Short Term Rental Insurance

[Lowell Bailey]

Hi All,

We are under contract to purchase a 2-unit home in Chittenden County. Our initial plan will be to rent the upstairs unit to longterm renters and to rent the bottom unit as an Airbnb. The upstairs tenants have agreed to run the housekeeping/turnovers of the STR. My question is on home owners insurance: Do we need any specific type of policy or can we pursue a standard homeowners policy? If the latter, are their ways to manage risk that are best practices in this situation? I have seen that Airbnb may offer some kind of owner policy. Has anyone used that? I've never been a landlord so this is all new to me. Thanks in advance for any/all advice!

-LB