Here’s How You Can Rent Your Home and Earn Extra Every Month

Everyone is looking to make a few extra bucks here and there. While you may be in need of money, you may feel like you don’t have the resources to bring in the dough.

Actually, you do! Right under your nose is a hot opportunity that you probably haven’t even considered.

Yes, your home is the perfect place to make a few extra bucks without you having to do very much to get started.

When you look at the amount of extra space you have in your home, you can rent your home, a room, your yard, or even your driveway to bring in some cash and pay for those upcoming expenses or indulgences.

Here is everything you need to know about renting your home to an out-of-town guest.

Getting Your Home Ready for Rental

Let’s start with the inside of your house. One of the easiest ways to make an extra dollar is to rent out a room or the entire space to a traveler or a boarder.

When you may not have considered the potential income of renting your home, there is plenty of money to be had.

Paying Taxes

However, you must follow the laws for renting that are established by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS mandates that you pay taxes for any income you bring in from your home after 14 days per year.

Even still, renting your home is a solid way to earn some extra money for something that you really want without a lot of inconveniences to do so.

Preparing Your Home for Rent

So, how do you go about renting your home without too much hassle? For starters, you’ll want to make sure your home is ready for a newcomer to stay for a while.

You have to consider that they will be staying in your dwelling and using many of your belongings. If you are not OK with this, then you may not want to rent your home at all.

If you are perfectly fine with letting a stranger step into your private life than you need to make sure you have everything that a visitor would need to feel comfortable.

This means that there should be towels, sheets, dishes, electronics, and virtually everything that you would use on a daily basis when traveling.

You may need to stock up on certain items to make a visitor feel more at home in your house.

You will also want to remove any items that you wouldn’t want a stranger to get their hands on. This will protect you and make sure there is no issue with your property renter.

Listing Your Property on Airbnb

Now, you need to think about where you will list rent your property.

Airbnb is an ideal place to start. The Airbnb site lets property owners list their home, so would-be renters can decide if they really want to stay there.

Create an Account

To get started with Airbnb, you need to create a user account. This will allow you to make money renting your house by listing it on the site.

You can sign up for an Airbnb account right here.

As a nice feature on Airbnb, the company often offers credits to property owners that sign up.

This can make it easier to try the website without investing too much to do so.

Tell Your Renters About Yourself

Your account on Airbnb needs to include lots of details. Tell them about yourself and be sure to include a warm photo of yourself.

You will also want to make sure you are verified by the site so that guests are more trustworthy of taking the plunge to rent your home.

This will need to include a scanned passport, mobile number, or a link to your Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn account.

Don’t worry as this information is not public to users — it just helps Airbnb verify that you are a legit property owner.

Creating a Rental Listing

Now is the time to set up the listing of your home. This is easy, so you don’t have to stress.

Airbnb literally walks you through the process, so you are sure to get it right.

Figuring Out Your Rate

You will need to include your per night rate as well as the number of rooms and amenities that your home has.

Plus, you’ll want to include the sights and sounds of the area as your renters will certainly want to check out the area.

Do not be too concerned if you are unsure about the price of your home rental as Airbnb will let you revise these figures at any time if they are too high or too low.

You will be able to tell once you figure out the demand for your home rental what to set the price at.

Create a Booking Calendar

You will also need to include the dates that you want to rent your home for. You may be planning a trip or out-of-town getaway which would be an ideal time to make money renting your home.

A calendar option lets you choose when your home is available to renters. You even have the option to rent your home once, say for a special event in the area, and never again if you choose.

List Your Home’s Amenities

Your guests are looking for the best value they can get from a home rental. They want amenities and plenty of them.

You do have the option to provide them in your listing.

Amenities often include: air conditioning, hangars, essentials, wireless Internet, heating, or even a kitchen. You’d be surprised at home many rentals do not offer one.

Describe Your Home

Be sure to describe your home as best you can. Give your renter all the details they need to choose your home for their rental.

You’ll want to make it enticing, so a possible renter is unable to scroll past your home without stopping to check it out.

Think about descriptive words that can help them envision spending time at your rental — after all, you want to make money renting your house on Airbnb.

