Utility room facility

What device did you use to measure the 220V dryer?

So tempting to put a sign that says “hi Snoopy,” (with a picture of the cartoon dog) or hang a mirror there of something. That said, I suspect most host do store things in the bath cabinets that are meant for guest use, I certainly do.

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True host confession: In my first month of hosting I made a basic calendar error that allowed a guest to book only the Friday night of Memorial Day weekend.

Another guest did something about as air-headed and booked the weekend prior, thinking it was Memorial weekend. She was going to cancel.

Both groups were coming for a marathon. I asked the first guy if he would mind staying in my downstairs living space (at massive discount) for the Friday night so the second group could book the whole weekend in the regular listing. He was good with it.

Then I had to secure all my personal belongings before giving up my space and staying with family for the night. I cleared out the lowest bedside drawer, leaving the vibrator manual with a note that “all the good stuff has been relocated”. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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One again I have to nominate one of your posts for “post of the day!”

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“Hi, Snoopy” sounds good. I just might!

Thank you! I just calculated mine and for a large load, regular cycle, warm water, detergent - plus an hour of drying time, it was $1.85. I didn’t think to add depreciation, etc.

Just joined so haven’t quite worked out how to reply to everyone so just saying a general thanks for reply’s. Yes I suppose you could say we are a higher end countryside property 20 mins drive from a desirable city in Uk. Your replies have made me realise the laundry room is a necessity. I’m now resigned to emptying this area & making it guest friendly. As if I wasn’t asking enough of you guys I’m going to ask something else. This is something I’m not changing but will still accept thoughts. I’ve mentioned we have a relatively large propery. Our own bedroom & bathroom facilities are located on the downstairs floor at the end of a corridor. This is an area we are keeping private. Again thoughts from experienced hosts are welcome in respect of guests finding a room basically locked yet still having adequate space etc in rest of house. I’m not of a mind to mention this & is it necessary?

Put a sign on it that says “Private” or “Employees Only” etc. I don’t know if you have to put it in your listing description, but I think it’s a good idea. In my whole-home listing, I do not allow my guests access to the garage and storage room which are accessed via the same door and is locked (it physically cannot be unlocked from the guest side). I put a sign on it that says “Garage/Storage, No Guest Access”, and I put in my listing description that the Garage and Storage Room are are not available to guests.

Many people who are renting a whole house realise that there are going to be certain no-go areas. Lock the area and, as Brian said, put up a sign saying ‘private’ or similar.

Personally, I would mention it in the listing. As we know, guests don’t read anyway but having it in your listing will mean that the fact that there’s a private area has been disclosed, should there be any queries in the future.

Ask away as much as you like - that’s what we’re here for. :slight_smile:

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As long as you are not occupying the space while it’s rented out, no you don’t need to disclose it. Every place I’ve ever done a short term rental in, from hotel to large entire properties have had off limit spaces and locked doors.

Our unit is an all-in-one - it washes and dries in the same device. Single Phase 120 Volt - standard for USA.

I used a meter that connects in-line between the outlet receptacle and the washer/dryer - measures amps, watts, volts and total kW usage.

OK, I thought you might’ve found a decent 220V meter similar to a Kill-a-Watt EZ. I haven’t found any that were reasonably priced and and had universal 220V plugs. I do have a 220V meter, but it requires access to the hard-wire connection.

Busy time recently & just logged in again & thanks again for your helpful replies so far.

As a newbie we are almost ready to add our details etc with view to our first guests hopefully making a booking. My latest question is regarding photographs. The vast majority of the house is ready to photograph with the exception of a few bedrooms. Our idea is to photograph one bedroom which is ready for occupancy and add to our description that all the bedrooms are decorated and and furnished in the same way. There are loads of other photographs of every other area. Our intention is to spend more money to complete the other bedrooms when we receive our first booking. There will be a period of time when we add the house until it’s shown to be available. If we receive a booking close to available dates it will be a 24/7 preperation time which is doable if necessary. We don’t want to go to the expense of doing up the rooms furnishings etc until we are up & running. My question is will this put people off or will they trust one bedroom photograph is enough with our explanation of all bedrooms are the same quality & decor throughout,which they will be.

Personally I would wait until all the bedrooms you want to list are ready to be photographed before you list.

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Don’t advertise what you haven’t got!
If nothing else, potential guests look at photos, they don’t read.
1 photo of 1,bedroom will confuse them

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We are advertising the house now to be made available in April. There is absolutely no issue with doing the rest of the bedrooms & we could photograph now but we want to make them fresh & new the same as the completed bedroom. It’s so we don’t miss advertising for the new season when it’s popular for bookings. Personally I’ve actually booked a flat with 3 bedrooms where there was a photograph of one bedroom & the rest of flat looked amazing. On arrival the other bedrooms were as good as the one in description. This is what gave us the idea but I do understand thoughts here.

I’ve spoken to other half & we’ve agreed we need to compromise & photograph at least one other bedroom with partial photos of rest then add more as rooms are completed so still going ahead with advertising. Phew! Just wish there was a magic wand :laughing:

I do 100% agree with the other advice you received, but I also understand this situation. It’s not ideal but you don’t want to miss the season. We were in a similar situation when we listed our third (and final) apartment. Most of it was ready but some rooms not completely and yet it needed to be listed right away for future bookings. It has the same floor plan and a similar style to our other 2-bedroom, so we did list it early without all of the rooms photographed and referred to our other listing for “reference”. We also noted that we’d be adding more photos soon.

It actually turned out just fine. I think most guests aren’t looking at all of the photos anyway - though they are crucial to have (so get them as soon as possible). I did have to answer more questions from guests. It was understandable, of course. And it did book up nicely as planned and we added the other photos as we got them. Because you don’t have another apartment to refer to, perhaps adding a floor plan would be helpful? It would show them how the apartment flows together and how many bedrooms there are. Honestly, I think it will be more trouble for you but you could pull it off. And if you find the magic wand, please let us know :wink:

You may have done @Lara123 but you will find guests will pass your place by if you don’t have photos of all the bedrooms, they may feel you have something to hide.

Either wait until the rooms are done before you go live, or make them look the best they can be and then photograph them as they are. You can add in the description that they are being upgraded by XXX date.

I think you will be fine to go ahead with your listing without every bedroom perfectly photographed as long as it’s disclosed and the bedrooms really are going to be very similar. When I have rented homes with 5 bedrooms I honestly couldn’t tell one from another without very careful study unless they were dramatically different. For example the room with two twin beds was clearly different from the ones with queen or king beds. But if every bedroom is going to be pretty much the same, you’ll be fine.

I’m a little unclear about this statement:

You mean for cash flow reasons you are trying to wait on some of the expenses? Just don’t mess this up because if someone arrives and you’ve over promised and under delivered you could be in big trouble. You want to under promise and over deliver.

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