Hosting in your own home

[Gabrielle486]

Hello Community,

I have hosted an entire property, but my circumstances have changed. I am wondering how hosts do hosting in their own home. My son says ' no way people go for that' !

So I am hoping for any advice 

Gabby 🙂

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gabrielle486 Many people do it very successfully. It wouldn't work for us because we are not the sort of people that like random people visiting. Advice from others suggests that you need careful vetting questions to check expectations and compatibility especially for longer stays. You will also need a profile picture as it can (strangely) be useful if guests discriminate. Happy to explain this if you like.

[Diana2915]

we live here in Utah we recently set up our basement as an Airbnb before that we had renters in there and it seem like it worked out OK but the difference was I got to choose who I rented my basement too and I feel like on the Airbnb you don’t really get to choose who stays at your home too much unless I’m  missing a spot in my listing to screen people for long-term stays at my home. Maybe you can explain this better for me, but I do get a profile picture of the person booking it and their first and last name, but I don’t get the last name of the other adult that staying there and we have a guest that’s gonna be here for three months and I kind of had some reservations about it, but what can I do?

Thanks  Diana 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Diana2915 The most important thing is to switch off Instant Book. That way you can ask questions and check who is really coming.

[Diana2915]

ok thank you so much 😊

[Helen3]

With the greatest respect your son is completely incorrect there are hundreds of thousands of successful homeshare hosts including myself.

do your market research to look at supply and demand for homeshare properties in your location . 

what areas are you looking for . Have you done your research around other homeshare properties in your area to see how they are set up? 

[Jj42]

We have a two bedroom condo near the beach and we pushed all of our personal belongings into the one bedroom and locked it, and are renting the apartment as a one bedroom one bath. We bought a small cottage outside of town that will do better in the cooler months (im in brazil and people like to rent cabins in the winter) and are staying out there while we rent the beach condo. Its working great for us. I write this while we are actually spending a few days in the apartment in between guests. Its win win if you have another place to be. 

if you are looking at renting a room or whatever, plenty of people do that. You make less money, but many folks who are looking to just spend a night or will spend most of the time outside, out and about --- i think its fine. 

i have some people do some set ups where they put a little bar in the bedroom to avoid guests using the kitchen in shared spaces. For example: Mini fridge, microwave or coffee machine. 

[Paula]

Hello @Gabrielle486,

This is an interesting step in your hosting journey! 😎

As some of our experienced hosts have mentioned, many choose to rent out a room in their property. Here’s a video and an article that offer more insights into this dynamic: Airbnb Rooms - An All New Take on Private Rooms.

When you have a chance to review the comments, please keep us posted on your thoughts, and let us know if you decide to go with this option.

Best regards,