Inspired by another thread from today-
I own an amazing apartment in a very desirable area. It’s right in the middle of the city, minutes from lots of theatres, attractions, shopping etc. It’s big with two bedrooms, parking- just generally really nice. It’s also next to a hotel that charges £250+ per room per night, due to the in-demand location.
I don’t live in it because I bought a house with more outdoor space and I now work mainly from home and am just in the city once a week.
However, when I moved, I was inundated with friends and family suddenly getting in contact to say they’d just looooove a holiday in the city and they just happened to remember that I have a lovely empty apartment there and they’d be noooo trouble at all and then they’d bring a friend and before I knew it, I was spending my time driving around to collect keys when they weren’t returned to me on time, replacing stuff that was broken, changing bedding before I could use my own bed, and getting annoyed because good booze I’d had in the fridge got emptied without being replaced.
So now I’ve told everyone that I have tenants in the apartment.
I do not. Nor will I.
I stay there one night a week and then “holiday” there every few weekends. Once Covid restrictions are lifted, it’ll be my little city pad for theatre visits, shopping etc.
Because the mortgage is low, it’s actually cheaper for me to stay there than to get a hotel four times a month. Plus I have the flexibility of staying in the city if I don’t want to run for a train after a night out etc.
I’ll possibly look at selling it next year when the market has stabilised a bit, but until then I’m not letting anymore users take advantage and just give a cheery “yes, they’re great tenants and never cause me a peep of trouble” whenever anyone enquires.