How to rent your home to disaster victims

Do you own a property you occasionally rent to tourists? If so, you may be eligible to offer short-term accommodations to people in need. Here’s what you need to know about providing disaster housing.

What’s disaster housing?
Disaster housing is temporary lodging for individuals whose homes were damaged or destroyed by wildfires, floods, and other disasters.

What are the benefits?
On top of providing people in need with a comfortable place to stay, renting your home or apartment to displaced disaster victims has several benefits. Here are a few:

• Disaster victims generally stay longer than tourists, thereby providing you with more revenue
• These tenants are typically respectful of your space and aren’t looking to party
• Their insurance company will handle all payments
• The rental process is streamlined

How does it work?
Depending on the service you use to rent your property, you may receive a housing request directly from an insurance company or resettlement agency. If you’re interested, the company involved will draw up a rental contract for a specific period.

Providing post-disaster housing can be lucrative. To find out more about how you can make your property accessible to those in need, speak to a realtor.

Did you know that Airbnb allows property owners worldwide to rent their properties to displaced disaster victims for free or at a discounted rate? To learn more, visit Airbnb.com.