Home Share as a loop hole to STR Zoning limitations - Virginia Beach.

[Darian McMillan]

Good Afternoon BP Traffic,

I am posting from San Diego right now. I am a military member with fresh orders to Norfolk. After looking around the area with my Fiance we discovered that the rental rate is very low. (~1.2$ / SQFT) in most neighborhoods. Additionally, there are no shortage of homes that are in disrepair. We were initially looking for a home that could serve in the midterm as a primary residence for myself and a LTR / MTR after my orders are completed in the area. We found it possible to do, but fairly unprofitable given the long term costs (flood insurance primarily). We had almost given up then..

We found a home just outside of Norfolk in Virginia Beach that has the ability to become a STR given its proximity to the Airport and Neighborhood. We never thought we would entertain STR's as a strategy due to the time cost. Additionally, Virginia Beach does not allow STR at this location due to zoning. This brings us to Home Share...

Our realtor, Chris, has advised us that Virginia Beach allows homeowners that live in a property to "Share" the property with what the market would call ST Renters. This strategy would allow me to live in one of the rooms of the property during my time in the area and execute an ABNB / VRBO / ETC. in the other rooms of the home. After crunching the numbers the property could very easily cash flow. This is where we need your input...

What do you know about Home Sharing? Do you know anything about Virginia Beach having any upcoming changes to this policy or STR rules in the future? What problems do you see that I might not be thinking about? and/or What other thoughts do you have? please let us know!

Thank you,

Elias and Darian