Running an Air BnB remotely whilst living abroad

[FrequentFlyer96]

DH and I are considering buying a property in UK to run as an Air BnB. We live overseas and have done for several years. We would like to have the property as an investment as well as a (small) potential income earner. Also, running it as an Air BnB rather than a longer term let would give us the flexibility to block weeks to use for ourselves as a base for trips to UK to save on the usual huge amounts we pay on holiday accommodation (we don’t have anyone we can stay with).
Does anybody have experience of running an Air BnB remotely from overseas? Any hints and tips? Thanks in advance

Can't advise specifically on Air BnB but be aware that some of the agreements on double taxation may well be affected by Brexit if you are living in an EU country and could have significant implications for you so do take advise from a tax perspective.

Thanks Maximus - not in an EU country so hopefully will be fine

If you are doing it from overseas, you will need a very good network of people who can react to an emergency such as guests being locked out or the heating not working in winter. Your guests will expect these things to be dealt with immediately.

You will also need way more bed linen/towels than you think - plus somewhere to store them. Everything needs to be easy to clean if your cleaner is doing back to back changeovers. Stuff will get broken so choose crockery etc that can be easily replaced one piece at a time.

Depending on location you also need to be on good terms with any neighbours.

Your agent is going to charge a lot as they will need to be available at all times to see to guests' needs. They will have to be registered to do this.
Not something that a normal UK estate agent will do.
Cleaners are always a problem. Costly for someone reliable.
You will have to declare earnings for tax purposes.
Don't forget that the house has to be HHSRS compliant.
The local council may require it to be registered as an HMO.
Extra insurance for letting.
The mortgage company will need to know, and may charge a higher interest rate.
It hard enough being a landlord with property within 3 miles.
On balance a nice idea but probably not viable.

Tricky unless you have family or good friends in the vicinity. We inherited a holiday home abroad and although it sounds nice it’s actually a real burden/pain. At the moment we can’t find a reliable cleaning person and it’s horrible that the lady we have at the moment (who sometimes goes AWOL) has our letting business in her hands really! People have complained about cleanliness and are not rebooking but we just can’t find anyone else at the moment. And we pay way over what would be a decent hourly rate as it’s meant to be in recognition of the fact she is our contact on the ground and guests will contact her if they have a problem (but in reality they can’t get hold of her and she doesn’t even greet them in person like she’s supposed to).
Sorry needed to get that off my chest!!

We are desperately trying to sell it but that’s not easy either.
We have to let it out a certain amount because we inherited it with a mortgage and even with renting out it doesn’t cover its costs.!

It’s not yet question you asked but here’s what happened to me. When I still lived in the UK and was still married to my ex-husband we rented a very nice place from a very nice couple who then moved to Spain. One winter the boiler stopped working. First we had to make an expensive international call to let them know. They said they would “ring around” to see if they could find someone to fix it. We said “well we can get someone out but we don’t want to be paying for it”. They said they’d rather look at it themselves first but that was not an option so the next preferable option to them (not to us) was to find someone themselves. They were concerned we would just call the first person in the Yellow Pages (this was late 1990s) and they could be the most expensive in the area. But we were freezing with no hot water and just wanted it to be fixed as quickly as possible. In the end we had to spend 3 nights in a hotel while they tried to sort everything out from another country. And we were living there so they didn’t have to arrange cleaners or linen changes, replace light bulbs, etc. We loved the place and treated it as our own. We took care of it, kept it clean, etc. as you would. But would all Air BnB guests do the same?

We once stayed in an Air BnB owned by people who live on the other side of this state. We were in the area looking to move here from another town (and eventually bought the house we are in now which is just around the corner from said Air BnB). When we arrived the lock box on the outside wall containing the key wouldn’t open. There were several issues with the place (hadn’t been cleaned properly from last guests who obviously had a dog with white hair as there were loads of white dog hairs everywhere, including the kitchen floor) and many other things. We contacted the owners but their response was “can’t do anything about that right now - we are 500 miles away”. After we left I thought they would welcome some feedback on how the person they were paying to clean was letting them down and cutting corners behind their backs. It didn’t go down well. But it’s food for thought as to what can happen.

