The impossible dream

savingholmes

I am glad that your 'no chance on earth' thought was confounded. Good that you have agreed a date for the chimney. Hope your visitors have a great time and that things smooth out... 

Lodgers... have you got a price in mind of how much you want to earn from it and how long you are willing to let at a time? Would you rather do that than the Air thing...?

Tahlullah.H

To be honest, I haven't really given anything much thought, beyond using the house to generate income and pay for itself.  Locally, the going rate for 1 week in a house in excess of £1k, so I keep thinking this is what I should aim for - never knowingly undersold...  However, I may just start with a couple of nights a week with Airbnb.  It is all very vague and just a concept in my head at the moment.  But, next year is when I plan to start big.  For the remains of this year, I plan to just dip my toes in the water to see what is possible.  I will start by quizzing my friends on what they found acceptable and what they would have wanted if they were paying.  Great Guinea pigs!

greent

Good idea to get friends opinions and suggestions x

TallGirl

Sounds exciting with the renting out of the house is that the whole house not just a room? Not sure I could do that we have too much stuff. Good money by the sounds of it so worth a go even if you do get taxed on it. 

Hope your friends enjoy their stay and you get the fedback you need 

savingholmes

You could perhaps ask FortuneSmiles for ideas. She was renting out an annex at some point and has a diary.... 

Moneyfordreams

When we rented out our rooms - guests gave the suggestions on things we initially missed out. We had the fridge, microwave, bread and butter and biscuits, shower gels and shampoos etc - guests wanted jams and marmalades, hairdryer, a fan for hot spells. Some people wanted more interaction and would come and chat - others kept away. We left information on local attractions and bus timetables. Once things were set up it got easier. We had a lot of international guests. Although nothing major happened, there were silly breakages, hidden spillages, and a couple of students pinched the toilet rolls- one French intern stayed for 12 weeks. She got a litter fine which appeared after she left! Oh yeah - our TV aerial didn't reach that room so I bought now TV- foolish but set my mind at ease. Although hot water on tap, I was cautious with heating and gave a electric heater for cooler times.             

Tahlullah.H

Thanks for the comments everyone.  They are appreciated.  It is always difficult when you decide to try something a bit left of field.  But so far, the friends in the house are ok.  As there is no heating due to the work not being complete, there is a small portable heater in each room.  I am certain they will tell me what can be improved, unless they hate it and are just polite!  After all, they are there along with the scaffolding, which isn't exactly attractive!

Still so much to do.  I really want to see if anyone wants to come and stay just for a weekend at first.  Start small.  But have to finish decorating and carpeting the room and putting the balustrade on the decking, as well as getting the chimney completed.  Looking forward to having an open fire again.

The room is really small, I can't imagine fitting a fridge and microwave in there.  I didn't think it was small, but now I do!  Am I looking at this wrong?  Should I forget about just making the room available and only go for the whole house?  I was trying to build myself up to the prospect of the house, based on the fact I was comfortable with the room, but I am beginning to wonder if it's even possible to do.  Anyway, still small steps.  So much to do, best not rush it.  Not really had a good summer this year, so hopefully next year will be warmer and more people will want to be out and about, so how to cook won't be high on their agenda!

The mortgage is creeping up as the bills are being paid.  I am hoping that it will eventually top out and I can start making inroads into reducing it back down.  So far, I have managed to do everything without touching the PB, but I feel that may change soon.  Hopefully, none of this extra work will push me over £55k debt.  That's my limit.  I have £5k to spend and 4 years to pay it all off and be mortgage free.

savingholmes

I think there's a massive difference between whether you are renting out a single/double room, an annexe or a house in terms of what people expect. For a room I would expect tea and coffee making facilities, a tv, a hair dryer, towels and not much else. Start small you can always expand later...

I would only expect a microwave and fridge if it was labelled an apartment or annexe... Is it going to be for a lodger or for holiday lets... If it was a lodger I'd assume they would use your kitchen and living space. If it was a holiday arrangement... the risk is they may expect breakfast...

greent

I guess what's in there depends on what you are looking to rent it as? - Airbnb very short stays? Mon-Fri lets? If it's very short Airbnb then honestly a small canned drinks type fridge sounds fine - enough to put a 1pt milk bottle in if it's mon-fri then they'd probably need to be using your kitchen as well (unless they were like my husband who lived entirely off takeaways as he didn't like cooking in someone else's space...) x

Tahlullah.H

Thank you all for your comments.  I want to start small and expand, assuming I can stomach it.  And just one room at the weekend I feel.  So, tea making facilities with biscuits,  with a small drinks fridge, hairdryer, tv,  small fan heater which can blow cold when it is hot outside, towels etc.  Just this information makes me feel better and think it is possible to achieve. 

I am comparing myself to Premier Inn.  Book for the night and then go the next morning.  That sounds good.  Assuming there is no major trauma, I can then look to expand.  OK, I need to finish decorating the room, laying some carpet, fitting a wall mounted TV and changing the furniture to accommodate the fridge and tea making facilities.  The room is not that big, but that's because almost one entire wall is taken up with a floor to ceiling window with French doors that open to the Juliette balcony and the views.  The other wall is fitted wardrobes, the 3rd wall has the bed head and bedside tables against it and the 4th wall has 2 doors, the room entrance and the ensuite entrance.  So, not that big.  I think the selling point is the view, not the size of the room.

It will take some consideration, but I will aim to finish the room and then advertise weekend stays to help with the mortgage payments before October ends.

I will name this Stage 2 of World Domination!  Thank you for your input.  I will let you know what my friend says when he leaves.