All Forum Posts by: James Carlson

@Casey Blakely, sounds like you've thought this through. Always smart to have a plan B. Good luck!

Hey @Gabe Pringle. That's a cool idea. I love seeing people use Airbnb in creative ways, not just for their personal residence. I know @Micki M. recently held a brokerage retreat at  WeeCasa, a tiny home hotel in Lyons, Colorado near us here in Denver, and really enjoyed it. 

Zoning is something you'd need to check on in the local area where you buy. So many jurisdictions are passing Airbnb regulations that place restrictions on the type of homes you can rent out short-term. However, it sounds more like you'd be running a full on hotel, really. And so even if your locality doesn't have an Airbnb ordinance, they likely have an ordinance concerning hotels or lodging houses. That might include applying for a business license, signing up for a lodging tax ID, etc. 

About insurance, again it probably depends on how your retreat would be classified. There are still very few companies offering short-term rental insurance -- All-State has a product specific to that and so does CBIZ, which is owned by HomeAway (parent company of VRBO). But it seems again that your concept might not fall into the short-term rental category.

So ... this is really just to say that you probably need to talk to a professional who knows how you'd be classified and then start looking into insurance and zoning issues. About legal issues, I'll leave that to someone else.

The idea, though, is awesome. We millennial hipsters are quite enamored with the minimal, tiny home, and I think families might like a vacation where each has their space. So I could see there being a demand.

Hey @Casey Blakely . Great idea to consider Airbn-ing your rental. Because the laws surrounding short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO are in flux around the country, you definitely want someone who has at least a basic understanding of that market. I say that because at least here in Denver, there are no condo buildings or any other HOA-governed home that I've heard of that allows Airbnb-style STRs. Definitely research the declarations and bylaws of any townhome/condo you're considering before you get too far down the road.

Here in Denver, the city just passed a law requiring anyone renting a place on Airbnb to be the primary resident of that unit. My cursory research for Atlanta Airbnb laws doesn't find anything restricting your right to rent out a second property. This story is interesting. Looks like some Atlanta condo building is fighting its residents over Airbnb ... and this building happens to be a condominium where numerous state legislators own. Ooh, intrigue. 

Anyway, if you're considering Airbnb for your and your partners' property, don't be afraid to ask anyone you work with what their experience is with short-term rentals. 

Hey @Akiewole Williams . I applaud your creative thinking. I am Airbnb's biggest proponent and even teach a class on it here in Denver. @Chris T. already hit on some considerations. I'll reiterate what he and you already said: Know your laws. That means both city and state. Sounds like you already read through Roanoke's  zoning ordinances on short-term rentals seen here . 

But you should also watch out for the state laws. This  news story says the state was considering a statewide measure that would supersede any city laws. And that law would require you to be a primary resident of the space you're renting. Now, this  story from the Washington Post says the Virginia law was put on hold and will not go into effect unless they approve it in 2017.

Two other things to consider: 

1. Even if Roanoke allows what you are considering doing, be aware that having 7 bedrooms, each with different guests coming and going is likely to draw some attention from your neighbors at some point. In my experience, many people are fine with it, but it only takes one person with a loud voice and a penchant for calling the city to start making trouble. This isn't necessarily a reason to not do it, but you might have an exit strategy should the heat get too much. (Like, Airbnbing only a few rooms and long-term renting the rest.)

2. You said you see that rooms are going for $70 a night in your area. That's great. But you don't want to just know that people are charging $70 a night. You want to make sure they're actually getting $70 a night. Two options: You can look at the profiles of those people in your area and look at their calendars. Are they full? (Now this doesn't necessarily mean anything. They could just have their calendar blocked off because they're using the space themselves.) The second way is to look at their reviews. Are there a lot each month? Again, it's not a perfect measure, but you can get a sense.

Keep us updated on what you do. I'm interested to see how it works if you decide to move forward. Cheers!

Hi @Account Closed but slightly different. As he said, go to Airbnb.com, search for the city (but leave the dates blank). On the map, zoom into an 8-10 block radius within your place. Start checking out the prices around there. Click on all the listings nearby. See which ones look most similar to yours. (Roughly same number of bedrooms, same style, same look, etc.) Then see how many reviews they have. It's not a perfect gauge of demand because you don't know how long each guest stayed and in my experience anywhere from a quarter to a third of guests don't leave reviews anyway. But you'll get a sense. If there are some listings in your area, getting a steady stream of people, great! See what they're charging and then do the math to see if it makes sense for your situation.

@Scott Trench If you want to see the source, check out the City of Denver's FAQ document on short-term rentals. They address your exact question on page three. 

One way Denver says they will enforce this is by requiring you to have a license number stated somewhere in your listing. Then the city knows if they see a listing without a number that you don't have a license and are operating illegally. Because you are listed as the owner of the fourplex, you may be able to get a license for one of the units that you're not living in. To get a license, however, you will be required to sign a document stating that you are the primary residence of that unit. That's personal decision for each individual whether they feel comfortable fudging on this part.

Again, I'm interested to see how compliance and enforcement goes. In Portland, they passed a similar measure and one year after the regulations went into effect, they had less than a 10 percent compliance rate. Denver says on their site that they will conduct periodic checks of the Airbnb site to root out listings that don't have a license number listed. But even then, Airbnb listings don't have an exact address nor contact information, so how would Denver go about coming after you? Airbnb has shown a resistance to sharing user information, so the city's not going to get your information that way. 

