Long Term AirBNB Rental

[Jennifer Maiolo]

Hello! My parents and I are new to the AirBNB community. Our first inquiry is a couple who wishes to stay in this single family home for 3 to 6 months for work. This would be our first guests to stay in this home through AirBNB. Does anyone have advice as to going about a longer term rental like this? To my understanding, you can still go through AirBNB but also have the guests sign a short term rental agreement separately. I want to be sure we go about this the right way if we are to accommodate this guest. Thank you for any advice!

[Monica Jorge]

Hey @Jennifer Maiolo - I am an Airbnb host in CT so things are a bit different than your market I'm sure but I have had 2 instances this past year where the guests each wanted to rent for ~5 months through Airbnb. The first guests were baseball players coming into town for the season to play for a minor league team and the second group was a set of interns that would just be in the area for a semester. I make sure they have reviews on the system and try to hop on the phone or a Skype chat first to show them the place but also get a good sense of if this will be a good relationship. I haven't taken it off of Airbnb yet and don't have plans to but I do plan to speak with a lawyer and draw up a separate supplemental contract as my Airbnb is growing rapidly and I feel like the extra level of protection couldn't hurt. 

I've found it a fantastic way to find great tenants who are not in a position to sign a traditional 1 yr lease. My baseball players ended up leaving a week early and it was an easy adjustment that immediately allowed me to get guests in to fill the gaps. They're referring another round of players this year, too! Overall, a win-win for all parties involved so far. The Airbnb protections have been great for me so far as well and give me more peace of mind than what I have with my traditional leased tenants.