[jamaicabound]

Great idea for a hustle, I thought about doing it myself as well. I would probably opt for a studio just because why pay for the extra space and extra bedrooms when most people are probably in town on business or just looking for a place to store their stuff and crash while vacationing or partying in a new city.

My one hickup on this is how do you handle getting keys to people? I doubt your buildings door guy is going to want to be bothered everyday giving and collecting keys and it would be kind of a hassle having to do it myself.

My other concern with the Airbnb thing is though it would be a huge money maker if you could have it rented every day of the month I'm guessing its primarily weekends and maybe a couple weekdays with business travelers. Unless you have the place occupied all the time it's probably easier just to rent it to a individual on a standard lease and have more of a gurnatee.

The one flip side I thought about would be buying a two flat in a cool area and living in one and renting the ohter via airbnb and that way getting people keys and stuff is super easy.

[jamaicabound]

(10-14-2012 10:53 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  

I think something like this could possibly work. My main concern would be making sure that your landlord would approve of it. I know that neighbors would probably hate the idea of seeing strangers constantly coming and going and may complain, especially if it's a building with secured access. If they do any serious damage to the unit like start a fire or something, the landlord is coming after you. I wonder if there is any insurance you can buy that would cover such a mishap.

This is an interesting idea and something I may even have to consider trying myself. If you could get several of these going at once, it could be enough passive income to not have to work.

Some things to keep in mind, it must be in a high demand area where you will have few vacancies. You will want to have great decor and amenities there to make the place very attractive visually so you stand out.

Edit - -

What do you guys think would be more profitable? A studio, one bedroom or two bedroom?

And some other questions, if you are out of town, how would the renters get the keys? Is there a convenient way of doing that without having to drive out every few days? What about cleanup and washing sheets? Do you do it yourself or hire someone? Insurance if one of them forgets to lock the door and all your shit is stolen?

You bring up a great point. Though I know business travelers use airbnb in my experience a good percentage of people who use it are younge rpeople traveling in groups looking for a place to party for the weekend in any given city. I imagine probably 50% on the low side or more of your "tenants" are younger people pregaming in the room and heading out to the nearby night spots. I can only image what the neighbors will think of noise, strange people comming and going, pizza boxes clogging the garbage shoot, etc.

Also the issue of getting keys to people I mentioned in a previous post unless your going to be meeting up with all these people on a daily basis and cleaning the room yourself you'd probably have to cut the doorman in on hte action to let this fly.

[Isaac Jordan]

(10-16-2014 09:49 AM)jamaicabound Wrote:  

My one hickup on this is how do you handle getting keys to people? I doubt your buildings door guy is going to want to be bothered everyday giving and collecting keys and it would be kind of a hassle having to do it myself.

The key (heh) is to not have keys:



http://www.amazon.com/Schlage-BE365VCAM6...=lockitron

[DJ-Matt]

Take it a step further, purchase a Z-Wave compatible lock, and thermostat, and you can remotely control both with a mi casa verde. Lights and other modules can be controlled too.
http://getvera.com/controllers/veralite/

[Isaac Jordan]

Three months later, my Airbnb hustle continues to pay dividends. Just wanted to update this thread with a few more suggestions:

Communicate promptly.

Airbnb keeps a record of both your response rate (a percentage describing how often you respond to inquiries and requests) as well as how quickly you respond (within an hour, within a few hours, within a day, etc.). Both of these stats are posted in the "About the Host" section of your listing.

Not only will having good stats encourage users to contact you (because they know they're likely to receive a quick response), but they can also help you beat the competition. Airbnb hosts can reject any request for any reason, so many users will send out multiple inquiries and then go with the host that responds first.

Airbnb also considers response time in their search results; responding promptly can help bump you up a few places in your city's rankings.

Here are some things you can do to improve your communication:

1) Answer every inquiry and request. Even if you aren't interested in hosting the person, shoot them a quick message to keep your response rate at 100%.

2) Download the Airbnb app to your smart phone. I try to answer any messages immediately, and have received praise multiple times for responding within minutes.

