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Want to rent out your place for the World Cup? Make sure you know the rules.
FIFA World Cup organizers expect more than 150,000 extra visitors to flood the Los Angeles area during eight World Cup games this summer, and all of them are going to need places to sleep.
AirBnB, the short-term rental giant, is kicking up its efforts to recruit more properties to the platform by offering a $750 bonus to first-time hosts in World Cup cities.
The company courted new hosts with lunch and a special workshop Thursday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where the games will be played. Other short-term rental companies — like Vrbo and Booking.com — are also promoting rentals near World Cup stadiums.
Renting out houses, apartments and rooms in Los Angeles and Inglewood is less of a cavalier process than it was a decade ago.
Lawmakers in many places have developed tighter short-term rental regulations in hopes of cracking down on neighborhood disruption, collecting more tax dollars and preventing scarce housing stock from being converted into full-time vacation rentals.
If you’re a local who is hoping to make a few extra bucks by renting out your place this summer, here are three tips to get you started, straight from active short-term rental hosts and property managers.
Get the ball rolling soon
It takes time to get a space properly listed for short-term rental.
Many local governments, including the city and county of L.A., as well as Inglewood, require hosts to apply for permits. Approvals can take two to four weeks in the city of L.A., said Lisa Giuntoli, whose company Nonpareil Stays manages 45 short-term rentals in the area.
Giuntoli said short-term rental listings perform better in web searches the longer they remain online, and for the World Cup, in particular, visitors are booking places well in advance.
“It takes a minute to get up to speed,” she said. “If you’re interested, do it now.”
Do your homework on local rules
Each local government sets its own guidelines for short-term rentals. Several have revamped their ordinances in recent years.
Hosts can bear some responsibility for how their rentals affect the neighborhood. Inglewood, along with the city and county of L.A., requires permitted hosts to keep their renters up to speed on noise regulations and other local rules.
Not everyone can get a permit. Inglewood requires permit applicants to have lived within the city for 10 consecutive years. In the city of L.A., secondary residences and rent-stabilized properties aren’t eligible to become short-term rentals.
Perrita King, a Leimert Park resident, said she has still been able to keep her extra space listed by renting to people looking to stay longer than a month, such as traveling nurses.
If you live in the city of LA, you can check here to see if your property falls under rent stabilization.
If the logistics seem daunting, consider a specialist
If you’re not interested in waking up at 1 a.m. to help out a renter who lost their key, there are a few different ways to hire a specialized short-term rental manager.
Companies like Nonpareil Stays manage portfolios of dozens of short-term rentals. King, the Leimert Park host, said she goes through a web-based company called Fairly.
You can also narrow your search through Airbnb’s co-host network, which allows you to filter prospective managers by location and other factors.