I run a guesthouse

[GuesthouseJo]

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Hi all

My name is Jody and I run a guesthouse. I found a run down old place with a legal boarding house licence in Sydney that was pretty neglected and unwanted and negotiated a lease on it – have spend a lot of time and a bit of money doing it up and now run it as more of a guesthouse rather than a boarding house. It’s doing really well and fully booked but I haven’t really been paying so much attention to the record keeping/business admin side so here I am. Plus it’s pretty lonely running a business from home and having no workmates!

[Anonymous]

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Hi Jody,

Great to meet you, and congratulations on your success so far

I hope you pick up plenty of handy tips from the community here, and that you feel a little less isolated now that you have us to chat with.

Welcome to the gang,
Jayne

[TheGoldenGoose]

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Welcome to the forum!

How exciting and unique! Do you have before and after pictures?

[Divert To Mobile]

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Hi Jody,

Welcome to the forum.

Steve

[GuesthouseJo]

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TheGoldenGoose, post: 127715 wrote:

Welcome to the forum!

How exciting and unique! Do you have before and after pictures?

I don’t actually have many before photos because the day I got the keys I had to have it up and running to get guests in, because I didn’t want to waste any time since the rental costs were so high. The first guy turned up ten minutes BEFORE I did. What I did at first was just have super low prices just to cover rent – so that first few days people were on mattresses on the floor while I scrubbed around them and bought in more furniture and set up a kitchen. Then bit by bit as guests turned over we’d paint a room or redo it, then charge the next guest more..until gradually the whole place was fairly okay looking and rents were sometimes four times what the first guy on a mattress paid.But that way it’s been break even since day 1 and profitable after a week or two. This is what it looks like at the moment…

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/320744

I have reached the limit of what I can do really with such an old building. Eventually it will be knocked down but I should be able to earn an almost full time salary from it for the next few years without a lot of work.

[Anonymous]

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Good on you Jody. You sound very industrious and determined.

Love your work!
Jayne

[Just Launch]

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Now that is great business acumen!

Incredible job Jody.

John Whale CA

[Claire Naidu Lawyer]

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Well done Jody. I checked out the website and it looks great.

Claire Naidu
http://www.clairenaidu.com.au

[The Hobbit]

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Good work Jody. Shows you can make a profit in tough times.
Bigger and better things when the place is knocked down I assume.

[TheGoldenGoose]

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I got a ‘listing is no longer available’ message.

Would still love to see it when you get the chance

[GuesthouseJo]

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TheGoldenGoose, post: 128362 wrote:

I got a ‘listing is no longer available’ message.

Would still love to see it when you get the chance

Oh I’ve taken the main listing down now – the AirBnB website is silly and can’t handle multiple room listings so now I have to make a listing for every room…here is one of them…

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/331830

[Lawyer-Matthew-1]

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Hi Jody,

Welcome to the forum.

Your website looks terrific and it is great to see how much work you have put into your property.

I am here to help you with any legal questions you may have.

[Divert To Mobile]

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OMG Ive seen this place, its just near woolworths.

We need to catch up.

Steve

[GuesthouseJo]

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Cathie, post: 0 wrote:

Hi Jody,

Your listing on airbnb is great! I only discovered the site by accident a few days ago.

I have two rooms in my place I’d like to rent out to visitors – do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?

Is airbnb the only place you’re advertising rooms? If not, what other marketing are you doing?

I’d greatly appreciate hearing how you got the word out.

Cath, in charming olde New Norfolk, Tasmania

Hey – I was thinking of writing an eBook about the whole process – I should get cracking. I also use Gumtree and there is also WimDu, VRBO, FlipKey, Homeaway and Stayz etc but most of them are for full houses, not just rooms. I was just looking for places in Tassie on AirBnB and am shocked there isn’t more at a cheaper price. I’d even look at renting/buying a whole house or apartment and then setting it up on those sites as a business since for some reason to rent or buy in Tassie is cheap BUT it’s seen as somewhat of a luxury destination with high prices for short term- and car rental is crazy so I’d look at offering cheap or free car hire with your bookings! I bought an old van for $2000 to go with the guesthouse and people take it out for about $50 a day so it pays for itself.

[GuesthouseJo]

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Cathie, post: 0 wrote:

Hi Jody,

I moved to Tassie from Melbourne earlier this year and was immediately struck by how weird the housing and tourist accommodation market is down here.

There’s a lot of unrealistic pricing going on, and there’s a massive shortage of reasonable quality, budget accommodation. Even in my little town the rooms are, IMHO, overpriced.

And every time I go to a tourist area like Richmond I’m horrified by the prices of basic things like food. At least the scenery is free to look at!

If you do decide to come down here to check out potential accommodation businesses, let me know and I’ll help you out.

Fantastic idea about the van.

I put my room ad up on airbnb today. I might take up their offer of free photos.

BTW, I’m an ebook publisher!

Cheers, Cath
Books a go-go

That’s amazing you’re an ebook publisher. I had no idea. I am actually coming to Tasmania with my family (they are all from there originally) in December and I was going to use that time to quiz the family and look around because I agree about the horrid options for accommodation – trying to find something for my family for the times we aren’t staying with extended family is insane. Worse than Sydney prices for really dated stuff! I think the bigger issue is that maybe during winter there isn’t much demand for accommodation? And that’s why the big rip off the rest of the year? Yes, get free photos for AirBnB – it increases your inquiries massively because then the property is verified! Anyway happy to keep giving you ideas/advice about AirBnB via private message and mull over the Tassie issue!

[Author]

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