3) Keep a word document containing your commonly-used responses. Templates for things such as check-in and -out info, post-stay thank yous, or a generic rejection will save you hours of effort and ensure that you don't forget any details.

Set your weekly and monthly prices to encourage longer stays.

Airbnb doesn't require you to set weekly or monthly prices, but I'd highly recommend adding them. Longer stays might entail a slight discount on your part, but you'll reduce cleaning time/fees as well as the effort spent looking for new guests. Renting to fewer people also reduces your risk and the potential for problems.

Update your calendar every day, and keep it as accurate as possible.

Your homepage will show the last time you updated your calendar, and the act of updating it also improves your ranking in the search results. You don't have to make any real changes-the simple act of visiting your calendar page renders it "updated".

Keep your calendar as accurate as possible to avoid having to cancel on someone. Canceling a reservation hurts your communication stats as well as your search results ranking.

If you know your place will be available, keep the calendar open three to six months into the future. I've had folks book dates months in advance, and they're often easier to work with than the usual guest because they put so much thought into the trip.

Monitor similar Airbnb rentals in your area to adjust prices.

In the beginning, trial and error counts for a lot. If you're receiving a lot of inquiries, try raising the price until you're just managing to fill your calendar. If no one's booking, lower your price and/or improve your marketing (more/better pictures, more details on the place and its amenities, a more specific title, etc.). You'll likely need to price the place lower until you get a few good reviews, at which point you should slowly raise prices.

Also, try pricing a date higher when it's far into the future, then reduce the price as the date gets closer. This will help you get a feel for the true value of your rental.

Every so often, pretend you're looking to book a place in your area and get a feel for your competition. Airbnb hides rentals that are already booked for your selected dates, so try a few different options (weeknights, weekends, long weekends, an entire week, etc.):

What are similar places charging compared to you?
How many reviews do they have, and what are folks saying about them?
How do their amenities (parking, pools/gyms, Wifi, freebies like coffee and tea) compare to yours?
Can you change the title of your rental to better reflect your advantage(s) in the area?

This information will help you determine your place in the market. You'll get a feel for your niche, and can compensate for weaknesses you might not have noticed before looking at what others are offering.

[JJ Roberts]

Am interested in this. Good article I read today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/magazi...irbnb.html

The London market seems to be very active.

Let's list good and bad cities for doing this. Please add your city ideas to the list.

Good places should give good rates relative to the price of the property and should be busy year round and not seasonal.

Bad places are obviously places where it is illegal or legally questionable like NYC.

Good
====
London (very busy and rates are very good especially weekends. Seems to be busy year round).

[Safado]

This guy has a blog and podcast dedicated to the art of making more money from AirBnB. Got some pretty good tips in there for anyone who wants to make a serious go of this thing.

http://getpaidforyourpad.com/

[VolandoVengoVolandoVoy]

It would be interesting to know how many RVF members are landlords, and while reading this are wondering if their tenants are screwing them and turning their property into an unlicensed hotel.

[Ternarydemonite]

A girl I know is doing this on a hipster area here in Mexico City. She checks the apartment and occupants daily (e.g. small, quiet parties, no smashing doors). The landlord and neighbors do not like the idea, but so far nothing has gotten out of control.

She leased the apartment on the same building where she already leases, paid the security deposit, bought beds, key-locks, dishes, mattresses, basic furniture, etc. She will recoup such costs in about a year. Average occupancy rate is about 60/70% per month.

Once she recoups the initial costs, her profit should pay for her share of her main lease with some change to spare, but she still has to live with 2 roommates.

Considering the initial capital costs and the amount of time required to manage and promote the rooms, I think an Airbnb hustle should work if you (i) lease a place within very short walking distance from your main place, (ii) the leased apartment is already equipped and furnished and/or (iii) you spread the risk with a co-leaser.

If you already own a place and it is not located in an extremely expensive global city (i.e. NY, London, Singapore) I think a standard lease should give you way less headaches for about the same yearly income.

