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I make money while I am vacationing. And you can too!
If you’re like me, you love traveling and want to do it more. But the cost is so high, you feel like you can’t go as much as you’d like, right? I hear you! I am a budget-conscious mom. My desire to take my kids to see the world and experience connection as a family is strong! I know traveling together will create lasting memories for my family! However, being serious about our expenses is vital to our emotional and financial well-being. Because of this, I always search for ways to make travel more affordable. My latest endeavor has high payouts, with little effort! You can make more money being on vacation than you spend! Seriously, you can go on a vacation with your whole family and come home with MORE money in the bank! Don’t believe me? Its true, I promise. I’ll prove it to you!
Drum roll, please….
Rent your home to other vacationers while you are on vacation!
This summer, I became a host on Airbnb. We rent out our personal home to perfect strangers! Here is the story of my path to making money while I vacation. Maybe it can help you, too!
We stayed in an Airbnb in Paris, France with 5 children. It was a simple family apartment and it was perfect for our travel needs. After we got home, I started dreaming of hosting others in our home.
Getting ready to be an Airbnb Host
We travel a lot, so our home sits empty many days a year. If we could fill the house with paying guests, it would be looked after AND have the benefit of funding some of our trips.
I started tinkering around with the idea of hosting by creating an account with Airbnb. Was it was possible and how difficult was it? Airbnb’s listing steps are super easy to follow and user-friendly. There are lists of amenities your home offers and you just click on what applies. I realized that our house actually is useful and needed for people in so many ways I hadn’t considered. I cleaned each room one at a time and slowly collected pictures to post.
After doing this, I still wasn’t ready to put our home out there, so I just waited and thought more about it. Airbnb reached out through email answering concerns and questions I had with posting our home. They walked me through my issues and helped me gain the confidence to confirm my listing. After finally deciding to list it just to see if there was interest, Airbnb immediately called me to confirm I was a real person with an accurate home description. And our home went live. At first, I didn’t have a home manual or much of a description at all! As we had our first guests, I wrote up a manual for working our tv, washer/ dryer, dishwasher and other appliances as well as instructions specific to our home.
Concerns and questions
I had many concerns and questions. I wasn’t sure if there was a need in our area to rent a large home. We live in a suburban community, not close to major attractions. Would anyone want to stay here?
Nothing is unique or special about our home, but it is ours and we love it so we want to keep it nice. What if things were damaged or stolen?
Wouldn’t it be awkward to have strangers in my home? Would I need to hide my photos?
How much work would it be to get my house ready for guests? Would I need to move things or put things away?
What would others think of my home or my family? Would I be embarrassed about some of my decorations or furniture?
Do I have what most guest would need? Would it cost a lot to get ready?
How long does it take to get ready?
I’ll answer all of these questions here!
Is it for everyone?
My husband was not on board with renting our house out. I am naturally a trusting person and think that others will treat our home just like we would if we were staying in someones home. My husband is much more suspicious and untrusting, worried that our home would be mistreated. So, I made a list of valuables in our home that could potentially be stolen or damaged. It was amazing how short that list was! I pointed out to my husband that the value of those items was low enough that with only 1 or 2 stays we could easily replace those items. For example, our most valuable item is our 60″ tv screen. Not to mention the logistics of stealing a 60′ tv. We paid around $700 for it. If someone stays for 3 nights in our home we make over $750.
As for wear and tear on the home, we have four kids so damage to our tables, couches, and appliances happen frequently. In my experience, most people who accidentally damage property would be honest and willing to pay to replace it.
I also researched Airbnb’s insurance policy for situations where any property is stolen or destroyed up to $1 million. First, you try to work it out with the guest and then you can go through Airbnb if there is an issue.
After creating the listing, my husband looked through it. He started to see that our place had a lot to offer and could benefit us in return. As the idea settled and we learned more, my husband said he would let me try it and see how it went.
For our first guests, the kids and I were out of town for a month, so my husband had to do all the work! It took him a couple of hours to declutter, wash sheets, clean the kitchen and set things just right. He was up until 1 a.m.! But a couple of days later, when he checked back in on the house and it was in great order and we were $550 richer, he was fully on board! He started helping take better photos for our online page and thinking of ways to make it more attractive to prospective tenants.
