Good stuff. Thanks for the info. The main benefit in my mind was the ease of setup - 7% commission for insurance and basically a lease agreement all done through a third-party vendor. Would only make sense if the lease was 2-3 months max in my mind. 

I've never actually leased a property yet, so I really don't know how cumbersome the regular process is. Glad to hear it's pretty straightforward. I built this house as a sort of tiny cabin and figured that if I were to upgrade someday (which seems will be the case now) I could rent it as a themed cabin getaway on there. 

 The themed cabins do really well in my area.  This is a real out of the way part of CA, right on the OR border, but is popular with tourists and travelers during the summer months.  There are people with very rural properties here, with even just camping areas on their property, who do well on AirBnB.  

One local guy who has several acres out of town in the woods, offers a couple rustic cabins and tent camping spots, too, and he's regularly booked, even though the road to even get into his property is really rough.  

There is definitely a market out there.