In a now-viral video, TikToker Jeremy Werden told his 35,400 followers that he makes money from renting out a property through a landlord and listing the property on Airbnb.
In the video, Werden shares a text exchange between him and his landlord, claiming his landlord found out about the Airbnb listing because Warden told him about it.
“Experimenting with listings,” Werden texted, with a link to the listing on Airbnb. “Wow, looks good,” his landlord replied.
The comment section is filled with questions about how Werden secured the arrangement.
“Consider yourself lucky! I would have evicted you!” user @chloetomato commented.
“Wow you’re even scummier [than] a landlord. I didn’t think that was possible,” one user said.
“Curious on what you would do if you were the landlord,” another user commented.
In the original video, Werden shows his Durham, North Carolina, property with the caption, “How you can make $3k a month renting out an Airbnb you don’t even own.” He then lists tips on ways to make a profit.
Using this business strategy, known as rental arbitrage, renters sublet properties to others through vacation rental companies such as Airbnb and HomeAway. The feasibility of the practice is dependent upon local regulations and the renter’s income.
Still, the comment section inquires how Werden is able to do this, and some users were interested in learning more about the process.
“Landlord isn’t very intelligent if their lease doesn’t prevent you from doing this,” user Kevin Maichle said.
“So how exactly do you have the landlord agree to this?” @mariaslifeandadventures asked.
Werden responded to Maria with a follow-up video. He said he broke into the business with the help of a friend and that landlords “love” rental arbitrage.
His followers had more questions, so Werden continued in a series of videos discussing the renting process as well as landlord relationships.
“So you two are working together. BIG POTENTIAL DOWNSIDE TO YOU BEING ON ALL THESE LEASES! Talk to a lawyer,” @chloetomato said.
“No one ever talks about it but most places don’t recognize air bnb as stable rent, they require a 2nd party that pays stable rent every month,” Rogelio commented.
Werden responded and said, “I have an llc with good credit and cash flow history that is renting it,” Werden commented in response. “The bank loves that I’m much less risk than a normal renter.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Werden via Instagram messaging and TikTok comment and to Airbnb via email.
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