How Can I Effectively Store Personal Belongings and Prepare My Home for Renting?

[Deirdre162]

Any tips on storing personal belongings or getting my own home ready to rent out and ensuring there is storage space for guests and personal belongings are safe.. Thanks

[Title updated by Community Manager for relevancy]

[Miranda337]

Any personal belongings left out are considered fair game by guests to use. So if there are things you don't want guests to use, you need to either remove them or lock them up.

[Christeen4]

I have lock out closets in every unit that tenants don’t get a key to… I have extra supplies in there.   TP, PT, soap, paint, etc.   Housekeeping and I are the only ones with keys.

[Co-Host18]

Closets or a basement with a locking door is easiest. Each room has a name with corresponding storage space in the kitchen for guests.

[Walter501]

We ran into this dilemma as well when we were converting our primary residence into a rental. We had some open storage space in our basement that was unused so we ended up hiring a contractor to put up some drywall and a door with a keypad. Guests can't get in and we haven't had any problems in the 2 years we've had that property live. 

In short, maybe wall up some basement space or use a small room that you can lock away from tenants. 

[Denise1657]

I will be reading the responses for this as well.  Most of it is "obvious." 

To respond to your question specifically, we own a 4-plex and live on the first level.  Renting the basement apartment as the AirBnB.  

We furnished it for our college daughter to have a place over the summer.  We are also artists.  ALL this is to say, that the personal stuff is there for the guests to use.  What we have of "value" is the art.  So far, we haven't had any problems or issues.  

I am considering all this as we head into the World Cup coming to our area in 2025.  It seems like a good moment to rent our own personal space.  That will cause us to make a lot of changes to accommodate that time frame.  

I am considering "cordoning" off an entire section of the apartment and just stuff our "stuff" into it.  LOL.  

good question and good luck.

[Esheen0]

i’m actually getting my house ready for Airbnb.  It’s a 3 br and I’m going to renting it as a 2 br. The other bedroom I’m putting a lock on and store my personal things in there.

[Sara9157]

@Deirdre162 We have a small storage room that we added a keyless combo lock to

[Yanping2]

I leave it in the store around the apartment. Wish could help. 

[Diane1465]

I have a large metal cabinet in the basement that locks. You could also choose one closet and add a locking handle.

[Crystal519]

I added key lock door handles to my bnb hallway closets that I labeled (with a small hand held labeler I purchased at WalMart.)

”Housekeeping” “Maintenance” and “Storage” above the handles. 
The bedrooms have their own closets and dressers for guests belongings and the home is ADT monitored with a guest access code the guest can use to secure their own belongings while they are away from the house. 

[Brandon751]

We simply lock up the garage (unless people need the Tesla charger inside) as well as a closet in the basement. All other closets and living areas are available to the guests. Just find out how much you need to store and lock it out. 

we also have found that allowing guests to use our linens and dishes cuts down on the amount needed to store

[Chitra19]

Dear Sophia

There should be adequate space in each bedroom for guests to walk up to attached washrooms. Move upto the windows to see around,store their own personal 1 or 2 luggage bags in designate areas. If there's space left then use them covered In large carton/plastic storage container box, ans cover it with a good looking sheet and place a flower vase over it...

[Michael7671]

When you say "personal belongings" and you mean family pictures, the best thing to do is to remove them. I would even say replace the kitchen and dinnerware so that you're guests use different ones than you, for hygienic reasons. but if you are referring to cleaning and maintenance equipment, then a simple locked cabinet big enough to hold them would do. 

[Brenda1490]

All I can suggest is a dedicated locked room .

[Kaben0]

Hello. In the homes I co-host, I have a dedicated closet for the owners. The closet is locked with a combination lock. In one of the homes, the owners belongings is space above garage and drop down ladder is locked.