# Renting out a house and boarding combined?



## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

you might try renting the house for less per month with the stipulation that the horses be boarded and cared for ? are you going to be out to check on the horses daily ? and supply the feed ? or is it all pasture ? who is paying for the water ? feed ? etc etc.. Are you allowing horses to be kept by the renters ?


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## DaveT (Apr 25, 2014)

stevenson said:


> you might try renting the house for less per month with the stipulation that the horses be boarded and cared for ? are you going to be out to check on the horses daily ? and supply the feed ? or is it all pasture ? who is paying for the water ? feed ? etc etc.. Are you allowing horses to be kept by the renters ?


The idea is to rent to someone who also wants to board a horse there. For a person looking for that scenario, it should be quite an attractive opportunity for them, so no need to lower rent. Maybe the opposite. We can't keep the house unoccupied for a long period of time though in the hopes of finding someone who also wants to board. So I'm wondering if there would be demand for this scenario, or are most horse owners also home owners?

I live in one of the adjoining houses so I'm already used to caring for a horse. Currently doing so. Hay and grain would be built into the boarding fees.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

I would do it. I have to live In a space and I have to board my horse; therefore, getting both would work for me.

Of course, the cost would be the deciding factor.


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

*Sigh* If only you were in Harfard County and not Howard.

There are several groups on facebook that you could join to advertise. Bet someone would snap the opportunity to rent and board in a heartbeat. 

A few groups
Horses/Ponies For Sale in Maryland

de,nj,pa,md, wv and va horses for sale

NEW Local Horsemans Group ( Central/Eastern PA, Delaware, Maryland)

Or you could try posting on some of the Howard County show facebook pages.


And yes, there is a demand for houses you can rent AND keep horses at. At least almost every horse person I know who doesn't own land would jump at the opportunity.


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## DaveT (Apr 25, 2014)

Thank you all for the input, especially from Drifting. I'll definitely look into the Facebook sites.


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

There definitely would be interest in something like that. If I'm correct you're suggesting that they'd 1) pay rent on the house and 2) pay boarding fees per horse they bring? And you'll be the one caring for all horses on the property?

There are a ton of people who would jump on that opportunity, provided the price is reasonable. My guess is that if you run into any trouble then it's because people can't afford the price. If that happens then you may have more luck with simply renting out house/pasture space for people to care for their own horses.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Will be interested to hear how this works out for you. We're contemplating something similar but would also be looking for someone to do more of the horse care. Not sure how attractive that is- our thought was that we would charge market rate rent on the house but no charge for board (1-2 horses) in exchange for doing 75% of the chores. Anyway, don't want to derail your thread, but will be following along to see how it works out for you.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

you would need figure the current rent for homes in your area, also what board would cost per horse. It will all come down to how much it will cost someone . 
If board full care ( hay grain supplies by the BO) is worth the cost of not having free time . 
75% of the work would be for how many horses, and how long it would take. 
I own my property and I am flooded with work around here, we have no breaks, have to feed morn , night, clean pens, 365 days . Sometimes it would be worth boarding to have some free time and not so much work.


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

It doesn't matter where you are. That type of arrangement is in short supply. You just need to put it out there to horse people and not the general population. You'll come up with someone great.


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## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

Left Hand Percherons said:


> It doesn't matter where you are. That type of arrangement is in short supply. You just need to put it out there to horse people and not the general population. You'll come up with someone great.


Agree! I'm on a "Horse Properties for Sale/Lease in Texas" Facebook group and there are always people looking for rentals w/room for horses - I'd definitely look for something similar in your area. Craigslist might work, too.


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## DaveT (Apr 25, 2014)

A couple days ago I went over the house in the morning to check on the renovation progress. The house has a walk out basement, so the first floor sunroom on the back of it sits about 8-9 feet off the ground. We opened the door at the back of the room and that startled the mare that was in the pasture just behind the house. She pranced around for a short bit then looked up at us and whinnied to us. I’m sure horse lovers would love to see that each morning. Walk out your back door each morning and there’s your horse just 50 feet away on the other side of the split rail fence.

In my situation I’d have to be able to find someone who is OK with having the landlord of not only their dwelling, but also their horse(s) as their next door neighbor. And as much or more so, someone I want to have as my next door neighbor. I’m easy to get along with, but I’ll be honest with you all, I believe that the best kept horse is a field kept horse. I’d need someone who is OK with field boarding, unless they want to stall their horse(s) themselves each day. I’d be doing the feeding, but would want someone who is willing to help out when we’re out of town.

An obstacle would be insurance. State Farm (our current insurer) will not continue to insure us if we board. They are getting away from agriculture (with a name like State “Farm”). So I’d have to find a new insurer AND determine what all kinds of regulation bureaucracy comes with boarding and determine if it’s worth it. Hopefully it is?...


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Dave, you may have to find a business type of insurance. My homeowners will not cover boarding. I checked on line by googling insurance for horse facitilies, they suggested a 
million dollar liablilty policy, plus death ins to cover any horse that dies for any reason, care custody and control ins. Needless to say , it was way to costly for me. I hope you can find something in your area that would be affordable.