[aguirre]

more updates on this topic? It would be great that those who bought an appartment could share their results

I see that nobody shared this article,hope it's going be helpful for you

http://affordanything.com/2014/03/20/air...-business/

[Irish]

Now my tenants have moved out, I took some time out to fly back from Asia to Glasgow, UK to do up my old apartment to rent out on airbnb. This thread is full of gold information, particularly from Isaac Jordan (which I have duely +1'd)

I have just about got the place finished off with new carpets and painted walls. Planning to go live with the advert tonight. I will keep this thread updated on how it does

Apartment is a 2 bedroom ideal bachelor pad, great open plan kitchen living room ideal for having a few people round to pre game before going out on the town. The real selling point is the location however, on the doorstep to Glasgow's Merchant City which is one of the best areas in Glasgow for bars, restaurants and general nightlife. It is also about 5 minute walk into the city centre, while 2 minutes in the other direction is the Barrowlands, one of the prime music concert venues. While Celtic Park is a half hour walk away. Thus I am now following Celtic's fortunes a lot closer, particularly in Europe. (Now I certainly have extra reason to cheer them on versus Inter on Thursday)

There's another dude renting out his place in the same building, bar the decor it is practically a carbon copy of my place. So I have a rough idea of what to charge. He just put his prices up from 150GBP per night to now 175GBP midweek and 200GBP at the weekend.

Living room photo below. Let me know what you guys think of the place.

(note: that couch has seen some serious action...)

[WestIndianArchie]

redacted

[tattiemasher]

(02-21-2015 02:03 PM)Irish Wrote:  

Now my tenants have moved out, I took some time out to fly back from Asia to Glasgow, UK to do up my old apartment to rent out on airbnb. This thread is full of gold information, particularly from Isaac Jordan (which I have duely +1'd)

I have just about got the place finished off with new carpets and painted walls. Planning to go live with the advert tonight. I will keep this thread updated on how it does

Apartment is a 2 bedroom ideal bachelor pad, great open plan kitchen living room ideal for having a few people round to pre game before going out on the town. The real selling point is the location however, on the doorstep to Glasgow's Merchant City which is one of the best areas in Glasgow for bars, restaurants and general nightlife. It is also about 5 minute walk into the city centre, while 2 minutes in the other direction is the Barrowlands, one of the prime music concert venues. While Celtic Park is a half hour walk away. Thus I am now following Celtic's fortunes a lot closer, particularly in Europe. (Now I certainly have extra reason to cheer them on versus Inter on Thursday)

There's another dude renting out his place in the same building, bar the decor it is practically a carbon copy of my place. So I have a rough idea of what to charge. He just put his prices up from 150GBP per night to now 175GBP midweek and 200GBP at the weekend.

Living room photo below. Let me know what you guys think of the place.

(note: that couch has seen some serious action...)

Which part of the Merchant City is it in? I've only seen a couple of places in the area, but they've usually been well done.

Are you getting good business on the flat? I always thought the prices for Glasgow were far-fetched on AirBnb, but if tourists are biting then why not.

Shame about the result as well, at least the treble is on.

[pitt]

I see that Jamaicabound has been unbanned, that's great news, he is a very valuable member.

[sammybiker]

The freshen up looks great @irish, would like to hear an update as to how it's going.

Don't forget to incorporate expenses into your calculations gents...taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance & repairs are very real things. As a good rule of thumb, take your gross rent, multiple it by .5 and you'll have your net rent after expenses and a conservative maintenance & repair fund. Then you can subtract your mortgage payments and you'll have your net cash flow.

If you're managing yourself and can handy man a bit, you may be able to increase your cash flow a bit - but gross rents * .5 is a good, long term, conservative rule of thumb.

[heavy]

(03-18-2015 05:08 PM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  

Stayed in an AirBnb recently

Close to the city, but not close to reliable public transportation.

House went for 160k. That's 4800 down, 757 a month @ 3.92 % interest.
3 finished rooms, 3 unfinished rooms.

He was renting the rooms out @ 31-41 per night.
I could have gotten a monthly for 826.

If only 1 of those 3 rooms was rented, he'd cover his mortgage.

There was some other upkeep involved and expense, but for the most part he'd be okay during the winter and making real money during the summer.

