Bedroom or Dining Room and Laundry Closet?

I am going to Airbnb the upstairs rooms in my house. We have 2 bedrooms ready to go, and a 3rd room that I’m not sure what to do with. I’d love some input. Here’s the (unique) situation:

It’s a room that has 2 closets: a full-size double bi-fold door closet but it has laundry hookups, and a door into a smaller closet that actually is a PASS-THRU closet into another bedroom (and the only closet for the other bedroom). So without a lock on this single door, the two bedrooms aren’t secure to each-other. The room also has a double-door entryway, where there used to be French doors and we used the room as a dining room. But now the double-door entry has a wall closing it in to convert it into a bedroom, but the wall can easily be removed.

Our options (all have living room and kitchen access):

  1. We’ll have 3 bedrooms, each with their own closet, no laundry, no dining room/table
  2. We’ll have 3 bedrooms, each with their own closet but one room’s closet has the laundry machines in it, no dining room/table
  3. We have 2 bedrooms, each with their own closet, laundry access, and a dining room/table

What’s going to give me the best bang for our buck?
Thank you!

Who is your target market? @lizzydbean

Well, I’m totally new to this but we are 10-minutes from two different Universities, in a fast growing area so I imagine we will get a lot of families, and parents visiting for that.

Businesses are booming here too so maybe occasional single people here for interviews, etc.

And are you offering kitchen access if so they will need somewhere to eat ?

You would have to run the figures in your budget for two bedroom and three bedrooms to look at projected income based on your estimated occupation rate.

If your target market is families kitchen access and somewhere to eat would seem more relevant.

You can invest in market research from something like Airdna on whats most popular in your area.

Thank you great idea!!

(Our kitchen has an island with stools, so there is that option to sit and eat).

Personally I hate using kitchen stools to sit down to eat a meal at. Coffee and a snack yes, but certainly not for a proper meal :slight_smile:

So many things to take into consideration.

Who’s going to be turning over the space between guests? You? Would you perhaps appreciate the washer & dryer upstairs for turnovers?

Will you be able to deal with as many as 6 strangers in your house if you rent out 3 bedrooms? Do you have enough bathrooms for that many people all wanting to shower in the morning?

With 3 bedrooms and no dining space, will you want/allow that many people in your kitchen?

Do you have a place to store all the linens/consumables you’ll need for 3 bedrooms?

These are just logistical questions I’m thinking of, remembering the things I wasn’t bright enough to consider when I started Airbnb, LOL!

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Great points @Chloe you are correct @lizzydbean needs to look at this issue in the context of her listing as a whole.

Having 3 bedrooms, rented separately, might have the best income. You’ll have to do some price comparisons in your area. The challenge with this is shared bathroom use - you need to check on it frequently or a messy guest will earn you bad cleanliness marks from the other guests. You’d need to secure each room, also.

I’d seriously consider your personal need for space. Host burnout is a real thing. I couldn’t host as frequently as I do if guests were in my kitchen and living space.

I had 3 bedrooms in the upstairs of my house, which I turned into a private suite. 2 are still bedrooms, the 3rd I switched over to a small lounge space, converting the closet into a breakfast bar with small fridge, coffee maker, and toaster. It’s rented to a single group at a time; I didn’t want more than 4 people using the tiny bathroom.

You might consider a setup like that, adding a counter to the laundry closet. Among a single group, the pass-thru closet is acceptable. Or secure the closet and rent 2 rooms separately.

People are willing to pay more for the privacy and it’s nice we don’t share living or kitchen spaces. (Shared kitchens cause some host burnout. Make good house rules and hide your good pans and knives if you choose to share those spaces. Some people will lounge in your living room all day)

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So room 3 has W/D hookups… I would consider a kitchenette utilizing the plumbing… So kitchenette and dining area that serve the two bedrooms. Personally I would list the two rooms together or at minimum NOT rent both rooms to different people unless they have private bathrooms. I would not rent a place with a shared bath. Some will, many will not.

RR

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Oh my goodness these are all wonderful thoughts and suggestions!! THANK YOU, EVERYONE! Lots to think about.

I’m leaning towards two bedrooms plus dining area with laundry available.

(The basement of my home is a full mother in law apartment, it’s where my husband and I already have our bedroom, so we are thinking we can retreat downstairs when we have guests and basically never see anyone, except for check-in and check-out)

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