Thanks for all the feedback, lots to think about. Would certainly have a number of go-to cleaning companies and plans in place for emergencies etc but I can also see that nothing beats being able to deal with something personally. I’m wondering whether we try it for a few months and worst case it goes wrong then we let it as furnished longer term let. Defeats the object of having somewhere we could occasionally use ourselves but at least it would then cover its costs.

The house opposite us is an Airbnb and regularly there are loud parties requiring the police to be called. (Not me calling them, immediate neighbours!) The host swears they have rules, get people with refs etc.

You want calls like that when you're abroad?

You need to find yourself a good holiday let agency, many properties are advertised through Airbnb and directly with agencies these days. A good agency will take care of everything including in emergency but you will pay handsomely for the service. The alternative is to find a local housekeeper who will do changeovers etc but you will also need a reliable handyman on retainer who is willing to contract specialists as required, my dad has done this for years - he gets paid a set amount per week to be a point of call for holidaymakers to call then so much per hours if he actually is needed (there's a few housekeepers too but they do minimum 3 night stays to reduce the number of changeovers)

Air B&Bs are a blight on local areas. Please don’t buy one near me!

Mean how so? Genuine question - I’m new to this so not fully familiar with all the downsides. I’m guessing the potential for groups, parties etc? I would try to market the house as family friendly with lots of child/baby equipment etc and be very choosy about accepting bookings. But appreciate even with best will in the world that guests may not always be as expected. This is why I’m trying to explore options fully before committing to anything. I was hoping to find someone with experience of actually doing this who could give me some hands on advice.

You need a fully hosted agency - Google airb&b management , find sone with good reviews ( hard) and get some quotes to get some hard figures to help you with your investment decision.

My friend had one a few doors away from her , the owners lived about 300 miles away .
Problems that came up . Cleaners not turning up, or losing keys, appliances not working, pets bought in when stated no animals, no gardener so got messy. Mice in house, noisy renters , neighbours getting peed off with parking issues, lack of respect etc .

Where are you thinking buying? Some countries are cracking down on AibBnB and I suspect there will be more to follow.

OneKey we are looking at buying in the UK - we are from UK and currently living overseas. The area we are looking in is a small town on the edge of lovely countryside with good rail links.
We would be looking to use the house personally a few times each year and then Air BnB the rest of the time.

Also look at the UK tax implications of renting it out.

There will be rental income that needs to be declared and capital gains tax on sale to consider

I really would not go down the Air B&B route unless you are prepared to employ a manager - and that will eat into any profits. The property needs to be inspected and cleaned between lets and someone needs to be on hand to deal with visitors who can’t use the oven/washing machine and to deal with the emergency repairs which will arise during their stay.

Why not have a chat with a local letting agent about letting the property on short lets. The local agency could manage it for you and you could use it between tenancies. But be aware that you may pay between 20% and 50% tax on any profits, plus 10-18% management fees, plus potentially capital gains. All that combined with maintenance costs you may not leave much over at the end of the year. Since house prices are not rising at present you will also not benefit from any increases. But if you are an overseas buyer earning in strong currency it may still make sense to buy while the £ is low.

Failing that, invest the money you might spend on a property and use the interest/dividends to fund a stay in a decent Air B&B when you are back in UK.

Dual taxation agreements with EU countries are bi lateral agreements. They have nothing to do with the EU so are unlikely to be impacted by Brexit.

I live in a small town overseas that is overrun by Air BnBs. It is killing the town, turning it into a virtual museum resort - it was already a popular tourist destination. Local people can't afford to buy property in the town and are leaving. The owners are almost all wealthy people who live far away and maybe visit once a year. If it continues there will be no children & youth left and the town will die away. Obviously the air bnb owners are not popular with the locals.

Seasonal residents are charged a higher rate of property tax, but it isn't enough to compensate for the fact they are not economically involved in the town as a whole for most of the year.

Just my 2 cents on how it impacts local areas! On the other hand, as an expat I can see the attraction of being able to have a place to stay on visits to the UK