The kicker, he didn't live there. I think he had a full time job besides.
The 2nd kick, it was one of his 3 houses.

I only saw him @ noon when he came to clean the bathroom.

I'm thinking this is a good business model that just needs a bit of tweaking.

WIA

Good lil breakdown.

AirBnB is basically a way for someone to tip-toe into the real estate rental market. With user reviews, you have a good idea of who's renting. If they're idiots, they're only staying a short time anyway, small likelihood of having to evict (I'm sure it's happened before), you only have to put up with people for a short time.

I suspect, all else equal, AirBnB would increase the price of long-term rentals in the area because of the ease of rentals, simply because it would decrease the quantity supplied. There are a certain # of owners who would rather pick and choose when, to whom, and for how much they want. They can keep it available for friends or family to use if needed.

I rented a place in Chicago a couple months ago...around $50 per night, just a room. They made around $200 from me, pretty worth-while to have to put up with a tolerable stranger.

My friend does this in my decent-sized Midwestern city. For the most part, she's had great experience renting out her spare room+bath. Couples in town for weddings, events, etc.

[DJ-Matt]

I'm considering renting my house out very soon as well, this would be a great way to get an idea for how it's going to be. I don't live in a particularly desirable part of the country but my hope is there will be some interest. Have to wait until I remodel the inside since my carpet and lino is blech condition.

My plan is to keep one of the smaller bedrooms to myself, and rent out the master and the other (three BR total, 2 bath) since I plan to live in my camper during warmer months.

By the way there are a whopping total of 10 AIRBNB properties in my city, 7 of them owned by the same person who is locally known for buying old houses and turning them into bed and breakfasts.

[Irish]

(03-19-2015 08:57 AM)tattiemasher Wrote:  

(02-21-2015 02:03 PM)Irish Wrote:  

Now my tenants have moved out, I took some time out to fly back from Asia to Glasgow, UK to do up my old apartment to rent out on airbnb. This thread is full of gold information, particularly from Isaac Jordan (which I have duely +1'd)

I have just about got the place finished off with new carpets and painted walls. Planning to go live with the advert tonight. I will keep this thread updated on how it does

Apartment is a 2 bedroom ideal bachelor pad, great open plan kitchen living room ideal for having a few people round to pre game before going out on the town. The real selling point is the location however, on the doorstep to Glasgow's Merchant City which is one of the best areas in Glasgow for bars, restaurants and general nightlife. It is also about 5 minute walk into the city centre, while 2 minutes in the other direction is the Barrowlands, one of the prime music concert venues. While Celtic Park is a half hour walk away. Thus I am now following Celtic's fortunes a lot closer, particularly in Europe. (Now I certainly have extra reason to cheer them on versus Inter on Thursday)

There's another dude renting out his place in the same building, bar the decor it is practically a carbon copy of my place. So I have a rough idea of what to charge. He just put his prices up from 150GBP per night to now 175GBP midweek and 200GBP at the weekend.

Living room photo below. Let me know what you guys think of the place.

(note: that couch has seen some serious action...)

Which part of the Merchant City is it in? I've only seen a couple of places in the area, but they've usually been well done.

Are you getting good business on the flat? I always thought the prices for Glasgow were far-fetched on AirBnb, but if tourists are biting then why not.

Shame about the result as well, at least the treble is on.

Just on High Street, Merchant Building. Was a great bachelor pad for me.

It's been up and running for about a month now and been doing really well. Tho mainly because I got a guy come in for a month only to extend for a further couple of weeks. I gave him a bit of a deal for the flat for the long stay consistency.

Only been a couple of minor issues which were easy enough to resolve. I have a couple of friends who live nearby being my on site management for a bit of a cut. Net all in I reckon I am making 2.5x at least what I would have been otherwise renting the place out at.

Having said that I am not sure what sort of interest I would have had otherwise if this guy didn't come along. Only had a couple advance bookings for a day here and there a couple months down the line but not had much else other than a couple of time wasters. But it's hard to say as this guy has had a big slab of my calendar booked out in the immediate future. I reckon most airbnb folk book no more than a month in advance.

