Renting your own house while away

[Aelita0]

Hi all,

In Summer, we spend a lot of time away camping and we are considering renting out our own house while we away. Normally we only rent one room, so this is a new experience for us. I like to ask if anyone else is doing this? If so, how are you finding it? And, do you have any tips?

Besides removing any personal items, is there anything else we need to have in mind?
If the stay is longer than a week, would we be expected to have a cleaner coming in?

Thanks in advance, and have a fab day 🙂

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

This is exactly what Airbnb was built for @Aelita0 .  We had neighbors who would do this every year.  What you REALLY need is someone who is going to be around to oversee the property and check for damages between guests - a Co-host - a neighbor or family member who will be there locally in your absence.  You need them to assess damage and property loss between guests so, if necessary, a claim can be made BEFORE the next guest checks in. You also need someone on the ground nearby in case there is an issue (like a party, or a clogged toilet, or the WiFi goes out).   You only need to remove the personal items that you would be very unhappy to have go missing and add locks to closets where you can store things like your clothes, toiletries, and such.  Anything left out, is pretty much fair use to a guest (like your spice rack and anything left in the pantry/fridge).   

[Sarah977]

@Alice-and-Jeff0  Where did you get the idea that this is what Airbnb was built for? Airbnb started out from Brian Chesky and his roommates renting air mattress space in their own apartment where they also lived. It actually started as a home-share platform where hosts shared their kitchens and other common spaces with their guests.

Home share listings generally avoid the issues that plague so many hosts of entire house, off-site hosts, as no one can throw a party, sneak in extra guests or pets, etc.

While your neighbors may have rented out their entire house for years without incident, the demographic of guests has changed, and there are far more incidents of guests trashing homes now, as well as lack of support from Airbnb.

Personally, I would never rent out my own entire home and go away.