Long Term Short Term Rental

[Jason Winter]

Hello BP Community,

I could use a little guidance on this one. I am in the process of renting out my condo on Airbnb for stays of 30+ days. I have an inquiry of someone who would like to stay for 6 months which is great but I want to make sure that I perform my due diligence and make sure the person is a quality tenant. This person doesn't have any reviews so its impossible to determine if they are a good Airbnb guest. They said that they are employed by the local baseball team and have friends in the area. My question is should I have them submit all of the same information you would for a yearly lease, like pay stubs, previous landlords, background checks, etc.? 

Thanks!

[Jonathan Avellaneda]

STR VS LTR- remember this distinction. What are your local landlord laws? Does making them jump through all these hoops then give them status as a tenant vs as a guest in home through Airbnb?

I would consult a local attorney before making them do anything. This could get sticky depending on your local laws. For me in Washington I would not do anything outside of Airbnb because then they would be considered a tenant and they would be allowed to have tenant rights, which here is immensely more than landlord rights.  

If you don't have time to do this, go with your gut. Have a conversation with them on Airbnb about their stay and see what you can dig out through social media  and the Googles. After that make a decision- but don't determine it on being empty vs not being empty, make sure you are basing it on the quality of the guest coming in and the standard you want to try to keep so your home stays in order. Avoiding a bad guest and losing some occupancy is way better than getting paid but having to deal with them for 6 months of who knows what!