For Glasgow the prices on airbnb are surprisingly high. But there was a guy with a near identical flat in the same building getting solid business at a slightly higher rate. Although I personally think my flat looks better I am charging less, tho I need to build up my review base before I up the price.

The odd thing is that the fraser suite professional serviced apartments literally a block away go for less, tho that said they are a fair bit smaller.

(03-19-2015 10:49 AM)sammybiker Wrote:  

The freshen up looks great @irish, would like to hear an update as to how it's going.

Don't forget to incorporate expenses into your calculations gents...taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance & repairs are very real things. As a good rule of thumb, take your gross rent, multiple it by .5 and you'll have your net rent after expenses and a conservative maintenance & repair fund. Then you can subtract your mortgage payments and you'll have your net cash flow.

If you're managing yourself and can handy man a bit, you may be able to increase your cash flow a bit - but gross rents * .5 is a good, long term, conservative rule of thumb.

Yeah, on top of repairs and expenses I also need to amortise the set up costs of getting the place repainted and the carpets done. But having said that, these were things I would have needed to do anyway as not been done since I got the place over 7 years ago.

I am looking at this more from the opportunity cost angle in as how much more net income I am earning versus me renting the place out conventionally. ie additional rent earned vs additional expenses (and hassle) of going through airbnb. The additional costs are essentially your utilities (gas, leccy, broadband) and the big one council tax. Which thanks to the phenomenal number of freeloaders and benefits whores in Glasgow is absolutely extortionate. No less than 235GBP a month. Other than that, other than getting a cleaner in between bookings there's not much more additional expenses than for your usual tenants other than your time and hassle in handling the continuous turnover of bookings.

Still however, I am netting way more than I was on a conventional rental. And I actually feel safer with the airbnb tenants given they have all sorts of verifications and you can look over their reviews also. Heard many many horror stories from friends of their nightmare tenants who moved in only to wreck the place or cease paying rent only because the agency was happy with some forged references provided to them.

There is also one additional massive benefit as well in that I have a place to stay if I need to return to Glasgow for a week or two. I just block it out in my calendar and that's that. Previously I had plenty of friends who offered me their couch or spare room to stay for no cost but nothing beats staying in your old gaff in your old bed.

Still early doors however. I've not been analysing the net profits and cashflow further than some back of the fag packet calculations as it's still too early to really analyse. The big thing will be the volatility of income due to the ad-hoc timing and length of the bookings. I will analyse the trend in depth further once I have a few more months under my belt. Interesting side note, airbnb provides some useful tips and analysis such as suggested daily, weekly and monthly rental price to charge based on what other properties in the nearby area are going at. Also you get occasional notification tips pop up. Such as today where I was pleasingly informed that occupancy rates normally increase by 50% during April to September (assuming based on their booking stats)

Certainly looking into this as a serious long term income option in the future. Potentially acquiring a few properties in Asia (purchase or subletting) and managing full time. Essentially like a buy to let except with a much much higher rental return for not much additional input of management time and hassle. Plus you could potentially use the places yourself to stay in as well when unoccupied.

[tattiemasher]

(03-20-2015 06:40 AM)Irish Wrote:  

(03-19-2015 08:57 AM)tattiemasher Wrote:  

(02-21-2015 02:03 PM)Irish Wrote:  

Now my tenants have moved out, I took some time out to fly back from Asia to Glasgow, UK to do up my old apartment to rent out on airbnb. This thread is full of gold information, particularly from Isaac Jordan (which I have duely +1'd)

I have just about got the place finished off with new carpets and painted walls. Planning to go live with the advert tonight. I will keep this thread updated on how it does

Apartment is a 2 bedroom ideal bachelor pad, great open plan kitchen living room ideal for having a few people round to pre game before going out on the town. The real selling point is the location however, on the doorstep to Glasgow's Merchant City which is one of the best areas in Glasgow for bars, restaurants and general nightlife. It is also about 5 minute walk into the city centre, while 2 minutes in the other direction is the Barrowlands, one of the prime music concert venues. While Celtic Park is a half hour walk away. Thus I am now following Celtic's fortunes a lot closer, particularly in Europe. (Now I certainly have extra reason to cheer them on versus Inter on Thursday)

There's another dude renting out his place in the same building, bar the decor it is practically a carbon copy of my place. So I have a rough idea of what to charge. He just put his prices up from 150GBP per night to now 175GBP midweek and 200GBP at the weekend.

