Renting my home out on the weekends

[Kaplin261]

I want to rent my home out on the weekends and as a  vacation rental for a maximum of 50% of the year. It's valued at $220k and is a 3 bedroom,2 1/2 bathroom that has been well taken care of. My wife, 2 year old son and myself live here and this is our only residence.

We could make the home available first thing Friday morning after we leave for work. And not need it back till 5:00pm on Sunday. We would probably hire a house cleaner to come in and clean the house and change the sheets on the bed. This would remove any work on our part and make it feel like no one was even there.

The only concerns my wife and I have about this would be the liabilitys of using the home as a rental. And would this increase our risk of being a victim of burglary.

Just from a quick glance at the market for rentals in Richmond,Va I think that we could rent the home out for $250+$50 cleaning fee


Has any one did this before or have some constructive feedback to offer? This could be a potential of being a $5k source of revenue a year.

[BMEPhDinCO]

Where do you plan to stay?  Have you looked at the regulations for this in your city/state?  Air BNB is a company that does this type of thing... you may want to look into that.  Have you considered taxes?  Extra liability? 

I wouldn't recommend it, but others may have another opinion.

[Kaplin261]

Where do you plan to stay?  Have you looked at the regulations for this in your city/state?  Air BNB is a company that does this type of thing... you may want to look into that.  Have you considered taxes?  Extra liability? 

I wouldn't recommend it, but others may have another opinion.

Airbnb, vrbo,craigslist and eBay are where I plan to list my home.

No regulations that I could find. I'll probably set up a Llc and do taxes that way, how ever home improvements could offset the taxable income.

[Lis]

I'd look into Airbnb since that's their primary function.

If you live in a vacation spot, there might be real estate agencies who deal with this as well. My college town was a sleepy little town from October-May, but it had several major attractions during the summer that more than tripled the population in the summer. Back before the days of Airbnb, one of my professors worked with an agent and rented his house for 10 days for $10,000 (not a fancy home either - sounds similar to yours). They went on vacation for about a week and then stayed with family that was about an hour away or the remaining days. They were a frugal family by nature, so the agent recommended a few 'upgrades,' such as cable, higher quality guest sheets and towels, etc. Check and see if there's an expert in your area. They'd probably know all about liability as well.

[Kaplin261]

I'd look into Airbnb since that's their primary function.

If you live in a vacation spot, there might be real estate agencies who deal with this as well. My college town was a sleepy little town from October-May, but it had several major attractions during the summer that more than tripled the population in the summer. Back before the days of Airbnb, one of my professors worked with an agent and rented his house for 10 days for $10,000 (not a fancy home either - sounds similar to yours). They went on vacation for about a week and then stayed with family that was about an hour away or the remaining days. They were a frugal family by nature, so the agent recommended a few 'upgrades,' such as cable, higher quality guest sheets and towels, etc. Check and see if there's an expert in your area. They'd probably know all about liability as well.

I was thinking about having a set of bed linens for each bed that are only used for guests, same for towels. Then figure on replacing them every couple of years.

We do not have cable, maybe I could just install a antenna and have  internet devices for the tv? The tv is a 60' LCD mounted above the gas log fireplace, we currently use it as our computer monitor.

I would also put locks on the pantry door and our laundry room.

We plan to travel to stay with friends and there are decently priced hotels in rural parts of Virginia that we like to visit that are only $60 a night. Plan to do some camping as well.

[greenmimama]

Have you checked out the prices others on AirBnb are charging in your area?

I have rented our home out a few times using AirBnb and I have had really good experiences, I charge a $75 cleaning fee, but I do it myself and this home is quite large.

I plan to rent our new place out also, we have a safe we keep things we don't want bothered, otherwise, we don't have any doors locked, they could get into our storage rooms, but really I'm not worried about it.

I like the insurance we get through AirBnb also.

[Kaplin261]

Have you checked out the prices others on AirBnb are charging in your area?

I have rented our home out a few times using AirBnb and I have had really good experiences, I charge a $75 cleaning fee, but I do it myself and this home is quite large.

I plan to rent our new place out also, we have a safe we keep things we don't want bothered, otherwise, we don't have any doors locked, they could get into our storage rooms, but really I'm not worried about it.

I like the insurance we get through AirBnb also.

How much does the insurance cover? Does your home owners cover anything?