Does anybody use booking.com or airbnb when away Cruising?

[LuvSun]

I have a couple of properties, one is a lifestyle property which I already let out in this manner when Im not using it.

But I was thinking if Im away for 6 months, my house is doing nothing and its in a really good location.

I use to own a large property portfolio but have cashed that out and most of its in my Super Fund, which gets about 15% now but only 6% over the last decade due to the GFC lol.

Anyway, Im wondering if any of you Cruiser folk let your house out while you are away? Its quite amazing how much you can charge via the internet.

There is a lot to it, you need a good management and cleaning crew (husband and wife works great Ive found).

Sadly in NZ the councils are cracking down on Airbnb and charging rates as commercial. But it would be pro rata of the time Im away. The other property is already set up like this so I pay commercial rates and tax.

Its a waste of a property somebody else might enjoy and provides me a little more residual (near passive) income.

[belizesailor]

I have a guest house in Guatemala on AirBnB. We have considered AirBnB'ing our home in Panama...between cruising and travelling we are not there a lot.

We just came back from NZ. We used AirBnB a lot there.

AirBnB properties in good locations can produce more revenue then monthly market rents, but of course with a lot more operational overhead.

[LuvSun]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

AirBnB properties in good locations can produce more revenue then monthly market rents, but of course with a lot more operational overhead.

Yes, and the big one that concerns me with my personal home is sentimental damage, clearly Id have valuables vaulted, likely elsewhere.

The rates here are $1500 res or $3500 commercial, tax would be taken at PAYE rate if not run specifically as a business, Im not sure how much I earn year to year so would change.

But weighing up the risks it does seem worth trying it out.

Yes my Beach property makes shed loads more from airbnb and booking.com than normal monthly rent, especially in season. I reduce my rates dramatically in winter but its still a very nice place. Its been delisted this year as I have my family from Aus staying there. So its pretty flexible. Which is why I thought it could be a good option for my home, vs advertising it locally.

Where did you end up staying in NZ?

[belizesailor]

We covered a lot of ground on both the N & S islands...from Duniden to Bay of Islands with lots of stops and side trips in between...whew...lots of km driven!

Lots of AirBnBs, but no hotels. My wife lined up a house sitting gig in Blenheim for about a month, we did two campervan relocations (Christchurch to Queenstown, then Christchruch to Aukland) of about 1 week each, and stayed with a friend for a few days near Algeis Bay.

Even got in a little sailing out of Picton.

We prefer AirBnBs to hotels, not only because they tend to be much less expensive (certainly in NZ & Oz!), but also because we meet more locals. Hotels are much more impersonal.

I think renting out your personal residence is a difficult decision for many. The original plan was to AirBnB the house we recently built here in Panama while we cruised & traveled. I liked the revenue production idea, but when it was finished she didnt want to rent out her house! [emoji849]

[LuvSun]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

We covered a lot of ground on both the N & S islands...from Duniden to Bay of Islands with lots of stops and side trips in between...whew...lots of km driven!

What part of NZ did you like the most? Were you there in Summer between Jan and March?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by LuvSun

What part of NZ did you like the most? Were you there in Summer between Jan and March?

We were there Oct-Nov. November is a transitional month, that often has good weather, but we got some significant rain & snow on the S island. The N island was warmer.

Both the N & S islands are beautiful with large swaths of low population density areas. I think the the two most beautiful areas we visited were Milford Sound & Bay of Islands, but there were very many places on both islands that we enjoyed a lot.

If we do the trip again, which we plan to, we will go a bit more certainly into Summer...like maybe Feb.

After several VERY cold weeks in Nepal, then cold rain and snow on the S island, I was getting very tired of being cold. The relative warmth of the N island was a big relief!

More to the subject, we did stay in a lot of AirBnB properties which were part of someone's private residence and the owner was present as host. We even made a few new friends that way.

[belizesailor]

LuvSun, happy to discuss NZ travels with you more, but we should not hijack this thread, so send me a PM if you want to discuss further.

[johnjuliano]

We support ourselves VRBO’ing two properties we own in the US. One is a fulltime vacation rental, the other is our primary residence. For our primary, it is in a vacation center, we won’t rent it for less than 30 days. The other for not less than 5 days. This does limit the renters, but reduces wear and tear.

Finding a manager and cleaning crew is the key, but there are more and more people and companies specializing in vacation rentals.

The websites seem quite good on handling taxes and the like.

[BernBruce]

Our Mexico home is on airbnb but I do notice wear and tear. Good revenue. Our personal home in Canada I would never put on airbnb if we aren't there, way too much could go wrong!! Cleaners and managers are the key to keep your ratings up.

[toddster8]

I've been seriously thinking about renting the house for 30 days at a time in order to get away. But the place is just too complicated for the average renter. (Basically a small farm/country estate.) Someone would have to actively manage the estate, which would likely consume any rental income. I suspect it would work out to be a wash.

For several years, I've been renting out one floor for short-term rentals and the increased maintenance is just incredible. Sometimes more than it's worth.

[sweetjohn]

We live aboard for 6 moths of the year and Air B and B our primary residence in Toronto for that time. We have done it for two years now with no problems. And the income is great. We have a 6 nite minimum. That cuts down on wear and tear. The key would be finding a reputable company or person to host for you.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by toddster8

I've been seriously thinking about renting the house for 30 days at a time in order to get away. But the place is just too complicated for the average renter. (Basically a small farm/country estate.) Someone would have to actively manage the estate, which would likely consume any rental income. I suspect it would work out to be a wash.

For several years, I've been renting out one floor for short-term rentals and the increased maintenance is just incredible. Sometimes more than it's worth.

I have an off-grid home in Guatemala that is also just too complicated for the average guest. The guest house on the same property is now on the grid so its more feasible as an AirBnB...and is.

[roland stockham]

I have used booking.com to book accommodation when traveling and found them a good reliable company. Would I do it as a rental when away, absolutely not. My experience of managing rental property as an absent landlord was very poor. If you have reliable long term tenants and a management company you can trust you are very lucky. My experience was that the management company could not solve even simple problems and incurred ridiculous cost. everyone situation is different of course but if you set up a rental via bookings.com effectively you are running a guest house. Unless you have a live in or local manager you trust that will always be there to great guests and do a property check when they leave I would say it is very risky. Of course you should pay tax. These sites where initially set up for people to rent a spare room for the odd night, that's fine. Renting a property you do not live in is acting as a commercial landlord or as a guest house and should be considered a business. The 'clamp down' is because people abused the idea and used it as a tax dodge to avoid business taxes

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

I have used booking.com to book accommodation when traveling and found them a good reliable company. Would I do it as a rental when away, absolutely not. My experience of managing rental property as an absent landlord was very poor. If you have reliable long term tenants and a management company you can trust you are very lucky. My experience was that the management company could not solve even simple problems and incurred ridiculous cost. everyone situation is different of course but if you set up a rental via bookings.com effectively you are running a guest house. Unless you have a live in or local manager you trust that will always be there to great guests and do a property check when they leave I would say it is very risky. Of course you should pay tax. These sites where initially set up for people to rent a spare room for the odd night, that's fine. Renting a property you do not live in is acting as a commercial landlord or as a guest house and should be considered a business. The 'clamp down' is because people abused the idea and used it as a tax dodge to avoid business taxes

A good pro PM (not your cousin Joey) makes a huge difference. The base fees for poor quality PMs and good ones are about the same, but poor PMs can cost you a lot of money or even create legal issues for you. A good pro is worth every penny and can help you avoid big expenses and legal issues.