Living room photo below. Let me know what you guys think of the place.

(note: that couch has seen some serious action...)

Which part of the Merchant City is it in? I've only seen a couple of places in the area, but they've usually been well done.

Are you getting good business on the flat? I always thought the prices for Glasgow were far-fetched on AirBnb, but if tourists are biting then why not.

Shame about the result as well, at least the treble is on.

Just on High Street, Merchant Building. Was a great bachelor pad for me.

It's been up and running for about a month now and been doing really well. Tho mainly because I got a guy come in for a month only to extend for a further couple of weeks. I gave him a bit of a deal for the flat for the long stay consistency.

Only been a couple of minor issues which were easy enough to resolve. I have a couple of friends who live nearby being my on site management for a bit of a cut. Net all in I reckon I am making 2.5x at least what I would have been otherwise renting the place out at.

Having said that I am not sure what sort of interest I would have had otherwise if this guy didn't come along. Only had a couple advance bookings for a day here and there a couple months down the line but not had much else other than a couple of time wasters. But it's hard to say as this guy has had a big slab of my calendar booked out in the immediate future. I reckon most airbnb folk book no more than a month in advance.

For Glasgow the prices on airbnb are surprisingly high. But there was a guy with a near identical flat in the same building getting solid business at a slightly higher rate. Although I personally think my flat looks better I am charging less, tho I need to build up my review base before I up the price.

The odd thing is that the fraser suite professional serviced apartments literally a block away go for less, tho that said they are a fair bit smaller.

(03-19-2015 10:49 AM)sammybiker Wrote:  

The freshen up looks great @irish, would like to hear an update as to how it's going.

Don't forget to incorporate expenses into your calculations gents...taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance & repairs are very real things. As a good rule of thumb, take your gross rent, multiple it by .5 and you'll have your net rent after expenses and a conservative maintenance & repair fund. Then you can subtract your mortgage payments and you'll have your net cash flow.

If you're managing yourself and can handy man a bit, you may be able to increase your cash flow a bit - but gross rents * .5 is a good, long term, conservative rule of thumb.

Yeah, on top of repairs and expenses I also need to amortise the set up costs of getting the place repainted and the carpets done. But having said that, these were things I would have needed to do anyway as not been done since I got the place over 7 years ago.

I am looking at this more from the opportunity cost angle in as how much more net income I am earning versus me renting the place out conventionally. ie additional rent earned vs additional expenses (and hassle) of going through airbnb. The additional costs are essentially your utilities (gas, leccy, broadband) and the big one council tax. Which thanks to the phenomenal number of freeloaders and benefits whores in Glasgow is absolutely extortionate. No less than 235GBP a month. Other than that, other than getting a cleaner in between bookings there's not much more additional expenses than for your usual tenants other than your time and hassle in handling the continuous turnover of bookings.

Still however, I am netting way more than I was on a conventional rental. And I actually feel safer with the airbnb tenants given they have all sorts of verifications and you can look over their reviews also. Heard many many horror stories from friends of their nightmare tenants who moved in only to wreck the place or cease paying rent only because the agency was happy with some forged references provided to them.

There is also one additional massive benefit as well in that I have a place to stay if I need to return to Glasgow for a week or two. I just block it out in my calendar and that's that. Previously I had plenty of friends who offered me their couch or spare room to stay for no cost but nothing beats staying in your old gaff in your old bed.