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## DaveT (Apr 25, 2014)

stevenson said:


> Dave, you may have to find a business type of insurance. My homeowners will not cover boarding. I checked on line by googling insurance for horse facitilies, they suggested a
> million dollar liablilty policy, plus death ins to cover any horse that dies for any reason, care custody and control ins. Needless to say , it was way to costly for me. I hope you can find something in your area that would be affordable.


There are a lot of people out there boarding. I wonder if they were able to find reasonable coverage or are they just not insured and don't even realize it. Right now it won't work for me to simply get a a business policy on top of our existing policy (and we do have a million dollar umbrella), because State Farm would still drop us.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I'd look for a renter and a boarder separately. If the horse boarding doesn't work out, you're not losing a tenant. My sis was a non horse person who enjoyed watching the horses pastured next door.


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## danny67 (Nov 27, 2012)

I lived that way for 5 years. Was great. Yeah get out there and advertise in the feed shop or what have you. Someone will jump at the chance provided rent isn't outrageous.


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## sunnyone (Sep 4, 2014)

DaveT said:


> An obstacle would be insurance. State Farm (our current insurer) will not continue to insure us if we board. They are getting away from agriculture (with a name like State “Farm”). So I’d have to find a new insurer AND determine what all kinds of regulation bureaucracy comes with boarding and determine if it’s worth it. Hopefully it is?...


 Did State Farm say this is true for all situations - just renting your house and facilities, your focus is not boarding. I'm curious because I've thought of doing this sort of thing. 

I know you have to be careful but you can try Craigslist. Usually have good response but you definitely need to do background checks though. 

I think this is a great idea and I've seen others in Oregon doing it.


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## sunnyone (Sep 4, 2014)

Dave - I have one more thought. 

We had rented out a house with land and the tenants had horses and goats. We got a Landlord policy from State Farm. That wasn't boarding. Those were their personal pets. This doesn't sound that different. You would need a separate rental policy anyway, I would think - to protect your home from tenant damage or fire.


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## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

My barn owner actually does this. Rents out part of her house (she has a basement apartment she stays in and then rents out top of house) and renter can board a horse as well. Renter is responsible for so many feedings/some mucking as part of rent and the more work they do the more she will take off the rent.


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## DaveT (Apr 25, 2014)

Sorry... been away for a while. Thank you all again for all of the advice/input.

sunnyone - That's a very interesting thought regarding treating the tenant's horse as a pet. We have a rather unique situation though so State Farm (and other ins companies) might punch holes all through that idea. We have three separate houses/properties in a row. The pasture area spans across the back of all three parcels. So I'm not sure how well that would fly if we allowed a tenant's equine pet to use the backs of all three properties. Won't hurt to ask though. I'll report back with what I find out.

I always thought we had a special rider on our policy for "mischievous disappearance" for the horses (in case they got lose and something bad happened). But last time I spoke to my agent they said we don't have such a rider, that the horses are basically covered as pets.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

you can also purchase a supplemental policy just a liability policy. I cannot recall what my ins lady told me, she told me to get one for a million.


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## DaveT (Apr 25, 2014)

stevenson said:


> you can also purchase a supplemental policy just a liability policy. I cannot recall what my ins lady told me, she told me to get one for a million.


We do have a million dollar umbrella (supplemental liability) policy. But most of our insurance policies are with State Farm, and they flat out said they will drop our home owner's insurance policy if we board horses (even with us having the umbrella). That being case they certainly wouldn't except boarding on a rental policy. I doubt an insurance company would issue an umbrella policy without having other policies bundled with it. Even if we were able to get an umbrella from a different insurer, State Farm would still not allow the boarding.

I'm not "married" to State Farm, but they have treated us well in the past. I would think I'd run into this dilemma with many insurance companies.


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## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

You may need to cover it as a "hobby farm" - easy enough for most agents with a multi-carrier network to handle, but if you're working directly with a single carrier like State Farm you're probably out of luck.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

DaveT said:


> We do have a million dollar umbrella (supplemental liability) policy. But most of our insurance policies are with State Farm, and they flat out said they will drop our home owner's insurance policy if we board horses (even with us having the umbrella). That being case they certainly wouldn't except boarding on a rental policy. I doubt an insurance company would issue an umbrella policy without having other policies bundled with it. Even if we were able to get an umbrella from a different insurer, State Farm would still not allow the boarding.
> 
> I'm not "married" to State Farm, but they have treated us well in the past. I would think I'd run into this dilemma with many insurance companies.


Dave, be very careful about boarding and what it will do to your insurance. I pay $7K/YEAR for my various insurances, and right now, that isn't even carrying Care, Custody and Control, because I don't have any boarders at the moment. 

Contact: C. Jarvis Insurance | Home

They specialize in Equine industry insurance and will tell you how to do what you want and what it will cost. Based on what my insurance costs, I'm going to venture that MOST small boarding operations are running barefoot. 

Part of why my insurance is so expensive is because I have a very low deductible and I live in OK (a LOT of companies won't even insure in this state because of the tornadoes), so I consider myself very lucky to have Jarvis.

Once you become part of the "Equine Industry", you're looking at a whole 'nuther ballgame.


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