What started you on your hosting journey, and how has it lived up to your expectations?

[Alexandra316]

Good day all, 

I was reading the new Community Profile for Robin this month, and it made me think about the reasons we start to host, especially for those who host in our own homes. As these boards often document, our hosting journeys can be both rewarding and challenging, and I'm wondering what made people sign up for this. As a follow-up question, has the journey been what you expected, and do you see yourself continuing to do it long term?

For myself, my husband and I moved to the small town of Vineland, Ontario, Canada, which is in Niagara's wine country, a year and a half ago. We were moving from a small house in a bigger city, and we bought a house that was quite a bit larger than two people (and two large dogs) needed, as it turned out. We found that the lower level of the house got very little use. We had stayed in Airbnbs when we were travelling and really liked the concept, so I had the idea of giving it a try at our own home. I thought our underutilized lower level would make a nice space. It had previously been an apartment, and had a private bathroom, kitchenette, seperate entrance, and seperate heading system already. I started doing research on the market in our area, and found that most of the accomodations were on the higher end of the price range and had at least 2-day minimum stays. A lot of people come to our area for weddings (wine coutry=weddings) or just for day-long wine tours, and I thought people would appreciate less expensive place to stay where they could get away for a night or two. I was a little bit apprehensive: what would the guests be like? Neither of us are exactly what I would describe as  "people persons", as both more introverted, but we still thought it would be an adventure, so we got to work. 

We ended up opening September 1st, 2017, and we had our first booking within an hour. It was for a one-night stay at the end of the same week, and the guest was a famous person (at least famous in Canada) who was coming to Niagara to have dinner at a local restaurant. I spent the entire week biting my nails, and making sure everything was perfect. We also got a bunch more reservations that week for future dates, so it was sink or swim. Friday arrived, and so did the guests: I gave the tour of the flat without being too nervous, and left them to it. Everything with the stay went smoothly, and we had our second guest the very next day. It's been pretty much go, go, go ever since then. We haven't been booked solid, but we've had at least one reservation every week. 

As for being nervous about the guests, I have learned to get over it: our guests have consistently blown me away in terms of their kindness, honesty and respectfulness, and we have met some extremely interesting people. I think we've been lucky to have consistently great guests, and I hope it carries on. I would like to keep doing it as long as it's legal where we live. I do think that when we go on vacation in the winter, we'll probably snooze the listing so I can have a bit of a mental break though. 

[Kelly149]

@Alexandra316 Fun thread! I may have said it before, but our property had an old scary outbuilding, I didn’t want to have to dig up and dumpster the entire foundation so I just rebuilt the barn on top of it. The carpenter was a family friend from out of town and I spent a Fortune housing him in a hotel during construction & I wanted him to come back to work on our main house so we rebuilt the barn with an eye to it being able to house him for that project. We also entertain ALOT with our kids, school, church & neighborhood so the space is half party, half guest space. Once we finally finished all the construction projects and I caught my breath then I had a great space that we didn’t need to be in everyday but I wanted it to remain available to us on occasion. So it went on abb. We’ve only had a handful of empty weekend days in the last 18 months. It is a TON of work and if I was creating my own rental platform from scratch I would do several things differently but for now the $ covers the mortgage and justifies improvements and extra art and throw pillows. I’m grateful for the hosts in cc that help each other figure out strategies and blow off steam from less than ideal guests. I don’t think I would recommend abb for an entirely extra property but as a compliment/utilization strategy for an owned property I think it’s great. 

[Alexandra316]

@Kelly149Thanks! I really like your barn: it's a cool space. We have a similar outbuilding on our property that would make an awesome stand-alone Airbnb, but I haven't been able to talk my husband into making that leap yet. Maybe next year. 

I agree that a lot of the issues with guests seem to happen at offsite properties where the hosts aren't present. 

[Kelly149]

Well, if it helps to convince him, I think we’ve recouped our construction costs in about 15 months of hosting.... it’s about 1300 sqft, so larger than most guesthouse/lofts so we take up to 10 guests which increases our rate a good bit over the usual studio for a single-couple @Alexandra316

[Alexandra316]

@Kelly149Our building is even already there. It's about 800 square feet, so not massive, but it could accomodate 4 comfortably. I think it would be a cool place to stay: it has a loft vibe, with a vaulted ceiling. It's even already heated and air conditioned. Maybe one of these days!

[Kelly149]

@Alexandra316 maybe instead of offering the building separately (so 2 different sets of guests at the same time) you could offer the flat and the building together for a larger family group. Seems like that might be popular for wedding groups....

[Rachel0]

This is an interesting post and makes a wonderful change from all the moaning and groaning!  I started hosting in early 2015 when my youngest son Tom moved out to live with his girlfriend.  We are fortunate enough to live in a three storey house in a very lovely part of west London and once Tom had gone the whole top floor (a loft conversion) was up for grabs.  I though of getting a lodger but got talked out of that by son number 2 (Paul) who pointed out that I could get a real horror and not be able to get rid of them and he then told me about AIrbnb.  So I threw out all the punctured rugby balls, the odd socks, the broken bits and pieces and decorated all three rooms - bedroom, sitting room/study and shower room.  They looked great so I set up my listing and sat back and waited.  Nothing happened.  So I lowered my prices and received my first guest, feeling terrified.  Since then I have had well over 200 sets of guests - probably about 350 people as I get lots of couples - and I have learned that although people are very different, most of them are basically good.  I'm an on site host, I provide breakfast and most of the guests love to chat while eating and ask me questions about things to do and see in London and endless questions about public transport!  Like I said, the vast majority of guests have been great and I have only had a few horror stories - one of the most interesting being the man who was too large to fit up the stairs (my fault it seems, standard width stairs were too narrow) and expected me to carry his suitcase up.  We solved the problem by him going sideways but he left after one night....

