Landlords, would you consider short term rental?

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

That's a GREAT idea that never occurred to me, but for a different reason. I'm in the process of phasing out my rental business, my CPA will let me sell only one house per year, and adding a few months would allow me to control which year the lease ends in, which would also be the year I sell the house. I'm going to have to re-rent at least 1-2 properties and I'll use this strategy to gain control over which year the property sells in. Thanks!

Glad it helps! I'm not sure why people think the lease has to be in one year increments. I guess it's because it's kind of the norm.
When I rented my house it was in Dec and not having an exact feel for the Atlanta market I didn't want the landlord to end my lease at a bad time of year, so I proposed an 18 month lease which has me ending in June. A much better time to move weather wise if I decide t do so.

[ptt]

If i am doing it i would only rent it out as a furnished corporate rental.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

I wouldn't. There are a few tenants who leave a unit rent ready, but they are rare, so, no matter how long the tenancy, I am going to have to go in and clean and repair. If you aren't lucky, a slob of a short term tenant could result in extensive expense to ready the unit again.

Plus, after the short term renter is out, you have another vacancy and you are still looking for a tenant, just two months later. You have to clean up again and you have to start showing and interviewing again. No thanks.

The landlords who specialize in short term rentals charge substantially higher rent. That is to compensate for more vacant time and for more extensive repairs and cleaning.

I experimented with it one time and that one happened to work out. A lot has to do with the type of rental. I had a cheap one with a nice big garage and all the calls were from people moving to the area, looking for a place that was cheaper than a motel while they unloaded and looked around.

So I placed an ad that said "Moving to the area? Short term rental" and I priced it 33% higher than the market rate with a note that if they stayed over 6 months the rent would drop. I got a lot of calls and rented it to someone who screened well and who made a special trip to look before they signed the agreement. She happened to stay for several years and bought the house from me and is still there.

Short term rentals don't usually work like that. I consider myself to be exceptionally lucky with that tenant.

I get lots of calls from people who have sold a house and need a place to stay while they find something else to buy. I don't want to deal with it, so I turn them down.

The seasonal rentals we manage are move in ready within hours. Like hotel rooms as we get good tenants and except for one bad one we had very good experiences.

Not everyone can afford the higher amount to pay per month and a lot of tenants are returning tenants.

Overall 6 or 7 month renters is a total different group of people as they move more stuff in then a month to month tenant and way more wear and tear will occur.