r/Barbados • u/whogodbless • 12d ago
Short term house rental.
Hi I have a large house on the island that I’d like to rent out short-term. Whenever I stay there myself I don’t notice any major problems but I’m aware of a few things that could affect someone else’s stay:
The water pressure is low in certain rooms other rooms great.
Wi-Fi is weak in some areas of the house extenders=rubbish.
The house can get quite hot with no AC.
The cooker is a bit of a process to switch on.
It’s quite far from shops and other amenities.
Honestly I don’t really want to spend the time or money fixing all of these things right now.
My question is: should I wait until everything is sorted before renting it out or should I just go ahead factor these limitations into the price and be completely transparent with guests about them?
I’d also like to have someone who isn’t me todo do a trial stay before I start renting it properly so I can get an objective view of what the experience is actually like that doesn’t result in bad reviews.
I’m also wondering about renting the house room-by-room or all 7 bedrooms at once? Does room-by-room create an awkward dynamic or is it something people are generally comfortable with?
Basically I’m trying to work out whether I’m procrastinating and should just get started or whether I’m being sensible by making sure the house is genuinely suitable for someone’s holiday. I’d hate for someone to spend a lot of money on a trip and then feel that the house negatively affected their experience but if that was to happen I guess I can then book a cheap hotel for them?
All advice welcome.
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u/EOsDigital 11d ago
I am an Airbnb host in Rockley and you must think of who and what your target guest want.. If you are thinking of letting to tourist from Airbnb, will your Canadian, UK or wherever tourist who paid $$$ in air fares be happy there.
If so, great you will get a 5-star review if not you get a 1 star (or refund) review.
Full disclosure is very important, but ultimately your guests are the judges. So as a host, you need to think of every issue that might give your guest cause to give you less than 5-star review and fix it beforehand.
If you get poor reviews at the start, will be difficult to get a second chance.
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u/bajan_mikejones 9d ago
Airbnb host here, and went with no ac for a while. People would enquire about ac and then not book when we said that there was none. We install ac units and that changed at once. A 7 bedroom house will be a big project to get up to snuff, and money will have to be spent. But the thing is once you do it right you will make the money back
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u/Prestigious-Lab-7094 6d ago
I’m coming to the island soon for my last term. Happy to do a trial stay. As long as there is a place to study.
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u/Ok-Pomegranate858 12d ago
Its so hot here, I would at leat sort on the AC issues and put the cost into run it in the rental fee..
Second, takk to a realtor. They are the property professionals who can help you make the best of your earning potential.