Has anyone quit their job to run an Airbnb? Wondering what to expect.

[Mysteriousgirl2]

Hi all, I’m considering quitting my job to run an Airbnb.

I’m currently working full time as a teacher and I really enjoy my subject, but just hate the behaviour I’m having to deal with all the time. My 3 small DC are suffering due to work/life balance.

We’ve just bought a holiday cottage in a really sought after area and I’m considering quitting my job to run it. Is this total madness? I have no idea about earnings.

YABU - continue teaching
YANBU - no, go for running the cottage!

Oh. Well you’re all second home owners..no wonder there’s a housing crisis in scenic areas

I think it takes a while and more than one property to match your salary. You might need a an additional income too!

This ama is an interesting thread on running an airbnb for a living:

I'm an Airbnb superhost www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/4926080-im-an-airbnb-superhost

I run a small hol house as well as working part time. It works fine and I might retire at 55 to run it FT.
my place is only 1 bed so not a party house, have not had the duff experiences here…most guests leave it spotless.
I am on Airbnb, booking.com and VRBO.

income is circa 20k a year.
do my own washing but pay for ironing and a cleaner, though do some cleaning myself too. I also do a minimum 2 night stay as I couldn’t juggle it with work if I had 1 night stays.
I do a LOT of washing but it’s manageable and easy in the summer when I can line dry more often.

I love it and when I do retire I will do 1 night stays which will help me fill mid week. I reckon my occupancy rate is an average of 70% so still quite high.
go for it!!

I had a colleague who gave up work to do this but they only lasted 6 months due to finding it super boring and lonely (basically having no colleagues and just being a cleaner every few days) .. depends how full your life is outside of work though I guess.

That's a very good point actually. You do need other interests which my friend has

I think you’d be mad. What about paying into your pension?

also, you’re aiming for luxury but think you can give it an excellent clean every turn around time? I doubt it, you’ll end up just about giving it a surface level whip over.

not to mention end up spending your weekends cleaning and sorting washing, not spending it with your children.

I don't use airbnb but I've rented out a holiday home for a number of years. If it's got a mortgage on it then I think the best you can probably hope for is that it covers its costs. I would not expect to earn anything on it (particularly early on, when presumably you will have larger outlays because you have to kit it out?)

I also second what other people have said about costs of replacing stained sheets, missing towels, stained mattresses, broken furniture and smaller items. You need to be putting money away for regular replacement/updating of linens, redecoration and maintenance, the replacement of big-ticket items like beds.

Are you considering all tax implications?

If you can meet the 105 nights per year HMRC requirement and an availability requirement, it can be quite tax efficient as you meet FHL rules.

You can offset all running costs, as well as capital outlay, embedded fixtures and mortgage costs.

CGT will be something to consider

The luxury end is worse than the budget end. I had a budget airbnb room for years and almost all guests left it clean and tidy.

Please don't be deceived into thinking "high end" and "luxury" are any indication of how people behave and treat property.
We live a very sought after area and there are a few air bnbs, one over the road which is a million pound plus property. It has been used as a party pit numerous times, pissing off the locals and resulting in it being smashed up. Pools of vomit outside and in, broken beds, rubbish and cigarettes ground into carpets and hardwood floors.
I'm not saying don't do it necessarily, just go into it with VERY open eyes.

If you tell us how much you need to bring home a year then we could do the maths. That is how much you will need to charge assuming a certain occupancy rate.

For example we are 'luxury'. We are booked out every weekend in the year. But ONLY because we have a hot tub (winter bookings) and we are near a beach and wedding venue(summer bookings) and walking distance to bars and restaurants in a desirable tourist location that has no hotels at all. We are rarely booked for more than 3 days and even rarer during the week. We had 98 days booked this rolling year. For example

My expenses are often 30% of the rental cost (electric, internet, Netflix, linen hire, consumables, welcome gifts). We clean it ourselves. 2 of us take 3 hours each to do two floors in quite a small place. Then you pay tax on the remainder. For us that's 50% tax

I gave up and rented it to friends as it was exhausting, time consuming, depressing (the vile states people left it in and the huge expectations they had) and wasn't worth it. Of those 90 days I'll take home a profit of about £4K for the year.

I’ve had various friends rent out their properties and stop due, mainly to wear and tear, and guest expectations. They all said it wasn’t worth it after taxes and expenses. Effectively running to stand still. I would say they can all afford not to bother, but small margins can be meaningful.

A better rental return is students…