Los Angeles · Member since 2020 · 5 posts · 0 votes
Hey everybody. So I'm a recent graduate living in LA- I've been here for about a year. I'd like to rent a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with in unit washer and dryer. I'd live in the master (with ensuite bathroom), and then put the other two bedrooms on AirBnB. They would share the other bathroom. I am thinking Korea Town, for it's access to transit and it's obviously large Korean community. I'm hoping that most of my guests will be visiting from Korea. Most Koreans I know are incredibly clean domestically- they don't wear shoes in the house. Sounds good to me!
I'd like the revenue generated from the other two bedrooms to cover the total rent. However, checking on the LA housing department website, you can list two bedrooms separately, but they can not be booked concurrently. This throws my plan into a loop. Is there a way around this? Can the numbers work on a two bedroom? I'm sure I'm not the first person to try this so I know I'll get some good feedback. Thanks in advance.
Investor · Dublin, CA · Member since 2016 · 19 posts · 13 votes
6y
Step 1 is to make sure your landlord is ok with your plan. Most residential leases don't allow subletting.
Step 2 is do some actual projections. Your goal feels like a tall order. I have some AirBnb experience in a different part of town, and I'm guessing a 3br in Ktown is at least 3500 a month plus utilities, plus cleaning supplies, plus consumables. You'd need to rent both rooms at 100/day for 20 days a month to cover actual expenses, and that doesn't seem realistic to me. It also doesn't count your time, and managing airbnb is work.What's your estimate on how much you could rent rooms for if it were allowed?
Also, I think AirBnb has a 180 day max per year too, right? (I'm not in LA City proper, so Ive paid less attention to their AirBnb rules.
Realtor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2018 · 952 posts · 1k+ votes
6y
One thing to keep in mind: I'm pretty sure that LA's rules only apply to short-term rentals, which means less than 30 days. I think you can get around all the rules by offering rooms for rent for a 31-day minimum. I'm not sure if that business model would work, but at least it's legal!