Good Morning..... We are a few months into this process, and we are learning something with each hosting experience. Overall, we have found it worthwhile, enjoyable and profitable. We are still refining our "goals" to achieve our desired outcomes. Our rooms are on the top floor of the house we live in, and the design is a very open set of spaces. This means that having anyone else in our home is almost guaranteed to impact us, with the top of the list being our sleep patterns. Both of us sleep very lightly (I have been a Soldier for decades, and I hear everything). It also generates traffic through our living room where we might normally enjoy the TV from the couch.
Our key lessons:
1. The greatest impact for us has been "longer term guests." Cleaning and accommodating others in our house for a few days is a light enough burden. By the end of a week, they start sort of "moving in." The demands on the house and lifestyle increase steadily; greater use of the kitchen with the associated messes, reliance on the smoking area at all hours, bathroom hygiene falls off, while there is no curfew they also start becoming more active during what would be quiet hours. Living with this for a few days is "the cost of doing business," and we have no issue. One of our current guests (actually 2 men) have been "great" but we are in the 3rd week and I feel like both sides are becoming less careful and graceful. We will shift our listings to shorter stays, perhaps up to 6 days. Notably, the cleaning fee is also "divided" by the number of nights in a single stay.
2. Ultimately, this is a "side hustle" for us, as much about sharing our home and location with folks coming to the University or our small city for various reasons as it may be about making money. Therefore, we will be refining our calendar to set occupancy to around 30%. 9 days per month with occupants in either room will not alter or interfere with our lifestyle. Note that when there is football, a graduation ceremony or orientations at the college, the whole "region" jumps in price. That was our initial focus.
3. Read both of these as we are trying, learning through experience, and becoming better at being who "we are." We are also learning from each guest who comes to our home.
Best of Luck, and thanks for the Community!