I guess I'm saying that how this all plays out is still very much in the air.

I have stayed in a few Airbnb places that were just a single room, but I have never rented out a single room in one of my places. The general concepts remain the same. Do your market research to set your base price (filtering by private room, in your instance), stage it cleanly and simply, have some great photos taken, start your prices low, then go high, be responsive to their requests, etc.

The biggest difference will be in your description. I think being clear about what potential guests have access to and what they do not have access to is really important when you're listing a single room. Can they use the kitchen or would you prefer them not? That nice looking patio in the background of one of the photos ... can they sit out there? Think about this with your photos, as well. If they don't have access to something in your house, then don't put up a photo of that. Guests will forgive not having certain amenities if you're up front about it in the description. 

Well there are two answers to your question. Technical and practical.

I hate to bring bad news, but technically, no you cannot rent out the other units. I went to all the city council meetings and have studied the new ordinance for the Airbnb class I teach here in Denver. You can rent out accessory units to your primary residence (a carriage house, an attic apartment, etc), but you can't rent out the other side of a duplex. Essentially, if it has a different address, then it's not your primary residence, even if you own it, and it shares a wall. This provision is nuts to me, but it is what it is.

Now practically speaking, would you get caught? The big question is how Denver will enforce the new law. They don't have any extra staff to do active compliance checks, so it's likely to stay a complaint-driven system. So if you the other four units, all of which would be Airbnb rentals, there are fewer possible people to turn you in. What's your neighbor situation like? 

Everyone's hit on the biggest issue -- compliance. I'll skip over that and give a very brief list of some other items I tell my students in the Airbnb class I teach here in Denver. (Some of this has been covered. Some has not.)

Staging and photography

Maybe the most important step. You've got to remember that potential guests are looking at 18 listings per page and making snap judgments based on a quick glance. Remove everything that's not necessary and use Airbnb's free photography to get some nicely lit photos. (You wouldn't believe the dimly-lit-sheets-askew photos some people throw up there and hope to get booked.

Pricing

Positive reviews are one only a few factors Airbnb has publicly said affect where your listing lands in the Airbnb search results. So getting a couple good reviews quickly is key. Like @Harrison D. smartly said, start your prices 20-30 percent lower. That's the only way you'll differentiate yourself in a tight market with other listings that already have reviews. Treat those first few guests like royalty. Get some great reviews, then start bumping up your price.

Calendaring

If you're looking to fully book your place (and watch out what you wish for; it's a lot of work), then learn to manipulate the minimum-and-maximum-stay feature. When you start out, for instance, you might pick a 3-day minimum stay. So then you get a booking for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and another booking for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. You're left with 2 days floating in between these stays that, because of your 3-day minimum, will not even be seen by anyone searching. As soon as you see that two-day block, then you'd go into the calendar, click on "Availability Settings" then "Add another requirement" and change your minimum-stay requirement to only 2 days for those floaters.

Be nice!

I can't emphasize this enough. Be enthusiastic and nice in your first message, in all subsequent responses, in your first face-to-faceinteraction and in any phone calls/texts you have during your guests' stay. This is both an offensive and a defensive tactic. It's offensive because your kindness may spill into the good review they'll leave. That's a good thing! It's defensive because I've found that even if a guest has a bad time at your place, if they like you, they don't want to leave a bad review. I've hosted tens of people who I know had something go wrong during their stay, and they either don't leave a review or leave a review that simply says the host was super attentive and nice.

Those are the highlights of best practices. 

To @Madeline Burke's question (and @Ryan McCann's, tangentially), @Blair Russell is totally right. If you're in a place with good demand, it totally works. In Denver, if you have a nice place and aren't a total idiot, you can make around 3 times what you would on a normal lease. 

I'm in Denver and don't know Fort Collins well, but it seems to be getting the wave of Denver's boom. If you already own a place, do some Airbnb market research on places in your area to gauge demand. Go to Airbnb.com, search for Fort Collins (but leave the dates blank). On the map, zoom into an 8-10 block radius within your place. Start checking out the prices around there. Click on all the listings nearby. See which ones look most similar to you. (Roughly same number of bedrooms, same style, same look, etc.) Then see how many reviews they have. It's not a perfect gauge of demand because you don't know how long each guest stayed and in my experience anywhere from a quarter to a third of guests don't leave reviews anyway. But you'll get a sense. If there are some listings in your area, getting a steady stream of people, great! See what they're charging and then do the math to see if it makes sense for your situation.

@Dace Richardson That's a great idea of yours, and I'd be interested in hearing if you find any owners willing to take that offer. Depending on where you're located, there's enough margin in Airbnb rentals to pay a manager (you) and earn the owner more than a traditional long-term rental.

The key is demand. In a place like Denver, where I'm at, the demand is there. I don't know Des Moines. @Justin Daniel, you can get a pretty good sense of demand in certain areas by searching on Airbnb for a specific city (leave the dates blank), then zoom in on specific areas and click through various listings. See their prices and how many reviews they have and whether those reviews are concentrated or spread out over many months. (A listing with 30 reviews in the past four months shows good demand. A listing with 30 reviews over the past three years, not so much.)

@Brandon West, let us know if you ever end up offering your house to an Airbnb manager. I teach a class on Airbnb in Denver, and I've had people ask me about that.