Is Your Home Sitting Empty During School Holidays?

If you’re like us, we like to get away, even for a weekend, during school holidays. We used to head off and leave behind our house (that costs money to own) just sitting empty, while we paid for somewhere else to sleep.

When you say it out loud it’s a bit mad, isn’t it? Your biggest asset sits empty during the exact weeks you could really use the extra cash. So why not let those weeks help pay for the trip?

The idea is simple

School holidays are peak travel time. Families are travelling, visitors are coming to stay, and there’s never enough accommodation to go around. That’s when an empty house is worth the most to someone else.

You don’t have to become a full-time host or turn your life upside down. You just list your home for the weeks you’re already going to be away. A couple of well-timed bookings across the year can cover a family trip, or just take some pressure off.

I’ll be honest — it’s not money for nothing

Plenty of people online will tell you hosting is passive income. It isn’t exactly. There’s a bit of work: getting your home guest-ready. But I look at it as my big, thorough clean (that I probably wouldn’t do otherwise). I declutter, clean out the kids wardrobes, wash the windows, clean the oven and wipe the dust from the skirting boards. These are all things that need doing and renting our home out on Airbnb gives me the excuse to get t done.

But the bit of work that needs to be done, has a real reward. When the funds land in your account, usually whole you’re on holiday, it is all totally worth it.

The property manager catch

When people first think about listing, the instinct is to hand it to a property manager and let them deal with it. It sounds easier. But it’s worth knowing what you’re actually paying for.

A manager doesn’t tidy up your kitchen drawers, wash the curtains or mow your lawn themselves. They book a cleaner, a gardener, a pool guy, and pass that cost back to you. And that’s on top of their management fee, which is a cut of every booking. So you can end up paying twice: once for the job, and again for someone to organise it.

These are the exact jobs you can do yourself, or book directly, and keep the full income. A manager isn’t wrong for everyone; if you’re flat out or live nowhere near the place, paying for the convenience makes sense. But for a family letting their own home, doing it yourself usually means keeping money that would otherwise get taken out of your earnings.

Where to start

If you’re thinking about it, the best place to start is to walk through your own home as if you were the guests arriving. What would you want clean and ready? What would you pack away or move? What’s a bit tired and could do with freshening up before someone pays to stay? Jot it down as you go. That list is the beginning of your plan.

From there it’s the practical bits: a good clean, clear away photos, have somewhere to store your personal things, and sort the admin before your first guest books.

I’ve pulled together an easy-to-follow list and created a free Pre-Listing Checklist, so you don’t have to work it out from scratch. It covers getting your home ready, the admin to sort, and the easy-to-miss bits that catch first-time hosts out. Download your free Pre-Listing Checklist!