All Forum Posts by: Noelle Saingarm

Live in the house and rent out the apartment to help cover your mortgage! Located in beautiful central Oregon where Facebook and Apple have just put in over 200 million dollars locally with a 750 million expansion just approved. Walk to shops, pubs and parks from this completely renovated Prineville bungalow. Big open feel in this 2 bad, 1 bath home featuring reclaimed materials, hand-scraped hardwood floors, original refinished cabinetry and butcher block counters. Property features a 450 square foot, 1 bed, 1 bath cottage for family, guests or income. Large 670 square foot garage/shop space for all of your projects and full RV hookup with 50 amp service. Low maintenance and everything is brand new from top to bottom. 

Hi all! My husband and I recently bought a second property and were planning to rent out our current home. We live in Bend, OR, a very touristy city where Airbnb/VRBO's are booming. For this reason, our real estate agent brought up the idea of doing this with our property instead of turning it into a traditional rental. I am not as familiar with Airbnb/VRBO, and naturally not as comfortable with it. But I also don't want to rule it out completely and miss a good thing... So I thought I'd run it by everyone here and get some opinions... 

Pros and Cons of vacation rentals I've come up with:

Pros

- Living in a city with year round tourists (home is in a great central location) 

- Potential to make more $$ than a traditional rental

- Less wear and tear on the property (in theory)

- Access to the property weekly to clean/make sure it is being maintained

Cons

- No guarantee of bookings

- Personal time investment to clean after each check out 

- 3% fee charged on every booking from Airbnb (VRBO is even higher) 

I am 50/50 on what route to take here, so any advice is welcome! Thanks! 

-Noelle