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[00:00:05] Sarah: Hello. Welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:09] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:00:11] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:00:11] Sarah: And this is the–

[00:00:12] Both Annette & Sarah: Hosting Hotline.

[00:00:14] Sarah: Today we have a question from a host who wants to get started, but regulations are holding her back.

[00:00:21] Question: Hey, y’all. My name is Megan. I live in the Dallas, Texas area. And first off, love your podcast. I’m also originally from the Columbus, Ohio area, so go Ohio. But I wanted to ask y’all a quick question. So I am getting into the Airbnb business, and I really wanted to start one in my local area first because I just love Dallas so much.

[00:00:44] Recently, Dallas banned short-term rentals in single family areas. So right now I’m just limited to condos and apartments, which I would love to start my first Airbnb in a condo, but I just wanted to get your input if you’ve experienced issues like this before, or if you think it’s a good idea for me to continue to start with my first Airbnb in my local area, even though Dallas did have this ban. So any input would be great for first time Airbnb hosts. Thanks.

[00:01:18] Sarah: That’s a great question, Megan. And there’s so many different angles we want to answer your question in because it’s multifaceted. I would like to start the conversation, and I love that you already know what regulations are going on in your area. That is really important to know.

[00:01:36] But also to know that we have already heard grumblings or rumblings of appeals happening not only in the Dallas area, but also the same things are happening in New York City because the cities are finding out that the ban is creating other issues, maybe not solving the problems that they were hoping would be solved by having a market or a flat van throughout the marketplace.

[00:02:02] But that being said, Megan, a great thing that you could do, because you want to get involved in this industry and you need to be involved in all facets of the industry, is I want to make sure that you know about Rentresponsibly.org. This is where you can get up to date information about regulations in your area.

[00:02:19] I know there is an organization of hosts that are in Dallas that are active in terms of understanding, okay, if the conversation is starting back up in terms of maybe loosening up the regulations or maybe the regulations are going into other areas, or whatever it is for you to be at the forefront of it because it’s going to be your livelihood and it is going to be how you make money.

[00:02:39] And so you need to know all about it. So head on over to Rentresponsibly.org, get to know the website, find out where you can find all the information about Dallas and all the multifaceted regulations that are in Dallas. Because I’m sure it also– like in Columbus, I know that you’re from Columbus. Love that, but from neighborhood to neighborhood, our regulations can differ.

[00:03:00] And so that’s why it’s really important to be on top of that. And I love that you already are, but take a step further and make sure that you are a part of the conversations. Because the ban is not the end all be all. It is not the final answer. I can almost guarantee you that.

[00:03:13] Annette: And you said it’s banned with single family residents, so we’re wondering, you said you’re interested in condo, but we’re wanting to know, are multifamilies an option for you? Could you buy a duplex or a fourplex? We think those are great places to start. You could do long term and short term, but definitely want to make sure that multifamily is on your radar.

[00:03:34] And then you mentioned apartments, condos. Yes, if those are still in the game too, those could be association by association, so you’re going to want to do your due diligence there and research that. As you’re researching that, Dallas is huge. So my question for you is, I don’t know regulations in Fort Worth, or is there just one zone over one zip code over that you would be able to do it?

[00:04:03] We know there are so many areas in Dallas or in Texas, I apologize, as a whole that are thriving. So maybe you could just go a little bit outside of Dallas and be able to thrive in another area. But I think research is number one there. Even if you are going to do something in more of a condo, make sure that you’re still going to be able to, and then check out the multifamilies for sure.

[00:04:28] Sarah: Well, let’s take it in the multifamily. Megan, we have very limited knowledge about what you mean by getting in the Airbnb business, but host hacking is a really great way to get started. It’s really how I got started, and it’s a great way to not only get into the business, build wealth, but sometimes it’s a way around regulations, like if you live in the property and you’re short-term renting the other units in the building, that might be something that could put you ahead of the regulations.

[00:04:56] That could be really interesting. Plus, there’s nothing better than being on site all the time, especially as you’re learning. So what Nick and I did, we started in New York City, my husband and I. We rented out the basement via short-term rental. So we lived upstairs. We rent out the basement.

[00:05:11] It wasn’t a duplex. We made it act as a duplex, but when you moved to Columbus, we bought a four unit, lived in one that we fixed up and then we furnished it, listed it, and then moved to the next unit. Did the same thing. And so that was great. So for the first couple years, once we got that first unit up, we were almost living for free.

[00:05:31] Maybe not making money with just one unit, but once that second unit was up, then we were making money, then third and then fourth. It was like, wow, that’s the power of house hacking. But then you host hack. Maybe you did the cleaning yourself at first too as well, and that’s just more money in your pocket, and it just fuels you to just really start your business and, again, might be a way around the regulations because you live on site.

[00:05:51] Annette: And then last but not least is we also advise maybe actual buying a property and hosting isn’t your very first step into hosting. There are so many ways that you can work alongside other hosts and maybe co-host with them. We actually know there are tons of companies, again, in Texas that need people doing either guest communications via the app, inspecting properties ahead of time.

[00:06:18] So there might be a place for you in the short-term rental Airbnb business before you even own your own property. And I think that’s a great place to start also. And go to your local real estate meetups. They don’t have to be short-term rental meetups specific. I advise everybody listening to the show, put a real estate meetup on your schedule because you are going to meet someone that is in need of assistance of some type of way.

[00:06:46] And you’ll be one relationship closer to either another property or helping a host or just finding out what’s going on in your area. I think those live events, they are back, and they are worth it for you to show up.

[00:06:59] Sarah: Great question, Megan. Thank you so much for calling in. If you’d like to get your hosting question answered, we are here for you. Head to hostinghotline.com. You quickly record your question with your voice, and then we answer it here on the podcast.

[00:07:14] And you’re not only getting your question answered, but you’re also helping any other host out there that might be in the same situation Megan’s in, where they feel like they don’t know how to navigate regulations, or even just how to get started and creative ways to get started. Or maybe you have a more advanced hosting question. We’re here for you as well. So hostinghotline.com. Let’s get it done for you. But with that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

[00:07:36] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:07:37] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:07:38] Sarah: Talk to you next time.