Subletting company a scam?

[Gretchen Williams]

I have a duplex in Columbus , OH. One side is traditional rental and the other side I have furnished and have been renting as STR. I advertise on Furnished Finder, Zillow etc. Recently I have had 2 different people kinda proposing the same thing: they want to sign a year lease with me not to live there but to then in turn rent it out short term to others. Since I have been semi successful with this approach I can see it working. However neither person is local , they both have filled out applications and seem to check out , but both have "Not for Real ID" IDs which seems like a red flag to me. My friend recently told me of this scenario where the person I lease to would perhaps then double book individuals and keep deposits.

Was just curious if anyone else has been approached in this manor, and if I am just overthinking this.

thank you!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Gretchen Williams:

This is called "arbitrage," and most will tell you to avoid it. You already spotted some red flags. You lose control of the property. You have no idea if they are following the law, AirBnB rules, paying taxes, etc. When the money dries up, they'll leave just as quickly as they arrived and you may be stuck with a real mess.

If it can produce more money as a short-term rental, do it yourself.

[John Underwood]

What Nathan said!

[James Wise]

Quote from @Gretchen Williams:

I have a duplex in Columbus , OH. One side is traditional rental and the other side I have furnished and have been renting as STR. I advertise on Furnished Finder, Zillow etc. Recently I have had 2 different people kinda proposing the same thing: they want to sign a year lease with me not to live there but to then in turn rent it out short term to others. Since I have been semi successful with this approach I can see it working. However neither person is local , they both have filled out applications and seem to check out , but both have "Not for Real ID" IDs which seems like a red flag to me. My friend recently told me of this scenario where the person I lease to would perhaps then double book individuals and keep deposits.

Was just curious if anyone else has been approached in this manor, and if I am just overthinking this.

thank you!

 Never sublet...........Ever.

[Gretchen Williams]

thank you for your imput, I also thought it strange that neither party has asked to see the property in person

[Remington Lyman]

Quote from @Gretchen Williams:

I have a duplex in Columbus , OH. One side is traditional rental and the other side I have furnished and have been renting as STR. I advertise on Furnished Finder, Zillow etc. Recently I have had 2 different people kinda proposing the same thing: they want to sign a year lease with me not to live there but to then in turn rent it out short term to others. Since I have been semi successful with this approach I can see it working. However neither person is local , they both have filled out applications and seem to check out , but both have "Not for Real ID" IDs which seems like a red flag to me. My friend recently told me of this scenario where the person I lease to would perhaps then double book individuals and keep deposits.

Was just curious if anyone else has been approached in this manor, and if I am just overthinking this.

thank you!

 This does not pass the sniff test for me. I would not do this if I were you

[Jimmy Lieu]

Quote from @Gretchen Williams:

I have a duplex in Columbus , OH. One side is traditional rental and the other side I have furnished and have been renting as STR. I advertise on Furnished Finder, Zillow etc. Recently I have had 2 different people kinda proposing the same thing: they want to sign a year lease with me not to live there but to then in turn rent it out short term to others. Since I have been semi successful with this approach I can see it working. However neither person is local , they both have filled out applications and seem to check out , but both have "Not for Real ID" IDs which seems like a red flag to me. My friend recently told me of this scenario where the person I lease to would perhaps then double book individuals and keep deposits.

Was just curious if anyone else has been approached in this manor, and if I am just overthinking this.

thank you!

Hi Gretchen! Even if the applicants seem to check out otherwise, I would still be cautious about entering into lease agreements with them. The potential risks like unpaid bills and damaged property aren't worth the hassle. My advice would be to politely decline and stick with your current strategy. Happy to answer any other questions you may have.

[Michael Baum]

I think you get the gist @Gretchen Williams. I would avoid, especially seeing as they are shady in who they are. No reason to buy trouble.

[Viji Venkatachalam]

Hi

I also got an email from zi-find.com for subletting. Would like to know how many had experience with them for subletting?

