Renting second residence for a limited period

[Luba Vasilieva]

Hi Everyone. Would appreciate the input for the following situation before jumping into it. I recently purchased a small lake house in IL, which is sort of vulnerable to winter temps (= very lightly insulated crawl space where all plumbing is located). So right now at the end of September- I am considering two options - winterizing or renting short term (heavily under-market just to cover utilities expense) till spring. Very concerned about eviction bans should something go wrong. It looks like even a transient occupant (like roommate) will acquire tenant right pretty fast (30 days or so, but need more research). Any suggestions  from the gurus - Re: protection from worst case scenarios? Thinking finding a LT guest via Airbnb or vrbo? Winter is a low season for the lake here in IL ;)

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[Tim Johnson]

Luba, is this just a rental unit? Are you there too? It's a bit hard to understand your context in terms of rental supply and demand. Any reason not to winterize plumbing and seek longer-term renters?

I've never used Airbnb or Vrbo to find short-term renters. Our rental market here in western WA is so hot and short of inventory that we can just put up a quick ad on Craigslist and expect multiple inquiries that we then run through third-party credit checks.

My earlier comment simply came out of years of experience in Minnesota where casual insulation of plumbing can prove costly. For your other concerns, you may need more local and STR-savvy investors' input. Best wishes...