Renting Your Home on Airbnb? What You Need to Know.

Airbnb is huge.

In fact, it’s so popular that hotels are dropping their prices just to compete.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the service, it’s a website that connects people looking to list, find, and rent lodging. Many of those with luxury St. George homes are using this service as a side hustle while on vacation.

Families touring southern Utah are skipping the hotel suites and looking to rent private homes instead.

If you’re thinking about renting your St. George custom home, here’s some advice before you take the plunge.

Will my homeowner’s insurance cover renting?

Depends.

Some insurance companies cover a few short-term rentals, but too many visits in a row may require you to purchase a business policy. Airbnb relieves some of this headache by offering insurance to protect you from injured guest lawsuits or home damage.

Will this affect my taxes?

Yes.

If you’re planning on renting your home out for more than 14 days a year, you’ll need to report the extra income on your taxes. This is due to the IRS requiring Airbnb to report the extra income you’re making through their service. Because it’s your personal home, your options for taking deductions will be limited.

What do I have to pay to use Airbnb?

3%.

You owe Airbnb 3% of the total rental price every time you rent out your home. Most users agree it’s a pretty fair price to pay.

Online New Home Shopping Tips

The days of only looking at the classifieds or getting a homebuyer magazine to search for your new home are over. Technology has made shopping for a new home convenient and more efficient. So whether you’re looking for specific home builders in St. George, UT, a certain type of home or desired location, check out these tips for shopping for a new home online.

Know your budget – Before setting out on your online new home journey, know how much your can afford. Check out online mortgage calculators and don’t forget to factor in homeowners insurance and taxes.

Filter your search – Many home builders have options for you to narrow down your search on their site. Ence Homes, one of the reputable and elite home builders in St. George, UT, offers this. You can filter your new home from price range, square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and garages to the state and move-in ready homes.

Map it out – Use Google maps to figure out the distance between the office, kids schools and the perspective locations of your new home.

Use apps – If you have an iPad or smartphone, there are plenty of apps to assist you while shopping for a new home online and after you’ve purchased your home. Some are free to download while others cost. Mortgage Calculator Pro by Eamonn and Ian LLC, available on iTunes for $1.99, allows you to calculate mortgage payments for a loan, calculates the monthly costs of home ownership and even the total cost of buying a home. Another cool app to check out is, Photo Measures. It’s available on iTunes for $4.99 and allows you to save measurements on your photos that you can take photos on tours and plan your space with measurements you can refer to later.

Ence Homes website – View the Ence Homes website to check out the various communities, floor plans and Energy Star features of the home builders in St. George, UT. If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to chat with an Ence Representative online on the website.

Stocking a first aid kit for your new home

You’ve just moved into your new home and have it looking the way you want. But your new home in St. George, UT humble abode is not complete without a first aid kit. First aid kits help prepare you for those emergency situations around your home. They should be easily accessible and in a place everyone knows about to avoid having to search for it when those uh oh moments happen. Your first aid kit should include the following items:

  1. Tweezers
  2. Scissors
  3. Safety pins
  4. Sewing needle
  5. Aspirin for adults only
  6. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen in both child and adult dosages
  7. Oral thermometer
  8. Q-tips
  9. Cotton balls or swabs
  10. Surgical gloves
  11. Non-latex gloves
  12. Adhesive bandages in various sizes
  13. Latex-free bandages
  14. Sterile gauge pads
  15. Ace bandage
  16. Rubbing alcohol
  17. Aloe vera gel
  18. Calamine lotion
  19. Hand sanitizer and a bar of soap
  20. Hydrocortisone
  21. Saline eye drops
  22. Eyedropper
  23. Packets of sugar in case of low blood sugar
  24. Cold pack
  25. Sunscreen
  26. Flashlight
  27. Wipes
  28. Candles and matches
  29. Batteries
  30. Plastic bags to dispose contaminated materials

Take into account your family’s needs, such as personal medicines, medical conditions and allergies, after buying or assembling your own kit. An EpiPen or Twinject is great to include for those who suffer from severe allergies and have been prescribed by your doctor. Don’t forget to include information on each family member with their birth dates, medical history, medical consent forms, medications and allergies as well as emergency contact information for your family physician and pediatrician, poison control and nearest hospital and clinic to your new home in St. George, UT.

