Air BNB experience

[Even Steven]

If no to any of the above, then they're illegal.

Easy there, Sheriff.

I was simply saying there's nothing illegal about condos and houses. They are very much legal. The use of them on the other hand might be somewhat questionable I guess, but then again half of rentals in Kelowna (this isn't a figure of speech) are illegal basement suites.

[LTD]

summer kitchens

[myfriendballoon]

We have been listing one of our bedrooms & bathroom downstairs on Airbnb since last October. Airbnb works out really well for us as we generally wouldn't be renting it out anyways, but welcomed the opportunity to have some extra income with no commitment to a tenant.

We have had 100% positive experiences, and have had people stay with us from all over the world. We have even been lucky enough to get Superhost status. :)

I think the reason things have gone well are the following:
-the space we have listed is in the basement away from our bedroom/bathroom/living room
-boundaries around what is shared space and that the kitchen is only for light cooking
-as others have said, take peoples reviews (or lack of reviews) into consideration. also, there is something to be said for the "vibe" people give. if people have bizarre requests or if something seems amiss i don't hesitate to decline their stay.
-make what you have to offer in your space, and your household rules/guidelines very clear and reflective of how you want your space to be used (i.e.: no parties, no smoking, no guests)
-listing a price that isn't too low or too high, but that is pretty accurately reflective of the experience people will have

Those are the main ones I can think of now, but please let me know if you have any further questions.

[jasond_71]

Yes but it used to be a brutal and expensive, sometimes impossible to have your basement suite zoned properly. Now it is a much easier process. The difference between renting a basement suite you live above and an apartment or a house you don't live in, is there is no one to monitor wild parties or bad tenants.
It's a much better situation when someone lives there. Whether it is air bnb or permanent tenant.

[fluffy]

I see this becoming just like Uber - it's cool and fun until somebody decides that that everybody needs to abide by the same set of rules.

Exactly. Expect significant resistance from the hotel/motel industry.

[Even Steven]

the main ones I can think of now, but please let me know if you have any further questions.

- Did you have to get a business licence from City hall?
- Do you have to collect GST/PST?
- Do you have to collect hotel taxes (I was listening to a podcast of somebody who has to collect 8%, yikes!)
- How much time out of the month roughly your place is rented?
- How much time do you spend on clean up every time somebody checks out?
- Do you have spend a lot of expendables?

Thank you

[fluffy]

- Did you have to get a business licence from City hall?

If you intend to run this as a business then you should have proper licensing.

- Do you have to collect GST/PST?

PST you'd have to look into, businesses grossing less than $20K/year used to be exempt from charging GST, better check to see if that's still the case.

- Do you have to collect hotel taxes (I was listening to a podcast of somebody who has to collect 8%, yikes!)

You are, in effect, part of the accommodation industry, and as such should be prepared to operate under the same conditions as your commercial counterparts.

- How much time out of the month roughly your place is rented?

You might want to expect a slow start, but return business and word-of-mouth recommendations make a huge difference if you're leaving a trail of happy customers behind. I know of some people who operate B&B's and what started out as a bit of a hobby for some extra pocket cash has turned into a full time job.

- How much time do you spend on clean up every time somebody checks out?

Depends on how much space you're going to be renting out, a suite or a room. For reference, commercial chambermaids are generally given about half an hour to clean a room after check-out.

- Do you have spend a lot of expendables?

Laundry and cleaning, toilet paper, maybe some bottled water in the fridge. It depends on your generosity. Sometimes it's the little things that keep people coming back.

I have been a small business operator in the past, and as such hear quite loudly the complaints of people running a motel that's half full while unlicensed, unregulated private operators run at an unfair advantage (and often tax-free) due to avoiding the expenses involved in going legit. It's your conscience you have to live with, but consider how you'd feel if someone did the same thing to you.

[LANDM]

GST is mandatory unless you are a "small supplier", which can be exempt from GST registration if you have less than $30k revenues in the previous 4 quarters.

Regardless, my comments a while back in this thread still stand in that doing this in a strata that doesn't explicitly allow it can turn into a huge unexpected change in your business plan. This is happening both in Canada and around the world. The impact on neighbours and community have been negative in many situations and it can backfire big time....or, as Trump says, "Bigly".

Whether you can "get away with it" or not is a different matter. Obviously, if it doesn't affect anyone, you will likely be fine. However, proving you are doing it is trivial and virtually impossible to argue, since you have ads running in Airbnb, so there is a verifiable risk in purchasing a property that doesn't allow it specifically for that reason. Like illegal suites, all it takes is a phone call to the bylaw office by a disgruntled neighbour or tenant and you are hooped.

[myfriendballoon]

- Did you have to get a business licence from City hall?
-no, we didn't. we looked into it but have not.
- Do you have to collect GST/PST?
-we haven't been
- Do you have to collect hotel taxes (I was listening to a podcast of somebody who has to collect 8%, yikes!)
-we haven't been
- How much time out of the month roughly your place is rented?
-when we first started up last October it was slow for the first few months (maybe only 4-6 days per mo), then gradually increased. we didn't have anyone stay in May, though! for june, july, august we have been booked almost solid. we have changed the settings so that we have a gap day before and after each stay which is nice.
- How much time do you spend on clean up every time somebody checks out?
-2 loads of laundry, and then maybe 20 minutes total for making bed, vacuuming, cleaning bathroom. a bit more time for cleaning the rest of the house but that isn't the primary space we are listing (but still like to have shared space clean of course). we charge a cleaning fee of $15 per stay.
- Do you have spend a lot of expendables?
-not at all. for guests staying more than one night i offer coffee/tea and muffins/bagels for the first morning there, and then the only ongoing cost is cleaning supplies and laundry detergent (minimal), and whatever cost of doing laundry. that being said a lot of that is offset by the cleaning fee we charged. oh, and at the beginning the cost of setting up the room, getting a key cut.