Smart Share has many years of experience working with clients as they prepare for and enter into homesharing arrangements. There’s a lot to think about here, and it’s not all intuitive:
Furnished or not? Home providers have often lived in their space for many years and have a lot of items they may or may not want to get rid of. Seekers may also have their own furniture they would like to bring, so this decision can be a complicated one. If a home provider has the space, they might consider setting some aside to store their own furniture if it can’t be used in the homeshare, or to store the tenant’s furniture. That flexibility will make it easier to find a housemate.
Storage. People have lots of things other than furniture, like out-of-season clothing, bicycles or other recreational items. As a provider, think about what storage space you could offer a housemate. As a seeker, consider what things you really must keep with you and what things you could let go of or store elsewhere.
Kitchen. The kitchen can be a difficult place to share space with another person, but the reality is that many Americans don’t cook that much. If you have room, you could install a kitchenette in the rental space for less than $1000 that would work for most people most of the time. An air fryer or toaster oven and a hot plate with a mini fridge and microwave can go a long way. Don’t forget to think about kitchen storage space as well. Some people will want to bring their favorite kitchen tools with them and everyone will need a place to store their own food.
Bathroom. Many people prefer a private bathroom, but there are options that are just short of a private bathroom that could work for most. For example, many homes have a hall bathroom that might be unused most of the time if the provider’s bedroom has an en suite bathroom. The hall bathroom would function as the seeker’s private bathroom, unless there were visitors. In other situations, there is no way to get around sharing a bathroom, which would likely mean the rent would also be lower.
Parking. Is there a garage with space available, or is there parking on the street? The closer someone can park to their front door, the more desirable the share will be.
Photos. We’ll talk more about taking photos of your space in an upcoming post and video. For now, just make sure you don’t take a photo of your address and share it on the internet.
Of course, there are plenty of other things to consider about your space and we’ll go over some of them in more detail in future posts.
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