Seeking Ideas

[shadesong]

Okay, so, soon-I-hope I will have an empty room in my house.

And I have that hole in my budget - which I'm looking into ways of making up, but still.

The thing is, I do not want a stranger living in my house. No, not even a friend-of-a-friend. I'm typing this in a tank top and underpants and I wanna be able to continue this lifestyle. Especially in the summer. Damn.

Plus

a) this is actually my workplace, too, and I think you can't force renters to leave the house for several hours per day, and
b) I don't know that I'll feel safe with anyone I don't know well living two doors down from me, given what happened.

So I'm looking for ways to utilize and monetize that space and maybe the soon-to-be-empty garage space. Ideas? Does anyone need an occasional room for something? Workshop with negotiable hours?

Comments

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

This is just an idea that someone in your area might use.

People on remote homesteads who have small mailorder businesses, can use someone who lives in town to do 'order fullfillment'. This might need a good dry storage room / work area. The person doing the fullfillment would only need access for a short time, perhaps every few days.

Good luck!

[cos]

If you could handle someone you don't know staying occasionally for a couple of days, you could do airbnb or something similar, and just limit which days the room is available - as soon as anyone books, you could block off a bunch of days around that time so you don't get consecutive guests. I just searched airbnb and found a few rooms in Watertown ranging from $40/night - $90/night, so for just a few nights a month you could make almost what a full month's rent would be from a regular renter.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

...there have been many cases of people being raped, violently assaulted in other ways, and robbed by AirBnB "guests". Pretty much the least safe thing I could do with that room!

[lightcastle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, both it and couchsurfer have been having some serious problems with this.

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

i was about to say this...
however...
as an option... you have a garage and i presume a driveway or something... you COULD rent out overnight parking to people who need to be in town, drive somewhere, or an RV.. they get no house access, garage only

not sure how that works, but i know some folks who drove in to Boston and parked at a friends, then went to the hotel for a convention because valet or non vcalet parking was horrid

[lawbabeak.livejournal.com]

Workshop? Writing/work from "home" space? Yoga/meditation space (how noisy are you during the day?)?

[sionainn.livejournal.com]

Hook up with a massage therapist who needs a place to meet scheduled clients. They have it x,y,z and you have it the rest of the time.

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

many people will pay for storage space.
i know for a long time i "rented" (albeit at negligible money) a bit of my basement to a friend.
someone who needs long term storage, or wants a place to stash stuff while they clean out THEIR house, would be good.

plant sitting.
yeah, i am serious. especially orchids. most orchids need to be watered once a week, and thats IT. more orchids die from overwatering than anything else. some need major lighting though... is it a sunny room?

workshop space.. especially in the garage... advertise to the Felters and nuno felters... both types of felting call for large amounts of water and soap, and are not compatable with apartments or wood floors...
but its ONLY soapy water and occassional excess fabric dye.
easy clean up in a garage

[sairaali.livejournal.com]

>workshop space.. especially in the garage... advertise to the Felters and nuno felters

Heh! I just suggested something similar in email. Also wood carving with hand tools -- lots of dust and scraps, not something you'd want in a carpeted room, but easy enough to sweep up in a garage.

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

nod... exactly
i live in a row home, i have no garage (i have a basement but its kind of full)
i would, myself , happily rent easily cleaned up space to do my nunofelting...

to give an idea
i need a BIG table (or tables.. like two 6 foot tables?) either waterproof or covered with plastic sheeting... and a floor that doesnt get water damage... to work wet felting in silk fabric...

its all soapy water, easily cleaned up in a garage... and i only need daylight or a good overhead light... but most of the rent a workshops either want you to rent "multi month blocks" or they are set up for painting! they expect a bit of paint, not buckets of water on their wood flooring!