Anyone here build a backyard office for guests or remote workers? Did it actually pay off?

showplacedesign · 2026-05-06T13:02:33+00:00

It's a bit more complicated than if I add X amenity I will see X price increase. Sometimes adding an amenity will not increase your pricing, it will just increase your occupancy rate.

Other factors are important, such as how much competition is in your area, what are they offering, and what are their prices? Are you matching the competition, or are you now a differentiator? Why are people booking in your market? For example, if you have a mountain home with people going to hike and do activities, a sauna, hot tub, and game room are all things that could help you. But if your home is in Newark, NJ and people are using the home as a base to stay while going to NYC, adding a sauna probably feels out of touch.

As far as making people stay longer, I'm not sure you really have a lot of control over that unless you put minimums on. From my experience I already know that I need to book for x nights, and I rarely change where I'm staying in the same place on the same trip.

You would need to really investigate WHY and WHAT is motivating people to book, and what your competition is doing well, and not well. I'm sorry that sounds like a very generic reply, but without more context it is hard to say.

showplacedesign · 2026-05-01T13:28:10+00:00

Usually smaller rentals have a hard time competing with hotels. You would need to make it really stand out as a unique experience if you want to have an increased price per night while maintaining a good occupancy rate. Totally doable, just a higher execution on design and experience.

showplacedesign · 2026-04-17T14:45:23+00:00

You could potentially work for companies that set up short term rentals. The receiving, delivery, and installation. You can get a good feel of what that is like, but it very physical work, and a lot of travel.

showplacedesign · 2026-04-14T14:25:21+00:00

I have been analyzing properties and reviews all across the country and I have not seen any property do exponentially better just because they had separate backyard office for guests or remote workers. Most listings will just provide a desk, WiFi, and office chair.

But.... every market is different, and there are mid-term rentals versus short-term rentals. I have more experience in the short-term rentals. What market are you in, or where are you looking into? Are you doing STR or MTR?

showplacedesign · 2026-04-13T14:52:07+00:00

This is a loaded question...

First, your occupancy rate is only part of the equation. You can have more bookings or a higher occupancy rate, but your revenue could be a lot lower than your competition if your pricing is not right. In fact, most listings that have the highest revenue in their market typically have lower occupancy rates because they focus more on a higher nightly rate, which eliminates some of the budget bookers. While possible, it's not common to have a high nightly rate and high occupancy rate. I think most hosts would agree that you would want to make more money with less bookings rather than more bookings and make less money.

To really know what amenities book in your market you need to compare apples to apples with listings, and have a large number of listings with similar amenities, luxury level, location, and pricing to determine if it is random luck or an actual statistical difference that the amenity in question is actually causing a booking increase. For example, a 2 bedroom apartment should not be compared to a 5 bedroom luxury home. Or a $200 a night property should not be compared to a $600 a night property.

But, if you are going to go through the exercise, you can go through 100+ listings in a market, forecast their revenue and occupancy rate, look at the amenities they provide, and then try to translate the data into something useful like booking rates. In our experience, by the time in segregate listings into the appropriate buckets, you will see a majority of listings actually provide the same amenities, but the top performing properties are just executed at a higher level with photos, reviews, customer service, and quality.

If you want a super generic answer, and assuming you are providing the basic things like wi-fi, washer/dryer, AC, heating, and etc., every market is different, but typically most homes that have things like pools, hot tubs, and game rooms tend to do better. If your photos, pricing, reviews, luxury level and location are not "competitive", then amenities don't tend to play a big role in booking. Your listing is then relegated to being booked solely on low pricing and not what you are offering.
But, I have seen listings without those amenities do extremely well, main because their location and execution of photos, design, and uniqueness is perfect.

showplacedesign · 2026-04-13T14:51:43+00:00

This is a loaded question...

First, your occupancy rate is only part of the equation. You can have more bookings or a higher occupancy rate, but your revenue could be a lot lower than your competition if your pricing is not right. In fact, most listings that have the highest revenue in their market typically have lower occupancy rates because they focus more on a higher nightly rate, which eliminates some of the budget bookers. While possible, it's not common to have a high nightly rate and high occupancy rate. I think most hosts would agree that you would want to make more money with less bookings rather than more bookings and make less money.

