Airbnb

Hmmmmm, I'm thinking a small property management business if you have a few IP's with Airbnb.
Your basically doing the work of a PM + Hotel Service (if you go that way) which could be full-time job.

Tax Questions:
Going from "Passive" to "Active" income, If the IP is purchased in your own name & "not" a Trust.
Can the rental income be diverted as business income?
Can your services be charged & deducted from the rental income?

Therefore benefiting from company tax - PSI / PSB?

 

Do you know guys if banks consider income from such short term rentals when evaluating your borrowing capacity?

 

I'm not sure. I got a loan last year and I think the earnings from my main Airbnb pad were factored into things. It's been going for four years and there is a decent history of consistent income.

 

Thanks @Depreciator. Previously, I heard from several guys on the forum (including brokers) that banks still do not consider airbnb rental income as it is short term and is not stable. I guess it depends on personal situation and whether you can provide the history...

 

Never heard of Airbnb until last year. Used to book rentals through tripadvisor. A lot of the good rentals are pretty much fully booked.

 

I don't see there is a Sayz vs Airbnb issue, it's free to list on both sites.

Be aware the commissions are worked differently but you can adjust prices on each site to align
net returns.

Stayz is owned by Expedia who also own HomeAway and your property is automatically listed on this sight, this has been where I have received some of the Stayz bookings from.

Wikipedia info on HomeAway

HomeAway, Inc. is a vacation rental marketplace with more than 1,000,000 vacation rental listings in 190 countries, and has 1588 employees. It has operated through 40 websites in 22 languages as of December 31, 2014.Wikipedia

 

Received 3 bookings this week, all through Stayz.

One booking from the U.S. through Stayz was from VRBO which is part of HomeAway

VRBO - The Most Popular Vacation Rental Site in the US

 

How do you find the functionality of the Stayz site, Turk? I looked at it about 4 years ago and it was a bit clunky and owners had to process payment etc. That's why I went with Airbnb. Back then Stayz was owned by Fairfax and didn't really have an international presence as it does now. Now that it is part of a bigger group I suspect the systems are a bit more streamlined.
Scott

 

Hi Scott
The functionality is quite good, however it is lacking reviews on guests.
Payments can be processed on line through Stayz.
The commission structure is different, with 10% payable by the host to Stayz whereas
Airbnb is around 3% payable by the host and 6% payable by the guest.

 

An interesting Ted talk on Airbnb by one of the founders:

How Airbnb's design tricks make us trust complete strangers

 

I've been renting out my room via Airbnb and have had nothing but problems. No one seems to be visiting for a holiday, instead I get migrants wanting to use my address to set up a bank account and pretty much move in permanently. F that.. and then Airbnb has the nerve to try and charge me a penalty for cancelling

 

Where is your place? And how much do you charge per night?
And do you have a max length of stay policy? I'd put in 3 weeks max for a private home but it could even be 2 weeks to encourage only legitimate holiday makers.

 

Adelaide.. they only book for a few days though - theyre deceptive about it. I had a Nigerian bloke book and pay for 1 week for 1 person and then I found out he planned on bringing his wife and two kids! He got very irate when I said we dont have space for that many people. Ive since cancelled that stay but now he has my address..

 

The only people i've ever had enquiries from in the African continent are South Africans. Sorry... Anything Nigerian sounds dodgy.

I've recently had 4 Indonesians girls stay but they booked as 3 people. And they neglected to tell me they melted my carpet with the face of an iron. Hate to say it but I guess people from some countries are more likely to do this sort of thing....

As long as they don't have info on how to get into your place i'm sure you'll be ok...
Anyway, maybe putting your price up, add a larger cleaning fee or something might help?
Feel free to PM me your link

 

There are hundreds of ads for rooms in Adelaide cheaper than mine already. I dont reckon its worth the hassle. But kudos to those who make good money from it..

 

I listed my apartment on Stayz last week and started receiving bookings already. But just want to hear what everyone's experience like with Stayz, what sort of guests generally attract from Stayz? As there's no review system, so really can't tell much about the guests. And does Stayz provide any insurance cover like Airbnb?

 

Stayz originally was mostly a domestic thing, so the guests would have been Aussies. It's now been sold and is part of a much bigger group, so there will be more overseas people.
A bloke on here called Turk has a house in Melbourne and has had good results through Stayz. I have only ever used Airbnb - I especially like the review system.

 

I'm going over seas at Christmas time and am thinking of Air BnBing my home for a couple of weeks - has anyone here done that before? I'm a bit nervous that it might get trashed, but it could also be a great way to offset the cost of the trip

 

you're probably best have someone monitoring the place etc when you're away or to assist with the house. and lock all your expensive stuff in a storage safe somewhere.

 

Oh yeah... probably only take guests with positive reviews. Lots of demand at New Years. You should be able to be picky on who you take. Maybe try hosting a few guests beforehand though (do you have a spare bedroom?) to build up some reviews yourself and you'll get to experience what could be improved for a good guest stay..