Thanks 

[Jay Hinrichs]

I have seen this work in high priced markets like San Jose Ca.. where the property owner is a very wealthy business person with no time for rentals and the person they sublet to is close t them either friend or bizz associate and will work the property to make  the delta as the owner just does not want to mess with day to day and there is extreme trust.

The other thing I have done personally is with the insurance companies .. They will bring in shorter term tenants but the lease is still with the tenant the company just does the scouting etc.. still have to vette the tenant but you know the rent is coming from insurance and the rent for me is double market rates at least and generally 6 months to a year so not a ton of turn over and very good tenants.. Never had an issue in 5 years of this when tenants have moved out I just send my house cleaner in for a deep clean NO turn over costs other than that. I also rented to someone building a new home  like a multi million dollar home that worked well to. 

[Viji Venkatachalam]

Trust is important in this scenario . Who has helped you out ? House is in Florida - Tampa area 

[James Wise]

Quote from @Viji Venkatachalam:

Trust is important in this scenario . Who has helped you out ? House is in Florida - Tampa area 

 You can trust that the person trying to sublet from you is gonna be long gone when a costly problem arises, leaving you to hold the bag all on your own.

[Viji Venkatachalam]

Exactly. Though lucrative but risk not worth taking 

[Sarah Kensinger]

This strategy works and people do it remotely all the time! But what's the deal with the ID's, are they in the USA or not?

[Viji Venkatachalam]

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

This strategy works and people do it remotely all the time! But what's the deal with the ID's, are they in the USA or not?

Who have you worked with for this?

[Don Konipol]

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @Gretchen Williams:

I have a duplex in Columbus , OH. One side is traditional rental and the other side I have furnished and have been renting as STR. I advertise on Furnished Finder, Zillow etc. Recently I have had 2 different people kinda proposing the same thing: they want to sign a year lease with me not to live there but to then in turn rent it out short term to others. Since I have been semi successful with this approach I can see it working. However neither person is local , they both have filled out applications and seem to check out , but both have "Not for Real ID" IDs which seems like a red flag to me. My friend recently told me of this scenario where the person I lease to would perhaps then double book individuals and keep deposits.

Was just curious if anyone else has been approached in this manor, and if I am just overthinking this.

thank you!

 Never sublet...........Ever.

You’re only 99% right! I have experienced subletting working under some very restrictive and specific conditions. 

[James Wise]

Quote from @Don Konipol:

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @Gretchen Williams:

I have a duplex in Columbus , OH. One side is traditional rental and the other side I have furnished and have been renting as STR. I advertise on Furnished Finder, Zillow etc. Recently I have had 2 different people kinda proposing the same thing: they want to sign a year lease with me not to live there but to then in turn rent it out short term to others. Since I have been semi successful with this approach I can see it working. However neither person is local , they both have filled out applications and seem to check out , but both have "Not for Real ID" IDs which seems like a red flag to me. My friend recently told me of this scenario where the person I lease to would perhaps then double book individuals and keep deposits.

Was just curious if anyone else has been approached in this manor, and if I am just overthinking this.

thank you!

 Never sublet...........Ever.

You’re only 99% right! I have experienced subletting working under some very restrictive and specific conditions. 

 Just play roulette and bet it all on black bro. You've got a 48% chance of winning that way.

[Sarah Kensinger]

Quote from @Viji Venkatachalam:

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

This strategy works and people do it remotely all the time! But what's the deal with the ID's, are they in the USA or not?

Who have you worked with for this?

I haven't worked with anyone since we prefer co-hosting but know oodles and oodles of hosts that do it. Just this morning we spoke with a landlord that has a tenant arbitraging his property, and it's doing well enough that he would like a shot at hosting himself. It's all over the place and landlords have far less hassles with an arbitrager that was screened just like a LTR tenant, then a 12 month live in the property tenant.

[Viji Venkatachalam]

Oh cool

[Viji Venkatachalam]

If you have good referrals for those from other landlords please do post