All Forum Posts by: James Carlson

@Alex Zemianek I wish I had a good answer for you there in Missouri. I don't know the manual there. 

As @Bill S. said, you need a broker's license if you're managing long-term rentals, defined as 30 days or more. HOWEVER! @Tyler Work knows his stuff. (He better since he's running that business ;)) In Colorado you do NOT need a license to manage short-term rentals on sites like Airbnb or VRBO. There is an oblique reference to this in the  Colorado Real Estate Commission Position 19 .

This exception is made explicit in the Colorado Real Estate Manual, Chapter 20, page 30. (For some stupid reason, the Div. of Real Estate has only chapters 1-13 online. Luckily, I keep my hard copy with me at all times.) The passage reads: "Management of short-term rentals does not currently require licensure as a real estate broker." They make this distinction because they do not consider short-term rentals a "lease."

Now, if you're a short-term rental manager in, say, Denver and a licensed broker, then your activities are under the jurisdiction of the RE commission. (That means you have to maintain a trust account and properly account for deposits and other client monies you handle.)

@Tyler Work  Thanks for the shout-out. 

@Ericka Medina First off, good for you for considering this option. While the money's not free, it is relatively easy to get up and running and help pay down your mortgage, invest in another property or go on that big trip.

I haven't updated our Airbnb laws database with Thornton yet, but my wife/business partner has talked to the city. Here's what we know.

• There is nothing specific in the ordinances addressing Airbnb/VRBO/short-term rentals.
• There is no law -- like there was in Denver prior to passage of their Airbnb law -- that prohibites rentals of any kind for less than 30 days.
• The planner we talked to said they're getting a lot of calls and she was not sure what the result would be if neighbors complained.

Long-term, I think most every city that touches Denver will go the route of Denver. Lakewood is looking at it right now. So is Englewood and Edgewater. Aurora has already passed a law very similar to Denver's If you go way south of Denver (Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, for instance), the politics get more conservative and the emphasis on property rights starts trumping any complaints from neighborhood associations.

About the kitchen .... Not too familiar with Thornton codes. In Denver and Colorado Springs, you can have a separate entrance into a basement, but you cannot have a separate kitchen. What constitutes a kitchen? The trigger is a 220V outlet for a stove and a gas line for a stove. Now, you can have a 220V outlet for a dryer, but try convincing an inspector that the 220V outlet in the middle of a kitchen countertop and with an opening the size of an oven is going to be used for a dyer. As others like @Steve K. and @Dan Mackin have pointed out, get a convection oven. I was out with some buyers today who said they bought a huge toaster oven that would have fit 6 slices of pizza. That's another option.

Good luck!

A quick reminder that I will give a talk TONIGHT about the Colorado Springs Airbnb/VRBO laws. Colorado Springs is interesting because -- unlike Denver -- you can buy an investment property and rent it out full-time on Airbnb. With the prices still relatively affordable in the Springs and the short-term rental revenue potential 2-3x that of a traditional rental, this offers a great investment opportunity. 

I'll talk about what the laws say, what the city has told me future of the laws may be, and different insurance products that will help protect you.

RSVP here on BP or register at my site, so I can give an accurate head count to the venue.

July 24, 2017
6 - 7 p.m.
Jack Quinn's Irish Pub & Restaurant
21 S. Tejon St.
Colorado Springs, CO

@Colin Smith Absolutely. Whether it's in Colorado Springs or Denver, I tell any of my clients who are looking to buy a pure investment property for Airbnb to run the numbers as if it was going to be a long-term rental. If they work with that, then you know you have a backup plan should the laws change.

@Bryan Wilson @Colin Smith

I just got off the phone with someone in the planning department in Colorado Springs. As I have said in the past, unlike Denver, Colorado Springs does NOT have an Airbnb law. Because of that, I know of people who have bought a separate place down there and are Airbnbing it full-time with great results. BUT! In the parlance of business, I'd say Colorado Springs provides an "uncertain regulatory environment" when it comes to Airbnb and other short-term rentals. 

The woman I spoke with said "technically, yes" (as if anything other than the technical law matters), you can rent out a home as a short-term rental. It does not have to be your primary residence, though you can do that. 

