Saw this on the news, some people in the bay area are making $1000+ per month just by renting out a spare room like a hotel/B&B. One guy rents out an AIR MATTRESS in his living room and people are paying $89 a night!
Whats nice is you dont need a permanent roomate..you can host when you want to, and have your place all to yourself when you want to, You set when your place is available.
I know theres lots of FWF'ers here living in expensive areas where they can command high rates (NYC SF etc). Plus for you younger folks in offcampus housing, you might be allowed to have overnight guests, but not additional roomates, so it might be a way to offset rent costs
Message edited by: SUCKISSTAPLES on 2009-11-10 13:19:28 CST
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As far as the Cleanliness line that Avery lists, and the review below, we found the house to be not clean at all, and absolutely not something "mom would be proud of". Especially the bathroom.
I'm pretty sure nobody would find my bathroom clean enough. So I'm thinking this isn't for me.
What if Mr. Stay-in-your-home falls and breaks a femur in your bathroom? You homeowners insurance will not pay for his medical since you are running a b&b or just a b. Bad idea IMO.
Lots of local governments have occupancy taxes that are placed on short term rentals. In areas where vacation rental properties are taking a big bite out of the hotel industry it is more common for the government to go after the property owners for their taxes. So, before you start doing this I'd suggest you talk with a lawyer and an accountant to determine exactly what the rules are and how you can comply (or get around*) them.
* I say "get around" because I believe there is some exception that allows you to lease your house out for a certain number of days in the year without declaring the income made during that lease... not sure exactly what it its... I'm neither a lawyer or accountant so instead of blindly believing what I've said look it up for yourself or talk to an authority on the subject.
Here in Honolulu, if you want to rent for less than 30 days (legally) your property must be zoned commercial (i.e. hotel, vacation resort) or if you're in a residential zoned area, you need a special BnB license which is very difficult to get. Then you get whacked by a transient accommodation tax (8.25%) in addition to general excise tax (4.72%) and if you want your property rezoned to commercial (which is difficult but not impossible), you get left paying the commercial property tax - which is FOUR times the residential rate. As a result of all these taxes, many people rent out short term illegally by not reporting any of the income and they make a nice profit doing so. I have a couple SFH properties where I rent out rooms separately, but I stay above board and keep all my rentals to 6-month minimums.
people do this for free using globalfreeloader etc
It is not as strange as people may think ...people had the same apprehension about eBay too back in the day (you mean i send money to a stranger and hope they mail me something???)
I think this will explode in popularity both on the host and traveler side as people look to make extra cash and pay less than a hotel
Look at many of the places for rent they are either young professionals or artistic types, not people concerned with financial risks /liability etc
Message edited by: SUCKISSTAPLES on 2009-11-10 15:44:07 CST
TechJosh said:Lots of local governments have occupancy taxes that are placed on short term rentals. In areas where vacation rental properties are taking a big bite out of the hotel industry it is more common for the government to go after the property owners for their taxes. So, before you start doing this I'd suggest you talk with a lawyer and an accountant to determine exactly what the rules are and how you can comply (or get around*) them.
* I say "get around" because I believe there is some exception that allows you to lease your house out for a certain number of days in the year without declaring the income made during that lease... not sure exactly what it its... I'm neither a lawyer or accountant so instead of blindly believing what I've said look it up for yourself or talk to an authority on the subject.Generally, it is 15 days or fewer days rented during the calendar year but that is for it to be exempt from income tax. The hotel, B&B, and other state and local taxes have their own rules. Some states (like HI) charges tax on rentals even for long term rentals (which is hard to even comprehend in CA).
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