Airbnb 'cash-cow' story

Discussion in 'Airbnb & Short Term Letting' started by legallyblonde, 5th Jul, 2015.

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  1. legallyblonde

    legallyblonde Well-Known Member

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    Well I was gob smacked to hear that someone I know who is now living in Sydney... Regularly house-sits on the weekend and then rents out her rented apartment for the Friday and Saturday night (without the landlords knowledge) and makes enough money to pay for her weekly rent!

    Obviously this is dodgy and unfair to her landlord but I cannot help but be impressed with their creativity!
     
    legallyblonde, 5th Jul, 2015
    #1
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  2. Redwing

    Redwing Well-Known Member

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    Redwing, 5th Jul, 2015
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  3. legallyblonde

    legallyblonde Well-Known Member

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    legallyblonde, 5th Jul, 2015
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  4. Steven Ryan

    Steven Ryan Well-Known Member

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    Tenants in one of mine mine listed their spare room on Airbnb (they asked). I was stoked. It helped them save towards a deposit for their own home which was awesome for them.

    If they're responsible hosts who vet guests well, why not? Tenants with rising/multiple income streams are not a bad thing, generally.
     
    Steven Ryan, 6th Jul, 2015
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  5. Perp

    Perp Well-Known Member

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    Apart from the fact that it may be illegal (incompatible with local planning laws), and may violate body corporate rules, it may invalidate your insurance.
     
    Perp, 6th Jul, 2015
    #5
  6. legallyblonde

    legallyblonde Well-Known Member

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    Wow. That is great that your tenants are so respectful! I love mutual respect! It makes for great working relationships in my opinion.

    Hobart City Council is cracking down on Airbnb! I think it would be really difficult for them to police though. Hmm... Body corps and insurance isn't something I thought about! It seems unfair that the tenant is only risking there tenancy and the landlord is the one that carries most of the risk
     
    legallyblonde, 6th Jul, 2015
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  7. AndrewTDP

    AndrewTDP Well-Known Member

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    I'm a big fan of air bnb. Like Uber is doing for the taxi racket, a lot of the traditional industries need a thorough shakeup and the digital/sharing economy is just the tool to do so.

    The rule around short term accommodation need a shake up anyway. Planning matters are constantly evolving and changing. The legislation doesn't.
     
    AndrewTDP, 6th Jul, 2015
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  8. Kesse

    Kesse Well-Known Member

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    I considered putting a room in my PPOR on Airbnb and spoke to my insurer about it. Their response was "if you do that you would be required to find a new insurer as we would terminate your policy with 24 hrs notice"
     
    Kesse, 6th Jul, 2015
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  9. AndrewTDP

    AndrewTDP Well-Known Member

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    Companies like that are going to have to adapt to a world post 1973 or risk suffering in the market place.
     
    AndrewTDP, 6th Jul, 2015
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  10. Lone_Wolf

    Lone_Wolf Well-Known Member

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    Has anyone listed their PPOR on airbnb?
    Personally, PPOR is "home" for me, and I don't think I will be up for it.
    For IP's it would be a totally different story
     
    Lone_Wolf, 6th Jul, 2015
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  11. Perp

    Perp Well-Known Member

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    Some insurers might be OK with it, but as insurance is a contract of "utmost good faith" (as opposed to just "good faith"), the insured has an ongoing obligation to disclose anything that might affect the insurer's decision to provide coverage. So if you're going to AirBnB, you have to tell them beforehand, and they just might continue your coverage. (I genuinely don't know.)

    But non-disclosure of using a property for AirBnB would certainly be a sufficient deviation from the duty of disclosure as to invalidate your policy.
     
    Perp, 6th Jul, 2015
    #11
  12. AndrewTDP

    AndrewTDP Well-Known Member

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    Completely agree on disclosing it.

    However, as these kinds of things become more prevalent simply refusing cover indicates that the company is firmly ****** in the past rather than adapting to a changing market.
     
    AndrewTDP, 6th Jul, 2015
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  13. legallyblonde

    legallyblonde Well-Known Member

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    You would think that a $1 Million Host Guarantee would help insurance companies sleep at night.
     
    legallyblonde, 6th Jul, 2015
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  14. Perp

    Perp Well-Known Member

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    It very well might. I should have phrased my earlier post differently. It's less that doing AirBnB is the problem; but doing it without disclosing it gives insurance companies an excuse to deny your claim, so my point was: disclose!
     
    Perp, 6th Jul, 2015
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  15. Kesse

    Kesse Well-Known Member

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    Agreed. But due to living where I live I don't have the luxury of choice when it comes to insurers so unfortunately at the moment my insurer holds the power (and they know it) and holding insurance is something I do not want to jeopardise.
     
    Kesse, 6th Jul, 2015
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  16. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    That is pretty creative.
    I'm guessing they get more for renting by the night than by the week. How much are we talking?
     
    Azazel, 6th Jul, 2015
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  17. legallyblonde

    legallyblonde Well-Known Member

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    No idea sorry!!! But yes... two nights Airbnb rental exceeds her weekly rent!
     
    legallyblonde, 6th Jul, 2015
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  18. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    Crazy idea. I would consider it in my younger days, just stay out all night ;)
     
    Azazel, 6th Jul, 2015
    #18
  19. Steven Ryan

    Steven Ryan Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely!
     
    Steven Ryan, 6th Jul, 2015
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  20. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    AirBnB your own home and you have a messy CGT problem and a income tax issue. Is it worth the effort ?
    - Loss of partial main residence exemption
    - Rent is assessable
    Then all this on top of council, insurance issues etc.

    And its a 100% certainty that the ATO will seek their records of all Australian sourced rental income. The ATO have sought UberX records for smacking all the people who aren't complying with the GST rules that apply to taxi operators.
     
    Paul@PAS, 8th Jul, 2015
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