Check your kit about every three months, restock it after you use items and check the dates on medicines to ensure nothing has expired. It’s also a good idea to keep one handy in your car and boat in addition to keeping a well-stocked first aid in your new home in St. George, UT.

Fun Apps to Help with Spring Gardening or Landscaping

Do you enjoy gardening and landscaping? Well if you do, you can now utilize your iPod, iTouch, iPad or smart phone to do what you love. Ence Homes suggests these four fun apps to help with spring gardening or landscaping at your new homes in St. George, UT residence.Master Gardener Pocket Guide – Available for Android users at $1.49, this interactive app is truly a pocket guide for gardeners. You’ll learn all you need to know about gardening and be able to reference the 700 horticulture and gardening terms and concepts while planning what you want to do for your spring garden. Included in this app are flashcards, quizzes and a dictionary. You can text message a quiz to your friend and also have incorrect quiz results sent to your email.Garden Design with Jamie Durie – Durie, the HGTV personality, horticulturalist and landscape designer, gives you the scoop on gardening in this $2.99 app available through iTunes. Not only will you be able to get handy tips, see Jamie’s garden, find plants through the plant finder, share photos of your garden but see the gardens of other app users. You can also have a chance to have Jamie himself visit your garden by uploading a photo of your new homes in St. George, UT garden to their app via Facebook.

iScape – This is a landscaper’s dream where the use of creativity and colors are infused. With this app, you’re able to view the various landscaping options before even starting. You can play around with the placement of items, change up the type of mulch you’ll use, add a walkway and furniture and make sure your options are conducive to the overall design. Your kids can even get involved by creating their own vision. There’s a $4.99 version and free download version for iPhone and iPad users.

Dirr’s Tree and Shrub Finder – The Dirr’s Tree and Shrub Finder by Timber Press, Inc. is one of the more expensive apps at $14.99, but is definitely well worth it. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch or iPad’s this app is for industry professionals and the home gardener alike who are interested in trustworthy info on woody landscape plants. You’ll find over 9400 plants, can sort by scientific and common name and contains 7600 photographs. It’s very user friendly and you’ll have so much knowledge at your fingertips when working in your new homes in St. George, UT yard or looking up information on the go.

3 Apps to Bring Spring Colors to Your New Home in St. George, UT

Spring officially begins on March 20, so why not bring the colors of the season inside? Decorate your new home in St. George, like Ence Move-In Ready Homes, with hot new colors this season inspired by beautiful spring flowers. Popular colors this season include bright, bold colors that really make a statement. Try dark peacock blues, apricot, tangerine orange, fuchsia, and vibrant green for your new home. Warm yellows and rich, dark browns are also making a comeback this season. If you need help choosing the perfect hues for your new home, here are 3 color finding apps to help you enjoy the colors of the season when decorating for Spring.

Sherwin Williams ColorSnap app is available for both Apple and Android mobile products, including phones and tablets. With this free app, you can take a photo with your phone and tap on a color in in the photo to find a matching Sherwin William’s paint color for a room in your new home in St. George. You can save colors to your favorites, update them, and even post them to your social media. The app will even allow you to compile a color palate and locate the nearest store with your color schemes.

Painting Walls Pro app is available for Apple products only. For $2.99, you can take a picture of the room you are thinking of painting and open the picture with the app. From here you can pick Spring colors and see what the room will look like when you are finished painting. Swap out colors to find the one that suits your home décor the best. You can save your final picture and share it on your social media sites too for feedback from friends and family.

Behr Color Smart app is available for both Apple and Android mobile products. This app allows you to browse the Behr color catalog as well as designer color palettes. You can also take a picture and find the matching Behr color by tapping on the color you are interested in. This app also allows you to paint a picture of the room with the color you have chosen. When you are done designing your room, the app will calculate the amount of paint you will need for the job and help you find the store nearest your new home in St. George with available paint.