All Forum Posts by: L'Rainne Molina

My S.O. and I have an opportunity to start an Airbnb, but want to make sure we understand the best steps to take under the given circumstances. 

The property is a newly built 1 bed, 1 bath loft apartment above a detached garage/shop in Idaho Falls, ID. It's not located within an HOA and is within city limits. We do NOT own the property - family does. They are ok with us doing this, as long as it works for everyone. The owners are moving to Oregon for 9 months out of the year, and are leaving us to lookover the property while they're gone.

We have completely fully furnished the unit and it's just about ready to go, but there's certain specs that I'm not familiar with as far as 'owning' an Airbnb.

Here are my questions: 
-Is an LLC necessary for this kind of situation? And if so, who should be the holder of the LLC?
-How does this work for property insurance purposes for the owner? 
-How would you split the profit made with the owner if they are completely hands off?

We got approval from our landlord to sublease 2 other rooms in the house. We have found a potential candidate. Does anyone know how the renter's insurance works in this case? We have our policy for the two of us (myself and SO). Does the additional tenant also need to have their own policy? Can multiple people have their own rental insurance policies with one address? Our rental policy wouldn't allow us to add a third person. Does anyone know the best way to go about this to protect all parties? Our landlord is very hands off, so we're in complete control of this. 

Total newb here and any advice is appreciated. :) 

We (my boyfriend and I) got approval from our landlord to sublet the remaining rooms in the house beginning in August. It's a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath. We have two spare rooms for rent, 1 full bathroom for the rooms to share + half bath downstairs for roommate/guest use. The house is 1900+ square feet. It's in a desirable location, gated community + HOA amenities, great school district, and within walking distance to parks, coffee shops, etc.

Total rent is $1845 (split by 4 [people] = $461.25) 

Additional bills at a flat rate: water, garbage, internet, and gardener, ($84 total if split by 4)
Additional bills at a variable rate: PGE, housekeeper (TBD)

-How should we charge the rent, as far as what bills to include in the base rent or charge separately? I've seen other local rooms for rent that include the PGE and charge and overall flat rate. Is that really effective? Our climate gets super hot (currently 104). Cooling a 2 story house doesn't come cheap. 
-If someone wanted to rent both of the rooms, would you cut them a deal?


We looked at the current rent rates that other people are charging per room and they are all over the place. It varies from $500-800. I'm also basing everything off getting both rooms rented. There is a huge difference between splitting the rent 4 ways vs. 3 ways). We are both trying to keep our expenses low. While we could afford only having one roommate, our monthly housing expenses would nearly double and we're trying to buy a house within the next year. 


Our landlord also told us to create our own lease agreement and run our own background check. Any tips or templates with this?

I just passed my real estate license exam (just yesterday) and am looking into getting a credit card for business expenses. Can anyone recommend any cards that they use and like? Also, what methods are you using to track your expenses, such as mileage and other write-offs?