Empty home every few weeks - suggestions on what I could do to make some money!

ct2008

I have a nice (I think it is anyway) 4 bedroom house in an area that people come to on for short breaks. My children spend nights at their Dad's house, usually around 1 or 2 nights a week including a weekend night, and I sometimes spend these nights at my boyfriend's place, leaving my home empty. It seems a waste and I am wondering whether I could do something to get some income during these times. I thought about offering to friends so they could hold for example an Ann Summers party for a very small fee, or offering it to family members and/or family members of friends who live out of the area so they can stay when they visit rather than paying hotel prices. There must be other ideas and I wondered if i could pick forumites brains for any others and also some pitfalls I may not have thought of? Thanks in advance.

ormus

as i would never charge a family member for holiday accomodation, id be offended if someone charged me.
the best bet would surely to use a holiday agent to let it for you.

the downsides? you can get some real bad peeps in your house and they can damn near wreck it within one week.
hence large deposits required.

Itismehonest

Anything which involves people outside of your normal household having a key will not be covered by your normal house insurance - hence landlord, holiday cottage, business insurance.
Taking a risk in the hope nothing bad happens could cost you much more than it would be worth.

jackyann

I would have a chat to your local tourist information bureau as they may point you in the right direction. I know that there are some incentives for such schemes to "cut through red tape" but haven't a clue if they actually work.
Another organisation that may help is one I have good experience of as a tourist: http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk. I know that they support owners with the issues mentioned above.
I would also wonder if you could look at "home swaps" - there are a few commercial organisations, but also some churches & community organisations who enable swaps. You wouldn't get any money, but you might get some nice places to stay!

fluffpot

I think some homeswap websites also offer the chance of renting your property, rather than just swapping it. Also for a lot of swappers, the swap home is a second home so the swap doesn't have to be simultaneous. I would advise paying a membership fee to join as the free ones are full of old swaps and people don't update or remove them