All Forum Posts by: Mark S.

@Mary Pastoral I would call Airbnb and get them thrown out immediately. I’ve been in this business for a number of years and am sick and tired of people like that. Fortunately, they are rare, but hosts are way too afraid of dealing with issues head on. And hammer the heck out of her in your review.  She is a liar with no respect for rules or peoples property. 

@Kayla Prange Without seeing the actual property, you are likely way low on capex and maintenance expenses. You have nothing in here for liability/umbrella coverage, airbnb and VRBO expenses. Your initial set up costs are likely to be far more than you expect. I’ve done many properties and there are always big surprises. 

@Riley Schaefer I own in a neighborhood that has a six month minimum - I don’t believe it is that uncommon.

@James Carlson Both markets I am in have reclassified STRs as commercial. Playing devil's advocate - why shouldn't they be? A STR is not someone's primary home so why should it be taxed as such. It is a business. And how much of this (taxes, regulations) is a reaction to investors setting up STRs anywhere and everywhere without any consideration to the neighborhood they are doing it in and the impact on that neighborhood. Sure, someone is going to respond that ‘my STR always has nice quiet guests and is impeccably maintained' and that may be true. But there are places for STRs and places they don't belong because they introduce a transient business into a residential, ‘know your neighbor' area.

@Dan Goeckel I’ve used a number of platforms for income and expense tracking, balance sheets, etc by property. Found REIHub to be the most complete along with being intuitive. When tax time rolls around you can simply give your accountant access to your account and s/he can pull all the reports and info needed directly without you having to send anything.

@Lisa Hammond Since there is no formal documentation for service animals you cannot ask for it, of course. But you can ask if it is required due to disability and task or services it is trained to provide. And as I mentioned, you can remind them that it is a crime to misrepresent a service animal.(check your state laws for that)

ESAs are generally not protected like service animals are.

@Lisa Hammond This is incorrect. In most states ( I believe New York, and California are the only two exceptions, but I may be wrong) emotional support animals are not protected in short term rentals. When I have someone who claims they’re bringing an ESA to one of my rentals, I inform them that we are a pet free property. If they come back and say the animal is actually a service dog, I tell them we obviously accept service animals, but inform them that it is a crime to represent their dog as one. And there is no such thing as a certificate for a service animal, but there are millions of fake certificates for ESA. 

@Zachary Jensen I’ve never been able to find anyone who could provide a concrete example of that happening. I suppose if someone just had a traditional homeowners and umbrella policy there could be exclusions for rentals, but any decent agent can find a policy package designed for rentals. In that case, if the owner is sued he will have that ‘army of lawyers’ working for him, not against him. IMO, that should be the first line of protection for any owner. And as I said, no one has been able to provide an example where the proper insurance overage didn’t take care of the issue, other than gross negligence.

@Zachary Jensen Tell me about the ‘many exclusions’. Sure, gross negligence by the owner may create some, but that can be easily managed. And insurance companies have teams of experienced attorneys defending any claims. Do you have any examples where a landlords was successfully sued and his/her liability insurance would not pay? I am curious.

@John Underwood We are at one of our cabins right now doing regular maintenance. Planned to fly home Wednesday but don’t want to be trapped on the mountain without power for days, so we are heading to Nashville tomorrow and catching a flight home Monday morning (hopefully) If we had a generator we would stay but after having guests stuck in the mountain with no power or heat for days and no way down - twice in the past three years - we are out of here!