Why You Should Rent Out Your Extra Room(s)

To read the back story about why we live with strangers click here.

When we first moved into our home, we furnished the first two guest rooms right away. We bought the bed frames, mattresses, rugs, and night stands from Ikea, so we ended up spending around $1500. We bought the furniture that is the unfinished pine, so then we (Collin) spent an afternoon staining the furniture a dark brown color. We went to Target and different consignment shops several times until the rooms were ready.

We have a spacious room on the second floor with a vanity and sink that we rent out for between $25 and $60 per night when we do short term Airbnb. We have a long-term renter in that one right now that pays $700 per month.

In the basement, we have a quiet, private room with a twin bed that we generally rent out for between $15 and $30 per night. Right now we have a long term renter in there that is paying $500 per month.

We have two rooms on the main floor that we have not yet done any short term rentals in. Both rooms are occupied and both guests pay $600 per month. One room is furnished and the other renter brought her own furniture. In total we probably shelled out around $2000 to furnish those three guest rooms.

Right now we happen to have four renters, but our goal is to just have three guests at all times, that way we have a true guest room for when family or friends visit. One renter will be moving out at the end of this month, and another just moved in so we have some overlap.

If you just did the math, you would see that we currently make $2400 per month with our guests. We don’t charge them any utilities, so laundry, internet, water, electricity, and gas is all included in their rent cost. Our mortgage is $1300 per month (although additionally we do have PMI still–but hopefully not for long). We are trying to continue paying our mortgage like normal, and then just use the money from the renters as extra that goes straight towards our principle. This has allowed us to pay down our principle twice as fast. We have lived in our home for four months, and we have already reduced our anticipated mortgage pay off day by 17 months. UNREAL. It actually makes paying towards our mortgage fun because we can see how our payments are paying off in the long run (I can’t believe I just said that).

Thinking of hosting through Airbnb? Click on this link to get a $40 credit to your account!