Renting your home while you’re away is easy money, but to get the best reviews and generate repeated rental income, you’ll need to take a few steps to declutter your home, so your guests feel comfortable and secure. In fact, better short-term rental sites insist that homeowners follow a few basic rules to ensure guests expectations are met, because according to Airbnb, both your feedback and the site’s favorability depend on it.
If you’re considering being a short-term host, you need to think as if you are moving out of your home to make room for guests. Of course, you can leave the furniture in place, but you need to move all your personal clutter out. Here are five easy steps from this moving company Sacramento, CA to declutter your space to make it guest-friendly.
1. Remove extras from your closets and drawers
Natascha Folens, interior designer and staging specialist for Airbnb rentals told Travel & Leisure magazine in a recent interview that “guests don’t want to open a drawer and see your things.” When they arrive, they should feel like at least part of that space is theirs.
Put holiday décor and out-of-season items into storage and remove highly personal items. If you rent often, have a tote labeled and ready for each room and fill it with items to make space for your guests before they arrive. When they leave, everything will be sorted and ready to return to its original location.
2. Clear leftovers and expired food from the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards
Guest should have enough room to purchase and store their own staples without feeling crowded in the space. Better hosts purchase a few basic like coffee, creamer and fruit for their guests, but containers should never be opened.
3. Edit yourself out from the space
According to staging experts, making guests feel comfortable requires creating the illusion that the home is a neutral space. Remove personal photos, monogrammed items, reading material and décor that is uniquely personal from walls and surfaces to give the space hotel-like appeal. Replace it with tasteful, but generic art with subjects that have broad appeal.
4. Store exercise equipment elsewhere
Vacationing guest need no reminders that they’re eating too much local cuisine and not exercising enough. Replace the treadmill with a few comfortable chairs that will allow your guests to welcome friends of their own. If you rent often, consider leasing a nearby storage unit to give to a convenient place to store large items.
5. Remove personal care items from the bathroom
Guests would prefer not to see their host’s dentures or used underarm deodorant. According to the hospitality experts at Southern Living, personal items like bathrobes ruin the cleanliness of the space and should be removed. Small appliances like hairdryers can be cleaned and left for your guests’ convenience and always leave out fresh linens.
No amount of character or kindness can overcome a space that’s cluttered with items that detract from the serenity of the space. Short-term rentals can be profitable, but only if your guests are happy.