STR of Vacation Home to Friends and Family Only

[Charlotte Farrell]

Is anyone out there renting only to friends and acquaintances? I can't seem to find any advice on the web regarding this set up. I'm thinking of using a Facebook  page to show home and allow for reviews but it has to be private as we don't rent to people we don't know- for now. 

We are getting ready to start renting our  vacation home. Our other rentals are all long term. To get our feet wet, we have decided to start out renting only to friends, family and their recommended friends & family. Our reasons... Airbb seems to be ridiculous with many scamming to get refunds, the platforms take a big chunk of profits, renting to people you know will cut down on the likelihood of home being trashed. Also, hoping it will be easier to refuse to rent to people who claim they have 3 emotional support dogs etc.  

I personally rented homes this way in the past. However, that was before Airbnb and those people were not claiming income. Ours will be all legal with all income claimed and all write offs taken.

Would love any advice from those who have used this approach to STR.

[Lauren Kormylo]

If you really just want to rent to friends and family, you could list it on Houfy .com, which is like booking direct. Their free model has a one time $6 fee to be verified as the owner. They don’t take a percentage from guests or you. And you control who to rent to, there is no penalty if you turn down a booking, like on the other platforms. They don’t do much marketing, it’s up to you to promote it, so you probably won’t have a lot of strangers ask to book. You could have very high prices listed to put off strangers, but allow family and friends to book at 40% off or whatever, so they look like they’re getting a deal.