ebach00
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Re: Renting Land or Boondocking?
bigdogger wrote: ebach00 wrote: mlts22 wrote: In any case, if you want to go forward with that, I'd highly recommend checking about an umbrella insurance policy. It is about a C-note or two a year on top of your existing insurance, and provides coverage for virtually anything that you might get sued for. That's a great suggestion. I'm looking into it now. One of my main concerns is that I want to be able to protect the land owner as much as I can. For example, If I am renting out a portion of the landowners property, I put up a couple cabins and a guest gets hurt, how can I make sure that the actual the actual landowner (not talking about me here) won't be liable? As a practical matter, you cannot, especially since it appears you are going to be running an off the record business. It seems to me your idea has limited upside and almost unlimited downside. The landowner can become responsible for everything (liability for injuries, environmental damage, land use violations, tax issues and on and on) if they knowingly allow an unlawful business to operate. If the landowner rents you the property for a business, that can cost them lots of special exemptions. For example, in California, property valuation for property tax purposes is fixed to the original purchase price. Should someone who bought a property 30 years ago lease the land to you and it legally changes the property usage from residential to commercial, the taxes on the property could increase 50 fold. If the property was in Texas, that rancher could lose their Ag exemptions or their homestead exemptions. Your plan has the potential to open a really ugly can of worms most people never contemplate until it is too late. You bring up some really good points and it definitely seems like this will be an uphill battle. One thing I might be able to do is partner with an existing resort and use their commercial property to run the micro-cabins. I'm not sure how this would work out exactly, but I would think since the property they own is for commercial use, it may be possible to form some type of partnership in which we can work together to run a legit micro-cabin side business. Any thoughts on this?563Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renting Land or Boondocking?
mlts22 wrote: In any case, if you want to go forward with that, I'd highly recommend checking about an umbrella insurance policy. It is about a C-note or two a year on top of your existing insurance, and provides coverage for virtually anything that you might get sued for. That's a great suggestion. I'm looking into it now. One of my main concerns is that I want to be able to protect the land owner as much as I can. For example, If I am renting out a portion of the landowners property, I put up a couple cabins and a guest gets hurt, how can I make sure that the actual the actual landowner (not talking about me here) won't be liable?563Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renting Land or Boondocking?
bigdogger wrote: Good luck screening daily and weekly renters. What are you planning on doing, running background checks on everyone who wants to rent a place for three days? Or are you going with the "cross your heart and hope to die" pledge that what they are telling you is true? Good luck finding that subset of daily and weekly renters that want (and can actually properly maintain and use) rental properties that are off the grid. Your average renter will have no experience or appreciation for a composting toilet, a generator or solar for power and having limited water. Good luck finding someone who just wants a place in the middle of a field. When most people think of boondocking, they think of great places that are otherwise inaccessible. Not the middle of a corn field. Great boondocking locations have more going for them than just isolation. Like another poster implied, total isolation for the sake of isolation mainly appeals to meth cookers, escaped convicts, pedophiles and the Unabomber, none of whom are a great demographic to target for a lodging business. While Airbnb is not perfect, it does allow you to screen the individuals whom will be staying at your property (you rate them and they rate you). You may be right about your average renter not appreciating the "off the grid" amenities, however in the area surrounding San Francisco, I believe that people are fairly informed on these eco-responsible attributes. Also, I wouldn't rent a piece of property that was just a "corn field", I would keep looking until I found the perfect patch of land, that was in a location which could access trails, swimming holes, etc. I'm not tied down to one location, so as long as I can figure out the zoning laws, then I can take my time looking for the right property.564Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renting Land or Boondocking?
N7SJN wrote: What do you do with the grey water? I don't know of a composting toilet that can handle the grey water produced by daily living. You would get an "incinerating toilet" (like this one: http://incinolet.com/) which would incinerate most of your waste. I would also hire someone to clean the cabins on a regular basis. They would also be responsible for disposing of any waste, re-stocking water, etc.564Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renting Land or Boondocking?
Thank you for the great response Dutchmen, I completely agree with you. What I am hoping to do is definitely a challenge, however, since the units are mobile I can choose a county where zoning laws are a bit more relaxed (this will obviously take a TON of research though). Even though we would be "running a business", it is still through Airbnb, so you are covered on most insurance and all you have to pay is the hotel tax, if I'm right. The great thing about Airbnb is it allows anyone to be an entrepreneur and rent out their units. Also, I would be reviewing tenants as they would be me, so I can make sure we don't have any sketchy sex offenders staying in the units. Does anyone know any counties in California that have more relaxed zoning laws? Or, any other opinions on how this may work without actually having to purchase the land?114Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renting Land or Boondocking?
I completely agree, I was more catering the actual boondocking to our own personal use. However, if we were to rent out several of these units, do you think it would be possible to "rent" land from a private property owner? Any ideas/creative suggestions there?115Views0likes0CommentsRenting Land or Boondocking?
Hello, first post here, but long time reader! You guys really know whats up! I have a question for you… I have several “micro-cabins” that fit on a custom trailer (similar to http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com). We were thinking about trying to “rent” a piece of private land from someone to put several of these portable homes on. It would be great if we could just go on BLM or National Forest Land, but I’m pretty sure you have to move after 14 days. We would like this to be semi permanent (keeping it on a piece of land for 6 months to 1.5 years for say). We also are considering the option of renting them out on Airbnb (not sure how this adds to the legalities of everything). What would your suggestions be? Thanks ahead of time!!4.8KViews0likes20Comments
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