However, you do not want to embellish the description of your home as this will make a renter fickle if they see it is not what was claimed.

Remember you get reviews on your listing on Airbnb from your renters, and the better your reviews are, the more people will want to rent with you.

Bring Up Possible Home Issues

You will also want to let renters know about the challenges of your property in a tactful way.

Maybe there is a barking dog but they are friendly, or your home is on a busy street but has easy access to restaurants or the freeway.

Be honest with your renters as this will let them know you are trustworthy and someone that they want to rent from.

List Your Home Perks and Nearby Attractions

Don’t forget about your perks and tourist attractions nearby.

Your visitors want something to do and see, so help them see the value of staying at your home which is close to many sightseeing locations.

Perks can include anything from wireless Internet connection (a must) to a kettle, coffee and tea, sugar and creamer, or even towels.

Bonus perks that are nice to provide include: toiletries, snacks, light breakfast items, map, and local recommendations.

Take Great Photos of Your Home

One of the most important aspects of your Airbnb listing is your photos. This can make or break your listing on Airbnb.

You want to rent your home, and poor pictures can prevent a renter from seeing any interest in staying there.

Be sure to take your photos on a sunny and pleasant day. This will showcase your home in the best light, literally.

You’ll want to show off the best assets of your home, and good quality photos can do just this.

Also, be sure your home is exactly how a renter will see it upon arrival. It should be neat in tidy in your photographs and have plenty of appeal.

Make sure everything is perfect when you snap your photos so you can capture your home in the best possible condition.

You will want to include every room and living space and make sure that you don’t omit something that could cause a surprise.

Get creative and take photos of the interior and exterior as well as the surrounding area.

The more that your renter can imagine staying at your property the better. The objective is to rent your house out, and you need every tool at your fingertips to make it happen for you.

Wait for Renters to Contact You

Now that you have the perfect listing and great photos, now it is time to sit back and wait for a renter to contact you.

Remember that renters may have questions and may need to contact you personally.

Be sure to answer them promptly as time is of the essence. Leaving a visitor to hang can cause them to look at another property because they don’t want to wait any longer to book.

Host Responsibilities

Once you have secured a renter for your property, you do have a few responsibilities as a property owner. You need to coordinate the key handoff so your renters can gain entry.

As a good host, you also need to make sure that your guests have everything they need throughout the entirety of their stay.

This means you need to have a contingency plan should a renter have an emergency.

In every home, things can go wrong and leaving an emergency contact name and number for your guest can make them feel more at ease when staying with you.

If you will be out of town during your guests’ stay, have someone else on hand to be the emergency contact in case a problem should arise.

Watch the Reviews Roll In

Lastly, one of the main benefits of trying to make money renting your house is to get good reviews. There are several ways that you can go about doing this.

Be Prompt

As we discussed you need to be prompt when responding back to potential renters. Airbnb provides a promptness rating, and you want yours to be as high as possible.

The better your promptness rating is, the more apt a renter is to work with you now and in the future as they know that they can count on you to respond.

Handle Problems Quickly and With Care

You want to garner good reviews for your rental property. Even a bad renting experience can result in a good review if it is handled correctly.

Be proactive and responsive when a problem arises. You will be surprised how far this will go with renters that are just looking for a solution to their renting issue.

Update Your Calendar

Other ways to gain good reviews on Airbnb is to always keep your calendar up-to-date.

Nothing can be more frustrating for a renter than to think that your home is available for rent, only later to find out that it has been rented.

Review Your Guests

Worried about a bad experience with guests? Don’t be.

You have rights, too as an Airbnb host. You can review your guests just like they reviewed you.

Your renters will want to be on their best behavior when you rent your house to them.

A poor review can prevent others from renting to them through the site in the future, blacklisting them as bad renters that are not worth the hassle.

Rent Your Home and Earn Extra Cash

There are plenty of ways to rent your home and make some extra money. Following these tips can get you started as the host that you always wanted to be.

Let Airbnb guide you through the rental process and follow these tips for a successful way to make money renting your house.

Do you have any experience renting out your property with Airbnb? Would you consider it for an additional source of income?

We’d love to hear your thoughts!