Start-up costs
This was a very low-cost endeavor. Since we host family and friends, we already had 2 king beds, a double stack air mattress, a pull out couch, plus our kid’s beds and cribs. To get started, we bought a set of sheets for a nice air mattress we bought several years ago. We also bought a lock box and changed our handle on our master closet so we could lock away anything we didn’t want the guests using. We probably put less than $100 into getting the house ready for guests. And in only 1 night we make $250.
Depending on what you already have in your home, this can be completely free to start doing! Airbnb only takes money when you make money (in fact, you never really see how much Airbnb takes, just what you will get). You don’t have to provide anything special for your guests, but make sure you let your guests know. For example, we don’t drink coffee but knew that most of our guest do. We didn’t buy a coffee pot but did write in our house manual that we were not providing a coffee pot and we listed a coffee shop near our home. None of our guests had a problem with this. We let our guests know that all bedding and linens and soaps will be provided.
Extra costs of hosting
The only extra costs we incur is a higher cost of utility use while we are away. The A/C is usually run cooler than we keep it. We installed a wifi controlled thermostat so we can turn off the A/C when our guests leave or turn it on just before they arrive. We do several loads of sheets and towels after each visit, but there hasn’t been a significant difference in our utility bills each month. There are minimal costs with incidentals such as toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, dish soap or other bathroom items. I don’t know the exact costs of these small items, but it is minimal compared with the income.
Complete Control
The great thing about Airbnb is that you get control over everything. You choose the price and when it is available. Set your own house rules and what rooms guests are allowed to use or not to use. You may decline if you aren’t comfortable with guests.
You can charge a cleaning fee for whatever you choose. Our cleaning fee is set pretty low and I choose to clean the house myself so we make a little more, but you can definitely hire cleaning help if needed.
We realized that more than 8 people made more work for us and we weren’t comfortable with a huge group, so now we have an extra person charge of $10/night for over 8 guests. You get complete control over the number of people and the costs.
You can choose the cancellation policy to be strict (you get a portion of the money even if they cancel within a week) or flexible (guests cancel up to 24 hours with no charge).
We set up with each guest a check in and out time. This usually works in our guests favor because they get to check in early and leave late since we are traveling and won’t be home anyway. But typically they check in late and leave early due to their travel schedule.
If you only want to leave your home for one vacation a year, you could choose to rent your home only for that week! This can pay for your vacation while you are on vacation! If you are flexible, you could make your place available all summer and have a minimum night stay and whichever week gets booked that is when you go on your trip! Or plan a stay-cation in hotels or staying with family or friends when your home is occupied.
How did it go?
After hosting seven different groups, our home has been treated SO well. After coming home, we could find very little evidence of people even being in our home! Some of our guests have even washed and folded towels and sheets for us. The kitchen is always cleaned and trash taken out! I have been beyond impressed with our guests. I’m not saying it will always be this good, but 7 out of 7 groups have been fantastic! Every time we step into our home after a group leaves, we wonder what it will look like. But so far, we’ve made $4700 and have had no negative impact on our home
One group accidentally took a blanket of ours and mailed it back to us right after they noticed. So far, we don’t have any missing items, but we have collected several things people left behind. My daughter inherited a pair of cute flip flops, we have several extra towels now. We enjoyed ice cream from our freezer and some leftover pantry food.
What have you got to lose? Why not list it and see if someone is interested? Help others have the best trip for their needs and help your own family, too! You are already paying for your home and all the items in it, make it work for you!
You can make loads of money while on vacation! Let’s make this happen!
Besides all that income, there are other perks I’ve loved about being a host. Read about unexpected benefits here.
If you are interested in becoming a host, please sign up through my referral and we both get a travel credit! Just want to save $40 off your first Airbnb stay? Click here!
Questions? Comments? FAQ of being an Airbnb host.
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2 Comments
Love this I am so looking into this. I have wanted to do this but you really help solidify and answer a bunch of my questions. Thanks
my FAQ post just was published! Check it out! https://flybytheseatofourpants.com/faq-renting-home/