How would you structure a live in property manager?

[Jaime Mejia]

Hey everyone, I have a sfr split like a vertical duplex. The basement has a separate entrance and is doing well on Airbnb. The rest of the home has 4 (potentially 5) bedrooms that I want to rent as individual rooms medium/long term. I have someone that has rented from me in the past and is interested in working out some type of live in property manager for the rooms and Airbnb including cleanings. How or what incentives would you offer this person in my scenario? Would you offer free rent? Half rent for managing the Airbnb? A referral fee for every person she found to fill a bedroom? I've never been in this place and hoping for ideas, personal experiences, advice on this situation to reach a fair agreement for both sides. Thanks in advance!

[Richard F.]

Aloha,

Whether renting rooms, or talking about a live-on-site resident manager of a large complex, there are so many ways for this to go wrong. Inevitably, they will make friends with some residents, and enemies of others, both of which lead to problems such as Fair Housing violations when the friends get preferential treatment for repairs and rule violations; supplies and materials disappearing both on and off site; unauthorized repairs allowed or performed by the manager at your expense in time and materials; time that should be spent on your expected tasks that is spent visiting or "helping" their friends; buying extra materials that never make it to the property; taking advantage of residents charging them for "extra" tasks or "collecting" rent; the list goes on. I've seen and experienced every one of these and more over the years. You need rock solid checks and balances in this business. Shortcuts will cost you. Also, if you do NOT report your "incentives", you can have the IRS on you, and your "manager" could very well be considered an "employee", even if he trips up the stairs and knocks out his own teeth...showing YOUR room for rent.