Did you know that Blacksburg, VA has one of the highest AirBnB nightly rental rates out of all the college towns in the country!?
I was blown away when I heard that. Maybe you have thought about using AirBnB to rent out your place for big game weekends or graduation; it can be a fantastic way to make a substantial amount of additional scratch that can be used to supplement your income, pay for vacations, or for some extra fun money. We have friends that rent for a handful of weekends a year and use the money to pay for a Country Club membership to have access to their awesome pool in the summer.
The Blacksburg Homestay Ordinance
But - gone are the wild west days of anything goes rentals in Blacksburg! Blacksburg passed the ‘Homestay Ordinance’ which now regulates what is allowed for short term rentals in town. If you are thinking of doing a short term rental, or purchasing a property in Blacksburg with the idea of generating AirBnB income from it, you need to understand what’s in this regulation. You can find all the rules at the town website here, but they are a little bit confusing, so here are:
5 things you need to know about short term rentals in Blacksburg:
You may only rent your PRIMARY residence
This means that you can only AirBnB all or part of a property that is your primary residence at least 6 months out of the year. This is bad for investors who would like to purchase properties for short term rental income, but good for Blacksburg homeowners who will now be the only legally qualified people to do short terms rentals. Primary is a key word here - it means that, even if you have a legal accessory apartment, it will not qualify for AirBnB because it is considered a ‘secondary’ dwelling. If you have an accessory apartment, you can’t AirBnB your main house and long term rent your apartment - its one or the other.
You can rent for a total of 90 nights max (Type A + B Rentals)
This is the other big restriction: you can only AirBnB your primary residence for a max of 90 nights a year. Blacksburg defines 2 different type of rentals: Type A and Type B.
A ‘type a’ rental is when no more than 2 bedrooms are rented and the owner is present on the premises. You can have 90 ‘type a’ rentals per year. Basically, this is when you rent out a room or couple of rooms in your house and host your guests.
A ‘type b’ rental is when either more than 2 rooms are rented or when the owner is not present during the rental. You can rent to a max of 6 people at a time. Here’s the big limitation - of the 90 total potential rental nights, no more than 30 can be ‘type b’. That is a big limitation, but still allows for rental for all home football games and graduation - the biggest income producing weekends of the year. Here’s another important note, the owner must always be available to handle any issues if they come up for your renters.
AirBnB Handles the Town Tax
This is a perk - AirBnB has partnered with Blacksburg to collect and pay the town tax for you. This is not the case with other short term rental sites like homeaway/vrbo, or tripadvisor. There is also an accountability measure in this, though, so be warned - AirBnB is reporting to the town that you are renting so there is no getting around having a sneaky rental or renting for more than the limit of nights in Blacksburg.
You will need to apply with the town and register with the county
Before you host your first rental, you’ll need to go to the town site and fill out and submit a homestay application. The town has been very good about getting these processed and approved quickly. The homestay application has to be resubmitted yearly!
You will also have to register your AirBnB as a business with Montgomery County. You will not need to worry about this ahead of time. When you sign up for AirBnB in the county and host your first stay, the county will send you directions on what to do.
Keep 14 nights in mind
14 is a magic number for occasional short term renters. As of the time of this article, the federal government does not require you to pay tax on your short term rentals if you have rented for less than 14 nights in a calendar year. This can be great news for Blacksburg residents who are just wanting to rent for an occasional weekend! Keep in mind - you will still need to pay town and county taxes on any stays you host.
Conclusion: Is a short term rental worth the trouble in Blacksburg?
The short answer is: yes. My belief is that the reason there is so much regulation is at least partly due to the fact of how lucrative the short term rental market is in Blacksburg. Without some regulation, more investors would swoop in to make student rentals as well as potential family homes short term rentals. While that would be good for investors, it wouldn’t be great for the town as a whole.
There are 2 groups of people this is great news for: current Blacksburg homeowners who want to rent a few weekends a year and people who want their primary home to be in Blacksburg but might feel that they are priced out of the market.
If you are in the second category - someone who wants to live in Blacksburg but feel like you can’t afford it - the Blacksburg Homestay Ordinance might be your golden ticket. Maybe you could afford a place in Blacksburg by ‘House Hacking’ - finding a way (like AirBnB) to cover a portion of your mortgage. AirBnB’ing your primary residence could be a way to live in Blacksburg with a monthly payment more in line with what you would find in Christiansburg, Radford, or out in the county.
If you have any questions about AirBnB in Blacksburg or what it might look like to find a home here that you could AirBnB, I’d love to talk to you! Reach out to me here with questions or to schedule a time to meet!
What other questions do you have about the Blacksburg Homestay Ordinance?
*All content offered in this post is for information purposes only - it is not and not intended to be legal advice!