Australian families are earning some extra cash by renting out their humble homes or even a spare bedroom in Sydney’s western suburbs to travellers on Airbnb.
And single mother-of-two Sarah Skurray has made $30,000 in a year after leasing her downstairs bedroom and bathroom in Kings Langley.
Appearing on A Current Affair, the mother – who lives upstairs with her children – said she turned to the service to earn an extra income for her family because she couldn’t find time to take up a second job.
Single mother-of-two Sarah Skurray (pictured) has made $30,000 in a year after leasing her downstairs bedroom and bathroom in Kings Langley
‘I wanted to make some extra money so I thought I didn’t want a second job where I had to leave the children alone,’ she said.
‘I wanted to do something, so I thought “think smart” and I thought “I have an empty room downstairs let’s do Airbnb”.
‘I honestly thought I’ll probably get one booking a month, maybe one weekend. I didn’t think it would be so popular, to be quite honest.’
Host Bernadette Janson who leases out her humble three-bedroom home in Oxley Park for two years charges guests $70 per night.
The mother – who lives upstairs with her children – said she turned to the service because she couldn’t find time to take up a second job
Host Bernadette Janson who rents out her humble three-bedroom home has made $40,000
The woman said she was better off listing her property on Airbnb because she was earning $800 a week. Renting out to tenants would see her make only $400.
‘When I first got a quote on a rental return, it was around about $400 a week so I wanted to up the return, so I thought I’d go with Airbnb,’ she said.
She hires a cleaner who regularly tidies her home and has a contract with a lawn mowing service where they come out to maintain her garden.
And since joining the online service, Ms Janson said she has earned an income of $40,000 in a year.
Australian families are earning some extra cash by renting out their humble homes or even a spare bedroom in Sydney’s western suburbs to travellers on Airbnb
Laura Coloi has made $9,000 by simply renting out a spare bedroom of her home in Rooty Hill
Laura Coloia started leasing out a spare bedroom of her home in Rooty Hill around a year ago after she was unable to work because she fell ill.
She has since made $9,000 after charging between $25 and $50 per night.
‘In this area there’s not a whole lot of hotel options so when there’s a big event in town, hotels just get booked out and there is nowhere to stay,’ Laura said.