Does anyone do home letting?

[mynameisnotkate]

i.e., letting out their home when they are away? We're just finishing off major renovations of our house, so it's in a great state and we have a much increased mortgage - so making it pay for itself when we're on holiday is appealing. We're in a touristy area so I think getting people in wouldn't be hard.

Does anyone do this? How long does it take you to prep the house to have guests in? Do you put away every single personal item, plus all the food in the kitchen, etc., or do leave some in place? Obviously we wouldn't be leaving clothes in drawers, etc., but where do you draw the line? Who do you let it through? How do you organise change overs whilst you're away?

Any advice would be very welcome!

Like AirBnB?

I have done it, there’s a big yearly event in our area where letting accommodation is at a premium, so I have moved out and let it for the week.
I have one tiny bedroom that I don’t include that we have put a lock on, so all personal items, most of our clothes, anything valuable, etc goes in there piled up (just put things in bin liners!) and it takes me a couple of days going hard at it to get it ready.
It makes several grand so it’s worth it but on the other hand it’s pretty stressful and you come back from holiday to a house that needs sheets changing, cleaning through and maybe worse surprises if the guests haven’t been great (this hasn’t happened to me but I think I’ve been lucky!) - so you need it to make enough ££ to be worth the hassle.
I use a cleaning business that I trust to go in to do sheets, towels etc, clean bathrooms and hoover through on a longer stay but don’t take bookings that require a changeover, I only accept a booking for the duration. If I was away longer I’d want to leave a trusted cleaner a big ticklish for the changeovers to ensure the standard was high.

Thanks, @Sarahemmabrown , that’s really helpful. I had been estimating one day of clearing, but maybe that’s optimistic. I also need to factor in the effort/annoyance of coming back to a messy flat - though I guess we could get the cleaners in for that. I’ll look into prices and figure out if it’s worthwhile. Do you use Airbnb?

I think it takes a couple of days because you have to leave it immaculate whilst also packing! So putting sheets on for guests also means washing, drying and putting away the family ones so has to be done on the last day. You’re cooking in the kitchen until you leave, using the bathroom, etc. So for me it’s one day emptying drawers, cleaning, packing for holiday, and then the day we leave is laundry, cleaning kitchen, cleaning bathrooms, floors while backing out slowly! And remembering that they can go into all the hidden areas of your house so all cupboards need wiping out, fridge needs leaving mostly empty and clean, bins the same, laundry baskets need to be empty, etc etc!!

Also I’m a single parent so just me doing it with the kids underfoot 🥴

I rented it through Airbnb and a couple of times have done a swap on one of the house swap sites for something far more luxurious than our rural farmhouse.