Hosting multiple rooms currently at 2 but thinking about a 3rd

Mike1890
Level 2
Inver Grove Heights, MN

Hosting multiple rooms currently at 2 but thinking about a 3rd

I have been having a lot of success renting out two bedrooms in the upstairs of my home on airbnb. I stay downstairs, and leave the top portion to guests unless I'm cleaning. I have a third bedroom upstairs I am thinking about renting as well. I have 2 bathrooms upstairs so as of now each bedroom has their own bathroom. So with a third the last bathroom will be shared. I don't mind having to clean it more often. But I wanted to get other people's thoughts and ideas. So far I have a limit of 2 people on the current bedrooms. I was thinking the 3rd bedroom would be only limited to 1 so that there is not too many people staying in the upstairs at one time. So give me your thoughts and ideas! My goal here is trying to maximize income, while till making it hospital and a great experience to those who come by.

3 Replies 3
Trevor243
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

First thing is that you live in a huge country with millions of people, so whatever you choose to do, there are people out there who will be happy to book with you, and people who won't. So in the grand scheme of things, you can still get bookings and earn money.

 

Second .... at the moment, your room 2 has a private bathroom. The minute you change that to "shared" bathroom, you are devaluing that room. Will the extra income from a 3rd room, also with "shared" bathroom, compensate for any lower fees due to sharing a bathroom?

 

Put yourself in the position of a guest. Would you want to share a bathroom with someone you don't know? What if you're desperate for the toilet but the other guest is happily reading a book while he does his business? And what if the guest walks out saying "I'd give it 10 minutes"? Or what if the other guests are a young couple having a bit of fun in the shower? As a guest, would you be ok with that?

 

If it was my house, then my first preference would be to see if I can remodel the layout to get a small bathroom with shower for the 3rd room. If not, I might add the 3rd room to the 2nd to make a 2 room rental with private bathroom. Instead of attracting only couples, you could be attracting small families (parents + child) (or maybe single parent + child).

 

Something you could do to "test the water" is create a new listing on AirBnB for the 2 room rental, leaving the original room 2 listing unchanged, and link the calendars - a booking on one will block out the other listing, so avoiding double bookings - you could get some bookings for room 2 only and some for rooms 2 and 3 together ....

 

Please let us know what you do and how it works out for you!

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Mike1890  There are plenty of listings with shared bathrooms, either with the in-home host or other guests and they get booked. Younger people may be more okay with a shared bathroom, so it depends on what demographic of guests you prefer to host. I can tell you that my middle-aged guests have told me they always look for places with a private bathroom, which they have at my place.

 

Getting in some extra cash good

Smelling others crap is BAD