It's been fun and I've learned a lot, earned some money and wondered what I have done with it. The most important thing to remember is to stick to your house rules come what may - it's your house.

[Alexandra316]

@Rachel0I absoltely love your listing. I've looked at it a few times when you've posted something on here, and I'm really struck by how welcoming it seems. Glad to hear that your guests have appreciated you, and that you've had positive experiences. 

I hear you regarding the AWOL money! We've primarily spent it on house upgrades, which is a win-win, I guess, but when we started, I was expecting to use it to do something exciting like go on an exotic vacation. Nothing so far, but who knows? Once the driveway is done and a few more windows are replaced, maybe we can fly away to Fiji or something. 

[Rachel0]

@Alexandra316 you could spend the money on a trip to London instead of letting it go AWOL!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Great posts!!!!!

I took the leap into hosting about 6 months after I moved into my first apartment. I have 3 bedrooms and always thought 1 would be a guest room for friends or my sisters when they visit. When I first moved into my home, people kept telling me I should get a roommate - but I did not want to be a "landlord" or have to manage a long-term renter.  

Henry and I used ABB as guests when we travelled and really enjoyed the experience. Henry was the one who persuaded me that hosting would provide the flexibility I wanted (I could block dates as needed) and also offered to help me host since I travel a lot for work.

What we didn't expect was that my listing would be so popular among exchange students!!!!

Most of our guests stay anywhere from 1 month to 4 months, and I am able to have the house to myself during vacation times so I think I have found the perfect balance for myself as a host. I also like that I don't have to worry about frequent turnovers.

I didn't think of it at the time, but later realized that I was actually in a great position to host international students since I'm bilingual, I am located close to several universities with active exchange programs AND both my younger sisters studied abroad. The more I thought about it I especially liked that I am able to provide a safe, clean and PRIVATE space for students on a budget (I am priced slightly higher than a 2-person dorm room). I usually treat my guests as if they are (not only just a paying guest but also) a friend of a friend of one of my sisters - and this has worked out well.

During the week everyone is busy with work/school but we usually make time for a quick meal or two on weekends. Henry has also found a new hobby in teaching our guests how to cook different types of Korean Ramyeon (instant noodles) properly 🙂

Henry and I still stay in touch with many of our previous guests - we love to hear how they are doing in school after going back home, about their acheivements and about the Korean foods/dishes they miss 🙂

[Alexandra316]

@Jessica-and-Henry0Nice that you're able to really get to know your guests over a longer period of time. Where do your exchange students tend to be visiting from?

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Alexandra316

We've had exchange student guests from Arizona, Singapore, France and Germany 🙂 I also had one short term guest visiting from New York who is coming again for a longer visit this summer. Henry and I are so excited!!!! 

We only host about 4 guests a year......and we don't really care about super host nor are we dependent on hosting income - although I do let Henry splurge more than usual on electronics since he handles most of the cleaning and laundry. LOL! Hosting is a fun and enjoyable way to meet new people, help them enjoy their time in Seoul/Korea and has been an opportunity to look at typical life in Seoul from a different set of eyes. 

Henry and I have been saying that we should plan a trip around the world to visit ALL the countries/cities that our guests were from......maybe 3 years from now 🙂 

[Fred13]

It has more than exceeded my expectations; in fact, it is the most pleasant and interesting business I ever done, by far. I had no expectations, since had no clue what STR was about. Someone suggested it, I started an account with Airbnb and the rest is history.

[Alexandra316]

From little acorns, eh @Fred13 ?

[Fred13]

Yeah. 😄 

[Phyllis38]

We live on a farm, and have been hosting for three years. Our listing is a new house which we built on a separate part of the farm for the express purpose of short term rental. My friend was an airbnb host, renting out her spare room, and that's why we chose airbnb.

Six years ago, I retired from teaching, and was looking for a project into which I could direct my energy. I knew there was a need for tourist accommodation in our area, and so I spent some time on planning and designing a suitable house, which we could potentially live in ourselves one day if we decided to downsize the farm into a smaller holding, and sell the main farm.

We decided on short term rental as it enabled us to generate extra income while retaining control of the cleanliness and maintenance of the house - we do the cleaning ourselves and it has provided us with a joint interest. We love the change of scenery and enjoy sitting on the alfresco area having coffee during our cleaning breaks - it's like having a holiday house, except it's just up the road!

We have enjoyed meeting the wide variety of guests who have stayed in our house, including regulars, and assisting them with our local knowledge. Many are family groups, often three generations, here for weddings, funerals, reunions, country holidays. Others are international visitors, short term project workers, competitors in sports events.

When we started hosting, we set a period of 4 to 5 years, after which we will review our listing and decide to either move in ourselves, or possibly sell the property as a family home on 97 acres of farmland.