15,040 grads of the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course already know why
The Platinum Card® from American Express is my #1 recommended card
Military Money Manual has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the cards that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Thank you for supporting my independent, veteran owned site.
Update Feb 5, 2014: We've made $4994 through AirBnB since Feb 2013! That's over five month's rent!
When it comes to making extra money while serving in the military, it's not easy. You may be working 12 hour days, 6 days a week on swing shift. Your significant other probably can't advance much in their career because you're forcing them to move every three years.
One great way I've found to make some extra money, meet interesting people, and keep my house extra clean is AirBnB. AirBnB is similar to Vacation Rental By Owner, Couch Surfing, and Home Away. All of these sites allow you to stay at someone's place for a day, a week, or even longer.
On AirBnb, you can rent a couch, a spare bedroom, an apartment, a tree house, or even an airplane! It's free to list your space. AirBnB will even send a professional photographer so you can showcase your place to the world.
In this post:
My AirBNB Experience
I started staying as a guest on AirBnB back in 2011. My wife and I stayed in a host's garage that was converted into an apartment, a mobile home that had an outdoor shower, and a swank apartment with the works. We loved travelling to a new city and skipping on the cookie cutter, impersonal, and sterile environment of the hotel. Plus, AirBnB rentals are usually cheaper than even the roach motel. We love saving money while travelling!
Both my wife and I spend far too much time in hotel rooms for our occupations. When we travel for pleasure, we like to get away from hotels as much as possible. AirBnB gave us that opportunity. We've met some good people and slept in clean and comfortable beds all over the world. AirBnB is definitely not a scam.
After our PCS last year, we purchased an apartment and listed our day bed in the living room on AirBnB. For a few months we had no guests. Then, starting in January of this year, people started booking!
So far we've had a total of 4 guests:
- A fabric saleswoman
- A journalist
- A law student
- A mountain climber
Quite the eclectic mix! In total, we've made $349 from just renting our couch out. And that's just in the last 3 months. Imagine what you could do with a spare bedroom or a rental property.
And what were our costs? Nothing but our time. And all we did with that time was clean the house, which was something we probably should have done anyways!
Safety and Security – Hosting with AirBnB
The last time I was TDY I brought up the fact that I rented my couch out on Airbnb. Actually, at the time it was our first Airbnb guest, a friendly fabric saleswoman in town for a conference.
All of my fellow airmen were shocked.
- “What does your wife think?”
- “You do this while your away and your wife is home alone?”
- “There's no way I could ever do that, that's way too trusting of humanity.”
Well, it was mostly my wife's idea, so I'm sure she's okay with it! While it does take a bit of trust in humanity, AirBnB makes the whole process very easy and builds trust into each transaction.
As a host, you have complete control over what your listing looks like and what details it lists. You also completely control who stays at your place and who doesn't and for how long they can stay. Of course, make sure you read the terms and conditions that AirBnB requires you to sign before you host. Here's some of the highlights.
I have my listings set so that every guest who stays with me must have a verified phone number and previous positive reviews. I also have to pre-approve anyone to book my place. When people inquire about booking, I ask them to send me just a few details about their trip, so I can ascertain whether they'll be a good guest or not. 99% of AirBnB users are completely awesome people, but this helps to filter out the 1% you don't want.
AirBnB provides a 24/7 helpline to both guests and hosts. Hosts are also covered by a $1,000,000 insurance policy. Not bad. You can learn more about AirBnB Safety and Security.
Basically, go with your gut. If someone sends you an email in ALL CAPS offering you his Nigerian fortune…you probably don't want them as a guest. However, most people on the site are like you: looking for a clean, comfortable place to stay in city far from home. I've only received one message out of dozens from someone I didn't feel comfortable renting to.
Getting Paid with AirBnB
AirBnB listings are free to create and then AirBnB only takes 3% of the transaction cost when a guest books. AirBnB holds the money in escrow until 24 hours after the guest checks in. If there are no problems reported from the guest or the host, AirBnB releases the funds to the host's checking account via direct deposit.
Simple and easy. It's refreshing to see money flowing into my checking account rather than out of it.
You can customize your nightly rate as well as your weekly and monthly rates. This can be good for discounting longer stays, or charging more on the weekends, if you have a really popular place.
When You Deploy, Rent Your Place Out on AirBnB
If you're renting (which can be a very smart decision based on the uncertainty of military life), you can always break your lease if you're called away to active duty service for more than 90 days. This includes PCS, TDYs, training, or deploying. Basically, any time you receive orders to be away from your home station for more than 90 days, you have a get out of jail free card.
If you are not renting and are paying off your mortgage or own your own home, then renting your place out while you deploy can be an easy way to make some quick cash. We're trying to do this with my first deployment coming up. One way to make it easier would be to turn the keys over to a trusted friend or neighbor and have them available for the guests to pick up from.
AirBnB has been a great way for our family to make money and also to travel better and cheaper. We love it! Have you used AirBnB or any other similar sites to make some money with your unused space? Stayed in any super cool AirBnB spots?