Would you VRBO your primary residence?

Question

I'm going overseas for a month this summer and wonder if I should rent out my house during that time.  Would it be weird staying at a stranger's house with all their personal effects?  I'm not that concerned about people taking stuff but I suppose that risk is there.

JJ King · Answer

Hey Larry! Renting out your house is a great idea. Assuming you have already thought about the logistics like cleaning, check in etc, so I won't touch on that. What would like to mention is that I'd recommend Airbnb over VRBO for hosting and here's why:

• UX: Airbnb is much more user friendly to create an account and list a property.
• Liability: VRBO provides no insurance / damage protection. Airbnb has both liability insurance and a host guarantee (actually getting the guarantee requires you to jump through hoops with tons of documentation, but better than nothing.) 
• ID Verification: VRBO does no identification verification, anyone can make a profile and book with a fake name and number. Airbnb requires government ID and other verifications in order to book. 
• Reviews: No reviews or profile pictures are the norm on VRBO. Airbnb reviews are more reliable and common, the platform is built on it. 
• Chargebacks: We've had people stay through HomeAway/ VRBO who used stolen credit cards and we didn't find out until long after their stay when the actual credit card owner did a chargeback, leaving us with nothing. Airbnb collects payment and pay you, so you don't need to worry about chargebacks.

Now I'm not saying Airbnb is better than HomeAway in all instances, but for a person just renting out their home and not running a full time business, I would highly recommend Airbnb over HomeAway. One thing to consider though, Airbnb does weigh heavily in the guest's favor. If your guest is unhappy with anything about your property, chances are they will win. Just make sure to set accurate expectations and offer a clean space.

Justin Stamper · Answer

It is a great option and I plan on doing it with my personal property as well for summers in Florida since I am becoming a snow bird.  Just remember you need to really put away all of your personal items into a locked room, you cannot just have junk laying around. The companies now are pretty strict with who they choose to work with and one bad review could sink this entire idea.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

@Rick S

Rent it out furnished.  Are you going to put all your furniture in a storage unit and pay for it for 6 months, when you can leave it right where it is and charge a premium for providing a furnished rental?

A 6 month lease is rather inconvenient.  I can't imagine someone moving all their furniture into an empty house, only knowing that they would have to find another place in 6 months to move to again.

Your best bet for a tenant would be a traveling nurse, a college student or a visiting professor. Those kinds of people have a definite horizon for the time they will be in Oceanside and probably have a specific date that they would be moving out.

Account Closed · Answer

I have rented VRBO's before where the owners locked certain rooms and or closets, expect they keep personal items in those areas that they want to keep at the property.

Rick S. · Answer

I am considering renting my house for 6 months (summer) each year. Im still working thru the pros and cons of going the Airbnb/VRBO route, or completely emptying it and trying a 6 month lease unfurnished. Im just not sure if anyone rents unfurnished houses for 6 months... or if there is a market for 6 month furnished rentals. I dont want to have to come back to do tenant turnovers.

I like some of the ideas posted here, more food for thought. Great topic for frequent travelers!

Jordan Moorhead · Answer

I always rent my place when I'm not in town on Airbnb or VRBO. In Minneapolis I see a little less traffic during the winter but I keep it cheap and still get people.

I've been out of town for a month and there's two people I've never even seen in there right now.

Adam Widdicombe · Answer

@Larry Flanagan

My family and I(wife, 2 small kids, and mother-in-law) all live in the same house. We have rented our space out on numerous occasions and have not had any issues(knock on wood).

We took the opportunity to get rid of and declutter a TON of stuff from our home. You would be surprised how much stuff in your house you don't use and do not need.

So, when someone stays at the house...we lock one closet or area on each level. All of our personal things(clothes, sheets, etc) go behind the locked door. It takes us about a hour to empty our dressers and kids closets into plastic totes. We also do this with our bathroom items. Everything in a small stack-able plastic  bin, then put into a larger tote. This way when we come back everything comes right out of those into the spot in the drawer or closet.

It may seem like a lot, but we are able to market the house as kid friendly and very clean.

If you have any additional questions or your wife wants to talk to mine...let me know!

Adam

Julie Gates · Answer

You should definitely do this and definitely remove anything of value or personal or anything with alcohol in it. My advice is to go ahead and create your AirBNB account now and request a co-host. You'll need someone to handle the cleaning, etc.

Larry Flanagan · Answer

For clarification, we are talking about a 4 bedroom, 2 adult, 2 young kid home.  Everything would be picked up of course, but there is no way I'm going to empty the closets, dressers, etc.

Julie McCoy · Answer

I'm subletting my place for April-May, but I'm going to take out most of my personal belongings.  I don't think someone would a) want to "move in" to a place with a lot of personal effects (besides, they'd want to use the closet space and some storage, presumably) and b) if they did they'd want to pay significantly less for it.

I stayed in an NYC apartment once that was the host's primary residence - and it was ASTONISHINGLY clean/empty considering the small space and the fact that I knew she lived there.  I was super impressed - she had cubbies with her things up in the top spaces of her closet, and probably a bunch of stuff under the bed, but overall it was difficult to tell someone lived there.  I had a similar experience with an apartment in Rio de Janeiro.  If you can tuck away things in that manner I think you'll be fine.  But I wouldn't want to stay in a space where it just looked like the host went out for the afternoon.

Would you VRBO your primary residence?

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