Partnering with a professional property manager will help you convert your short term rental to a long term rental. Today, we’re talking about the process and sharing three tips to make it more efficient.

A short term rental in Austin is defined as 30 days or less. If you are in that category, the city will require you obtain a permit, and they require you to register with them and allow them to provide oversight. They can inspect your rental, look at your documents, and collect a percentage of your gross rents as part of that registration process. Because of increasing oversight and registration, and because of the larger and heavier work load involved in handling a short term rental, more people want to convert into long term rentals. Recently, we made that happen in South Austin, and we are now renting a property for that owner at $2,700 per month.

Identifying Property Code Items

The first thing you need to do is to identify property code items. Usually, there are several in short term rentals. For example, the keys have to be changed by law between each occupant. Typically that doesn’t happen a lot with short term rentals. So, we get the keys changed and then we look at things like locking devices. Deadbolt locks need to be on all exterior doors, and door viewers are also required. There are other things people don’t think about, like step height requirements and rails on the exterior stairs. We help owners to identify those things. Carbon monoxide alarms are also required when certain criteria are met in a rental property. So when you’re moving from short term to long term, you need to identify any property code items.

Taking Care of Furnishings

Short term rentals are usually furnished, so make a plan to donate your furniture, have an estate sale, or sell your furnishings to prospective tenants. Come up with a plan. Recently, we made a plan with the contractors to have the items moved into storage. You have options, so talk to your property manager. In most cases, when the furnishings are in place, we market the property as having furnishings that are negotiable. Usually, incoming tenants don’t want any of the furniture.

Changing Income Expectations

Prepare for the rent to come down when you have a long term rental. When you have a short term, you’ll usually get hotel rates or even more. No matter how awesome the house is, you should expect less rent with long term rentals. It’s worth it for the longevity and stability of your home and finances, however.

These are the main points of the process. If you have any questions about how to rent your home long term or property management in Austin, TX, please contact us at Austin Landmark Property Services.