STR w/o renting to strangers (time share with friends & fam only)

[Kristin McPherson]

A friend of mine told me about her parents' vacation rental arrangement, and this setup really appeals to me. 

It's basically a time share arrangement among close friends & family. As I understand it, one person owns this house in Mexico Beach, FL, but the eight couples split the time evenly. They have a rotation so that every eight weeks, each family gets a turn staying Monday through Monday. They can either do the cleaning themselves before 4pm on their check-out Monday or make arrangements to book and pay their shared cleaning lady. Each family has a tote of personal belongings that stays on site so they're each using their own linens, laundry detergent, toiletries, etc. without hauling everything back and forth. Within reason they leave some items in the pantry and fridge because they all know each other and are comfortable doing so (as a matter of fact, at least three of the "owners" are siblings). They also seem to all be pretty invested in keeping the place up and pitching in time and effort toward maintenance, repairs, furniture replacement, etc. 

I suppose those details are probably covered in their lease agreement, but my friend's dad is forever finishing a piece of furniture, replacing a TV, or something of the like. They've allowed us to use their remaining days three or four times because they typically only stay until Thursday and then let their daughter handle the cleaning, changing linens, etc. and I've gone with her. It's a very cozy, comfortable house -- nothing really fancy, but it's across the street from the beach and is really well equipped for a comfortable stay.

I find this model much more appealing than allowing total strangers to stay in my vacation rental. Does anyone have experience or advice for this model? Our family would like to purchase a riverfront property in North Georgia as a second (vacation) home but can't afford to do so without making it into a rental property. However, I've seen a lot of AirBnB horror stories lately and really don't want to go that route. I'd love to set up an arrangement of rotating time with the same trusted families constantly to help cover the operating expenses. If anyone does this, I'd love to hear your tips about the contract, logistics, finding other families to go in with, etc.