If you’re a homeowner thinking about traveling long-term, then you know one of the thorniest questions to answer is what to do with your house while traveling. Many people opt to do nothing — and just pay the mortgage on top of rentals in their travel destinations — but finding a way to monetize your house while traveling can be a great way to offset travel costs.
We asked a group of veteran traveling families what they do with their houses while on the road. There are no perfect options, so you’ll need to weigh the pros and cons to decide what’s best for your family.
Sell the house
“We ran the numbers on renting, Airbnbing, and selling. We decided to sell and have no regrets. Especially since we were abroad during the pandemic, and if we hadn’t sold we would have lost the property with renters not being required to pay rent,” says Brandi Cole, a travel mom and blogger at Our Offbeat Life.
Selling is the nuclear option and isn’t recommended for families just starting their travel journey. But for families who are 100% certain they want to travel full-time for the next several years, this could be a great way to pad the family bank account!
If you’re lucky enough to have bought a home before the pandemic you probably already have a lot of equity you can draw from. Selling your house doesn’t just mean you get a lump sum of cash in your bank account — it also means you have more freedom. You or your partner could take a sabbatical from work while you live off of savings and you wouldn’t have to worry about finding tenants or doing home repairs.
Find short-term renters
“We would not be able to travel so much if our home was left empty. We considered long-term rentals but we like to come home when we want to and do not like the idea of having someone there. We do not allow longer stays than 3 months,” says Jana Pintainho, a traveling mom from Australia.
Finding short-term renters on websites like Airbnb or VRBO is a popular option. The benefit here is that you could potentially pay for your mortgage (or more!) and you have the option of returning home if things go awry on your travels — as opposed to finding long-term renters who are locked into a year-long lease.
The biggest issue with short-term rentals is that it’s more to manage — you’ll have to manage multiple bookings, deal with cancellations, and communicate with guests. It also requires more house upkeep — you’ll need to schedule cleaners and replace worn and torn items before new guests arrive to ensure a satisfactory rating.
You could pay a property manager to do all of this, however, their fees are usually around 10% of the rental price which will significantly cut your profit.
“We’ve hosted for 3 years on Airbnb. We manage it ourselves with a cleaning crew & handyman & lawn care,” says traveling mom Jessica Swenson.
We’ve hosted for 3 years on Airbnb. We manage it ourselves with a cleaning crew & handyman & lawn care,
Jessica Swenson
Here’s a guide to help you determine which short-term rental site would be best for you.
Find long-term renters
“We just rented it out for the year, put our belongings in storage, and had an agent manage it. If it [travel time] was shorter, we would have looked at Airbnb but it’s a bit hard to store our belongings [for short trips]. We were lucky to connect with amazing people who are looking after our dog for the year,” says Prue Lucas, a traveling mom in Australia.
This option gives you the most financial stability without selling your house. If you work with a realtor to find and vet quality renters, then you’ll be able to rely on a rental income each month — as opposed to short-term where there is the possibility of not filling a week or month with renters.
However, it also gives you less flexibility with your plans. If your travels go awry and you want to go home, you’ll have to figure out somewhere to stay until the lease has expired.
Home exchanges
“We either need to make it pay for our accommodation spend with Airbnb income or save money on our accommodation spend with a home exchange. We’ve left it empty for many previous trips for up to six months at a time, just having a family member come stay every few weeks to air the place out, mow the lawns, etc.,” says traveling mom Emma Healey and blogger at Mum’s Money.
“Now with the cost of living increasing dramatically, we can’t afford for it to not pay in some way.”
Home exchanges can be a great way to save money on accommodations without having to go through the hassle of preparing your home for renters. While you’ll still need to clean and do some preparation for guests, typically standards are more relaxed than with Airbnb and there may not be a need to de-personalize your space.
“Now with the cost of living increasing dramatically, we can’t afford for it to not pay in some way.”
Emma Healey
There are many exchange websites and they all operate under different rules. A popular site is People Like Us.
Do nothing
“I do nothing, travel about 180 days of the year and just have people checking in on the house and friends that stay for free on and off,” says traveler Kelsey Elizabeth.
“I don’t live in a super popular area so Airbnb isn’t worth it and we’re back and forth so much we couldn’t do long term.”
Clearly, with this option, you don’t get any financial benefits — but you also get to skip the headaches of being a landlord! It also gives you the most flexibility with your travel plans.
Also, many times it’s not worth renting out your home unless you’re going for several months or more — so letting your house sit vacant might be the best option financially and logistically!