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We are short of housing here at a low price point. I have a large, clean and bright basement room that has a washer and dryer in it. The room is obviously shared, but it has a memory foam mattress, 42" smart tv, wifi, a mini kitchenette, etc. For the people who have stayed there, they really like it because it is very quiet.
I have seen bunk beds etc renting on Air and would be interested if any of you are listing cheap and cheerfuls.
Would you have to access the room during the guests stay? If so, then no I wouldn’t list it. @justMandi
If you don’t as long as you have clear photos and a description, as you say there is a shortage of decent accommodation in your area, I would give it a try.
I don’t host a shared space, so get your salt ready, but if the washer and dryer are physically in the room which is also a bedroom, then you (and maybe other guests?) would be going into this guest’s bedroom to do your laundry. Seems like it could be awkward, but I suppose there are ways to make it a little less so (e.g. folding room dividers, ceiling track curtains etc.).
Aren’t your guest mostly out for the day? I think you don’t allow Stubenhocker …
in which case it can work.
I guess it is all about setting non misleading expectations; whether it is a shared porch, campervan or double down as laundry room.
Give it a try and see if it works.
If the ratings are sub, abort.
We have listings where a sofa is listed in the living room. Bunk beds. You know, the old days.
I have room.like this for rent . Surprisingly if there is a choice guests pick this room as it’s bigger than others . I have access to it and guests know about but nevertheless they prefer it to other rooms
A lot depends on the guest. But it’s no different than a hostel. Everyone else is long term. But it requires explanation.
I wouldn’t list a room like that unless I was desperate.
It sounds like a nicely appointed room for someone who isn’t bothered by the intrusion of folks doing laundry. Probably more private than many of the “shared room” listings like a living room.
A couple things I’d want to make clear on the listing:
Who else is entering the space? Are only the hosts entering (gives more security to my belongings), or is everyone in the household using the laundry room?
If everyone, what security do I have for my things? (A locker/footlocker?)
Is it going to be quiet when I’m ready for bed? Or is someone coming in at 11pm to start a load, returning at 1am to flip to dryer? Will you have laundry hours with a clear stop time? (No loads started after X time? Machines stopped by 9-10pm?).
If your other guests/tenants have free use of the machines currently, will they push boundaries when they’re reduced to certain hours of access?
So long as you can come up with boundaries that works for everyone in the household, it seems worth a shot.
It’s very simple: we use laundry machines only when a guest is out . Since we host more longer term guests they have certain schedule so they don’t even know when we use them. One of my guests works from home so he does laundry may be once a month…
We or other guests never use machines at night. Other guests first ask if they can do laundry . Once I had a guest who stayed 3 months and never did laundry at the house m When asked he said he doesn’t want disturb a person in that room and he goes to laundromat
I have been renting out that room for almost 3 years and people seemed to be ok with other people entering. One guy stayed 9 months , another 6 months. Then I had plenty of 1 month renters . Laundry machines are not visible as they are covered by curtain.
And then there’s the other potential issue that @RebeccaF brought up here: Is it even legal to rent such a room for guests to sleep in?
My laundry machines are in the guests bathroom. It’s in my rules that if they stay for more than 2 nights that I will arrange a convenient time with them to access to do my personal laundry- and during that time I will refresh their towels, empty trash etc. No complaints so far!
If people rent out living room or their backyards for camping I don’t see how this can be illegal.
A living room would have an egress door, if not egress windows. A backyard wouldn’t have egress issues.
But a room without an egress window or an egress door would, apparently, be illegal, if rented out as a sleeping room. If not downright illegal, then a big safety liability for the host and a safety risk for the guest.
My room has a window. . I didn’t think OP meant a room.without window
I see no reason not to list it on AirBnB.
This is exactly the kind of rooms the AirBnB concept started from, and what AirBnB used to be, also AirBnB is one of the few sites that has the tools to describe a shared space like this.
A lot of hosts are aiming for the high-end concept and want to create the perfect environment for a guest and pamper them as much as possible, but there is still a huge market for „just a cheap place to sleep“, and good money can be made from that.
Just list it and see how it goes.
We didn’t see the listing in question but if it’s a space with no windows or doors then it shouldn’t be listed and the host doing so is either an idiot or a moral derelict. I’m all for original concept, couch surfing, renting tents on the front porch and any other listing that isn’t illegal or unsafe.
I never thought that I would receive moral condemnation for proposing to rent out a room. But here goes.
It’s a question, that’s all.
It is impossible not to have egress; how would anybody get in and out of it? Hello?
The negatives would apply to any basement room. The City of Toronto banned them until about 10 years ago, when it reached a crisis point. The City sent a PEng around and she recommended a fireproof stairwell. Done within the week.
I appreciate the feedback; I really do.
I wasn’t really replying to you per se I was confusing Rebecca’s thread with yours. Sorry. It still doesn’t sound like a good situation but I’m sure you’ll use your good judgment.
I think that was a reference to a listing in the other thread I linked where RebeccaF saw a local host offering a room for rent that did not meet local code for a bedroom.
You’re in Toronto and I have no idea of your local building codes, but the egress referred to actually means emergency egress and it must be direct to the outside. I.e. the room itself must have an exterior window that you can climb through, or exterior door. All the homes I’ve lived in with basements have had small windows placed high on the walls and they didn’t meet code for bedrooms. There are width, height, and placement requirements, and a ladder is required if the outside ground level is high, etc. I wouldn’t expect a laundry room to have a proper emergency egress window. But if it has an exterior door that might be good enough, although the door might actually need to have a window in it. Again, you’d have to check your building codes.