Airbnb

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 Sam Beaton 17 Nov 2019

Any experiences to share or advice to give? I live in a 3 bed semi in the suburbs and my kids are here 3 nights a week. It sounds like potentially easy money to rent out a room for 1 or 2 nights a week when it's just me in the house. A no-brainer or a terrible idea, or somewhere inbetween?

 James Malloch 17 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

If you have a mortgage then check you're allowed as some (most?) providers don't allow it on a residential mortgage. 

 Phil1919 17 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

I've stayed in about 12 over last few years and only had good experiences. 

 john arran 17 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

We use airb&b a lot at chezArran, albeit from the perspective of professional lessees. But we have overwhelmingly positive experience of them, certainly compared to the likes of booking.com or most other holiday letting companies. 

OP Sam Beaton 17 Nov 2019
In reply to James Malloch:

I have a mortgage so I'll check that, thanks 

OP Sam Beaton 17 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

Any views on how likely I might be to find someone who is interested in staying for just one or two nights a week in suburban Sheffield on a regular basis?

 Sealwife 17 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

I have a 2 bedroom house I let out through Air BnB.  First let was in July.  So far I have had 15 sets of visitors.  14 have been great - no bother at all and left my place pristine.  The other one left a bit of a mess and stole daft inconsequential stuff.  Not bad enough to make a fuss about, but enough to be annoying.

Air BnB is very easy to set up, take some pics, write a blurb and upload.  I uploaded mine late one evening and had bookings by the time I got up the next morning.  They sort out the money side of things too, so you don’t have to chase people for cash.

In my case, it is a lot of work, cleaning and laundry wise, so be prepared for that.

Good luck

 Timmd 18 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

> Any views on how likely I might be to find someone who is interested in staying for just one or two nights a week in suburban Sheffield on a regular basis?

Some friends had reasonable success and they lived in Meersbrook, if you mean regularly getting different people to stay?

 Bob Kemp 18 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

How accessible for the universities are you? I know quite a few people in that sector who work partly online at home and spend two or three nights in rented accommodation near their university, so there’s a possible market there. 

 RX-78 18 Nov 2019
In reply to Sealwife:

Your last comment is interesting, we have done AirBnB for a good few years ( not providing accommodation) but there is always a cleaning fee added, I assumed this was to assist the provider in using hired cleaners?

 Welsh Kate 18 Nov 2019
In reply to Bob Kemp:

Yes, this. Several of my colleagues in my department live a fair way away and spend a night or two a week in a hotel or Airbnb in town. During term time we tend to have fairly predictable timetables, but the downside of an academic clientele is that it may not translate into year long patterns.

 Sealwife 18 Nov 2019
In reply to RX-78:

Re the Air BnB cleaning fee.  The provider can choose to add this onto a booking or to account for cleaning in their nightly price.  I choose to do the latter as I really dislike making an accommodation booking and finding extra costs added on when the bill arrives.   I also offer a discount if people stay a week or more, less cleaning and general admin for me to do, and guests like to see they are getting a bargain.

I suspect that if people feel they’ve “paid extra” for a cleaner, they’ll be less bothered about leaving a mess.  I don’t employ a cleaner - I am the cleaner so it suits me that guests take care.  So far, apart from one group, my guests have been great.

 Sam W 18 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

We let a place out on it and experience has generally been very positive, loads of lovely, interesting people.  The only time it's been left less than immaculate is when used by workmen, who generally do long days on site and take a very functional view of the accommodation. Friendly guys, but have had it left a right mess a couple of times i.e. food everywhere, washing up not done, random items of cookware thrown in the bin.

Cleaning fee is a useful way of getting a premium for one night stays, covers effort of cleaning, washing and ironing (all of which we do ourselves).

 Sealwife 19 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam W:

Yes, that has been my experience as well.  My messy folk were here for work too - although my other work bookings have all been grand.

I run with a minimum 3 night booking because I simply cannot keep up.  If I have s heavy workload at my day job, I will also block off the day at one end, or both, of a new booking to ensure I can actually get in to clean and prepare.  Having someone leave and another arrive on the same day can be a worry if there’s a mess/breakages to sort.

OP Sam Beaton 20 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

Thank you everyone for all your advice and suggestions

 krikoman 20 Nov 2019
In reply to Sam Beaton:

Not sure if this applies, but if you're for Palestinian rights, people are boycotting AirBnB for their renting out of houses in the occupied territories.


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