Still early doors however. I've not been analysing the net profits and cashflow further than some back of the fag packet calculations as it's still too early to really analyse. The big thing will be the volatility of income due to the ad-hoc timing and length of the bookings. I will analyse the trend in depth further once I have a few more months under my belt. Interesting side note, airbnb provides some useful tips and analysis such as suggested daily, weekly and monthly rental price to charge based on what other properties in the nearby area are going at. Also you get occasional notification tips pop up. Such as today where I was pleasingly informed that occupancy rates normally increase by 50% during April to September (assuming based on their booking stats)

Certainly looking into this as a serious long term income option in the future. Potentially acquiring a few properties in Asia (purchase or subletting) and managing full time. Essentially like a buy to let except with a much much higher rental return for not much additional input of management time and hassle. Plus you could potentially use the places yourself to stay in as well when unoccupied.

It's just a shame you didn't get in there in time for the Commonwealth Games, you would have made a killing.

[heavy]

My friend I mentioned above - I'll have to ask her for an update now that she's been doing it for 6 mos - but she was covering the mortgage cost in just a few stays. She actually bought an additional studio apartment to go back and forth, renting out vs staying in either depending on customers.

Don't underestimate the work tho. For your average customer:

Laundry and Cleaning - The big two. She's doing a lot of laundry (mostly time, some cost). Sheets and towels for each customer. You have to keep it spotless (Unless you're pricing really low in a big market. For instance, dirty wouldn't do well in my smaller city, but in Chicago, the place I stayed wasn't really clean, but I was getting it for really cheap.)

Gift basket - she does a little gift basket for customers with local things. You wouldn't have to do this, and you could keep this cost fairly low, but good customer service for sure.

Replacing things - People spill shit, bleed, throw up, have incontinence, etc, etc. Might as well prepare to replace the sheets, towels, comforter, lamps, furniture, clean carpets.

The big one - If they're staying in your spare room (ie where you live), the hassle of having someone there.

My friend usually doesn't worry about being there when they leave (probably check in as well) Her logic is, "I can either spend my time making sure the tenants don't do anything stupid like stealing stuff when they leave, or I don't worry about it and plan on spending some replacement costs for that random weird person who takes my tv."

I know she's made exceptions to this for people she didn't trust.

[HereComesAShark]

Anyone else here rent out their place while they are out of town?

You'll have to keep the place tidy and find a place to store your valuables but it can be a great way to cover some of your travel costs. I just went to visit my parents who live out of town for 10 days and was able to rent out my place for most of the nights (had a friend managing it) - made over $500.

Now I'm planning on renting out my apartment when I go on weekend/short trips as the money I get from the rental can go towards covering my accommodations.

[WestIndianArchie]

The next place I move, I'm getting a 2 bedroom just for this option.

WIA

[Philly215]

This is very common in West Hollywood/Hollywood area. Investors buy new town homes and rent them out through airbnb to travelers.

In every case the other home owners complained to the developer and the association. They made good money from it, but these are 3000 sq ft houses getting top rates. Even owning the property, people still complained.

In my opinion, this is only worth doing if you plan on using it to pay your rent. If you are trying to make an income from it, it will get very hard to manage that kind of volume spread over several properties to actually bring in several thousand a month.

[Clint Barton]

Delete

[Sebastian]

What city do you live in? what's the going rate for 2 bed room apt?

I am going to move to Seattle. I like capitol hill area but it's more expensive and crowded for me.
But I think if I am going to do Airbnb, I should be in capitol hill area. Just decent 2 bed APT in there is about $1800. I think I can charge $50 a night. So if I book it for 20 days a month. that's $1000. I don't know if it would be worth my time and risk compared to getting just a 1 bed.

Do you think living little away from the city changes a lot?
I am looking at N side of seattle that's about 20 min away from the downtown.
I think American person with a car wouldn't mind but foreign tourists won't consider.

Bottom line Is ROI better if you have a space in the City?

(03-21-2015 03:20 PM)Clint Barton Wrote:  

Gross $1500-3000 a month with airbnb for spare room while living in other room. I've got friends that have been doing mutilple whole apts for the last two years and gross $90k for a nice 2br. There are risks involved and they've had to payoff landlords and winter is much slower due to cold.

I could make $300+ a nite while I'm traveling for work or pleasure. I live in a walkup on a low floor and neighbors all young and cool and my guests are not party goers at all. Very responsible. Ideal sitch and I don't have valuables. Even banged a Brazilian airbnb guest for the flag.