Airbnb Hosting Success

As a long time resident of Lafayette and recently retired, having converted part of my home to an Airbnb (max 3 visitors at one time) that enables me to be financially stable and remain in my home, otherwise I’d have to sell and move. On 1/8/2020 the City of Lafayette provided me with a Sales Tax License #007874 for Accommodation/Lodging. Airbnb provides Hosts like myself $1 million damage protection and $1 million in Host liability insurance. This includes income loss protection, pet damage, deep cleaning. I have never had to file a claim with Airbnb and always had wonderful guests. All appropriate tax fees have been paid by me and/or paid by Airbnb to the City of Lafayette, as well as to the State of Colorado. Sales tax and fees for the 100+ Airbnb Hosts that currently operate in Lafayette are being paid in full by Airbnb.

Lafayette South Park where I live does not have a home owners association. Home owners associations have their own set of rules to allow or disallow short term rentals. I’ve invested over $60 K in upgrades to allow for my family and guests privacy and comfort. I have had visitors as far away as Australia, Prague, and upcoming visitors from France as well as many from the US. Also, recently a mom and little 6 year old daughter needed a short term rental for 3 weeks while their home in Erie was built, and her review of my space indicated how much she appreciated having a safe place to live while in-between housing.

My guests love the small town feeling of Lafayette (instead of Boulder and Denver) and I promote and provide them with information about what to do and where to eat and all the amenities Lafayette has to offer like restaurants, shops, biking, and walk paths. They bring their vacation dollars and tax revenue to our city. So many lovely upgrades to our City have been done such as the street art, and Public Rd improvements, unique shops, public parking and outdoor sitting areas, etc. Let out of town visitors enjoy our city!!! My guests love going to the Peach Festival and Art Night Out and then go to Stam for some treats!

During the first year of my Short Term Hosting experience my neighbors told me that they did not even notice (and still don’t) guests arriving and departing after I shared with them that I had a short term rental suite. I have had zero complaints from neighbors. My guests have been responsible, courteous, and mature visitors. As a responsible Host, all guests are provided with a House Handbook that includes rules such as: Quiet hours are between 9p-7a weekdays, and 10p-9a weekends, no smoking of any kind, those under 21 may not consume alcohol, no overnight unregistered guests allowed. The rules have never been broken.

Airbnb has a rating system that encourages Hosts like myself to be the best they can be - it’s our job. Guests write reviews on their stay and Hosts write reviews about them on how they did as Guests. The review range is from 1-5, five being the best. My short term rental has been rated a 5 since the start of Hosting and I take pride in keeping that rating. The rating is based on privacy, cleanliness, and communication, and overall experience. If a Host is slack and provides poor guest visits, they quickly get few visitors because of bad ratings and Airbnb can and does remove them immediately from their site. If a guest gets poor reviews from other Host, any Host can refuse the request for booking. Money transactions are handled by Airbnb, so collecting and receiving rent is never an issue for me as a Short Term Rental Host. Airbnb has a No Parties Allowed rule and that rule is also reviewed in the House Handbook. This has never been a problem because I live in the same house the guest suite is located and we both have complete privacy from each other.

Neighborhood disturbances are sometimes caused by Long Term Rentals. My cul-de-sac neighbor offers a Long Term Tenant Rental and the past 1.5 years has been a nightmare for all of us living in the cul-de-sac. After their landlord recently evicted them because of non-payment, numerous police calls, unregistered vehicles parked the wrong way at the curbs, loud obnoxious music any time day or night, trash all over the front and side yards, fireworks anytime of the night, obvious drug dealing anytime day or night, fowl language blasting the sidewalks while on the phone, arriving home drunk or stoned at night crashing into cars and mailboxes. The landlord had to hire a huge dumpster and parked it in the driveway and filled it up to the top with trash once they were evicted. The whole inside of the house had to be gutted to the tune of $20K of damage inside and outside, in addition to months of non-payment of rent. The embarrassment to all of us who live in the cul-de-sac was over the top, especially to me when my responsible out of town visitors experienced the presence of the obnoxious Long Term Renters. Other young neighbors across the street had a newborn baby and they moved because of the horrible long term renters living next door to them.

The cities of Boulder, Longmont, and Louisville as well as Rome, Amsterdam, and London all enjoy the revenue they receive as a result of Short Term Rentals. Longmont has a 1 Short Term Rental per street rule. Why should the City of Lafayette give potential revenue and potential visitors to other cities? Should our beautiful city, shops, and restaurants be available only to those of us who live here?