You have to follow certain code requirements, such as :

• you can't house more than five unrelated individuals at a time
• you have to abide by all noise ordinances and parking ordinances
• you cannot serve breakfast or else you fall under the B&B laws

To the question I would have and I imagine others have, Can you buy a property down there and rent it full-time? Right now, there's nothing stopping you. Could you buy a fourplex and do STRs in all of them. "Well, that doesn't seem right," the woman said. She said there is talk of passing some sort of ordinance, though nothing on the calendar at all to even begin discussions. 

Big picture? Right now, you can do a lot in Colorado Springs. There's no law allowing short-term rentals but there's no law disallowing it either. It sounds like they are getting a few more complaints from neighborhood associations, so will this Wild West mentality come to an end? Maybe. I will be speaking to the planning director sometime this week and will host a happy hour event in the Springs on Monday  to talk about what I know. 

I actually just got off the phone with the Colorado Springs' planning department, and unlike past conversations, this time they gave a less-than-concrete view of whether the laws will change in the future or not. I'm happy to discuss this all at the happy hour event on Monday.

Colorado Springs provides a unique investment opportunity through short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO.

Unlike many cities along the Front Range that have either passed restrictions or are considering it, Colorado Springs has no restrictions and has no plans to do so. Come grab a drink and learn:

• What kinds of short-term rentals are allowed
• What taxes you need to pay and how to collect them
• How to protect yourself with the right insurance
• A broad overview of best practices for hosting
• ... and more

Details?

July 24, 2017
6 - 7 p.m.
Jack Quinn's Irish Pub & Restaurant
21 S. Tejon St.
Colorado Springs, CO

FREE, but please RSVP here on BP or register here so I can give the venue a (somewhat) accurate head count

@Adam Bauman You answered a question I was going to ask --- why not do a HELOC on the properties. But it seems like you're not interested in leveraging at this time. Keep us up to date. I'd love to know how this goes.

Hey @Adam Bauman  

@Bill S. 's story is a good one to heed. You're almost always going to earn more splitting up a duplex and selling each side individually than you are selling the duplex as a whole. As Bill said in his success-story post, you'll need to get a good lawyer (he shouted out Paul Ballew. @Drew Fein is a good RE attorney and BP member), get the properties surveyed, and get separate legal descriptions. 

Question, though. Why are you selling? A bigger fish to catch? The one you're talking about is in a great location, and I want to hold everything I can. Just asking. Good luck!

@Michaela G. Damn, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear about. I've had my share of run-ins with people on Airbnb, but none like what you described. I've followed a bit of your process here on Bigger Pockets. I know you've put a lot of effort in, so I don't mean to say you should have done this or should have done that. But here are some thoughts:

Up front, I agree with @Craig Curelop that you may be able to set up a new account and hit "refresh" so to speak. You'd probably have to sign up with a different email but could probably still use the same pictures. I'm a big believer in Airbnb and think your experience, while probably a bit traumatizing,  is not the norm.

About expectations
I agree with @J. Martin about setting proper expectations. Reiterating that in the first message exchange can go a long way. To be fair, it sounds like you did a good job of setting expectations, so after that then I would ...

Trust your gut
It sounds like you were leery of a person with four service dogs and leery of a person with kids who wanted to stay in such a "raw" place. I tell people I consult with to listen to that voice. 

Reconsider Instant Book
I know Airbnb gives preferential treatment to Instant Booking, but I've never liked relinquishing control over screening of my guests. If you are as you say in a great location, then your space should override the barrier of not allowing instant book. 

Don't use smart pricing
Their smart pricing tends to undervalue the price you could get. Sometimes by a lot. $35 is ridiculous for a whole space. If you're determined to use smart pricing, then set a minimum price that will filter out bad apples

Yes, ask for reviews
If I know someone had a great time at the place, then I would have no problem asking for a review. I'd wait five days or so to let them settle back from wherever they came. But if they haven't reviewed me within 5 days, then I send them a message explaining how much I enjoyed hosting them, how reviews are vital to your profile and ask, if they have time before the 14-day review period is up, if they could leave a few thoughts.

Again, this is terrible to read. @Chris Kelly had a good idea with traveling nurses. My wife and I actually have two furnished rentals in Capitol Hill in Denver that we rent to traveling nurses and make roughty 50% more than we would if it was a conventional, long-term unfurnished rental. If I could do Airbnb in these condos, I would, but since I can't, I'm happy to take that money.

Good luck.