My wife Anna and I began hosting on Airbnb almost exactly one year ago today. We started with just a single bedroom in a rental house that we own. A friend had shared with us about the success that she had had hosting guests in her home on Airbnb, and after some consideration we decided to take the financial risk and give it a try.
In order to begin, we had to spend around $5,000 converting our standard rental property into an Airbnb unit. This included the cost of purchasing a couch, a television, dishes, linens, a bedroom set, and so forth.
Within the first month we had recovered these costs, and invested them forward into a second bedroom, a third bedroom and so forth. Over the last year I have used the funds from our guests to convert all four of my rental properties into airbnb units.
In the first year we made $35,000. The coming year I expect to make (phone number hidden).
That is many times more than I would make in rent. Not to mention the fact that my utilities are significantly lower with vacationers than they are with renters, it is far less stressful than dealing with renters, and I can make repairs between guests, as opposed to having to enter into a renter's permanent dwelling place.
The best part is that with renters my properties slowly decline in their over all state of repair. With Airbnb, my properties slowly improve in their over all state of repair.
This is because vacationers are far less hard on a home than people who live there are. My homes get deep cleaned between each guest, rather than going weeks or months, as may be the case with renters. While the additional income I have earned has allowed me to do a fair bit of remodeling without any hit to my pocketbook.
I have put a new bathroom in two units, a new kitchen in two units, and I am about to put a new bathroom in a third unit. This is resulting in my net worth increasing because my homes have a greater resell value.
The bottom line is that I am making far more money, my net worth is increasing, and life is less stressful.
It has been a good first year for us on Airbnb.On this Thanksgiving I desire to express my appreciation to this wonderful company!