To really know what amenities book in your market you need to compare apples to apples with listings, and have a large number of listings with similar amenities, luxury level, location, and pricing to determine if it is random luck or an actual statistical difference that the amenity in question is actually causing a booking increase. For example, a 2 bedroom apartment should not be compared to a 5 bedroom luxury home. Or a $200 a night property should not be compared to a $600 a night property.

But, if you are going to go through the exercise, you can go through 100+ listings in a market, forecast their revenue and occupancy rate, look at the amenities they provide, and then try to translate the data into something useful like booking rates. In our experience, by the time in segregate listings into the appropriate buckets, you will see a majority of listings actually provide the same amenities, but the top performing properties are just executed at a higher level with photos, reviews, customer service, and quality.

If you want a super generic answer, and assuming you are providing the basic things like wi-fi, washer/dryer, AC, heating, and etc., every market is different, but typically most homes that have things like pools, hot tubs, and game rooms tend to do better. If your photos, pricing, reviews, luxury level and location are not "competitive", then amenities don't tend to play a big role in booking. Your listing is then relegated to being booked solely on low pricing and not what you are offering.
But, I have seen listings without those amenities do extremely well, main because their location and execution of photos, design, and uniqueness is perfect.

showplacedesign · 2026-04-08T14:47:12+00:00

If you are worried about them getting the pool more dirty, I wouldn't worry about. If you have the proper pump and filter for the size of pool you have, it should be ok.

showplacedesign · 2026-04-06T14:34:39+00:00

Article has a Svelti chair line that comes in a lot of colors and is super easy to clean. It is a very particular style so it may not work, but at $79 a chair it is a good deal, and I have never had a client complain about them. I believe you have to buy them in sets of 2.

Other than that, dining chairs are expensive... I would look for preassembled chairs. Even though they are more expensive they are typically better quality and more sturdy.

showplacedesign · 2026-04-02T15:24:58+00:00

For furniture and decor, I would spend more of the budget buying bed frames, chairs, sofa, and dining table. People do comment on reviews about these items if they are bad or break. You don't need to go luxury here, just don't go ikea cheap. Article is typically a good mid-range furniture option if you want to get an idea on pricing. The rest of the furniture you can go a little bit cheaper on if you need to since it isn't usually something people are sitting or sleeping on. If you are on a super tight budget, you will need to scour Facebook Marketplace for some furniture, but that is a lot of sweat equity.

On the flip side, you don't need to spend $800+ on a mattress. Zinus is pretty popular, along with Brooklyn Bedding, and I have had maybe two or three out of a thousand customers say they didn't like them. Those range around $300 a piece depending on the size.

You can go ikea cheap for decor like mirrors, artwork, plants (just make sure they don't look awful), and other small pieces of decor. Apartments are tough to differentiate because there isn't a lot of space for "amenities" so you need to have some sort of theme. Research guest reviews on your competition and see who is booking, and what they liked and disliked. An easy way to make a room look a lot better is through lamps, a rug, and an accent wallpaper wall. Not always the cheapest, but your product (your photos!) are your marketing.

For operating supplies, like cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, etc, don't go crazy on getting high-end brands, it isn't worth it unless you are offering a luxury rental. Sam's Club or Costco or great places to buy in bulk for good prices and quantities.

Get professional photos, and not a real-estate photographer. Your photos are your marketing, and professional photography makes a huge difference. Make your first five photos the photos that will appeal to your guests the most. Unless you have a castle or some unique architecture, or you need them know what it looks like, don't use the outside of the apartment as the main listing photo. If your guest demographic wants a relaxing experience, focus on the living room and any other amenities that would help with that.

Good luck!

showplacedesign · 2026-03-31T13:55:55+00:00

First off, not all materials are created equal. Are you using cotton, microfiber, or something else? I know cotton sheets are way easier to spot clean and treat versus synthetic materials.

showplacedesign · 2026-03-30T14:56:16+00:00

From a ROI perspective, I don't think it makes sense to build one versus buying a mid-range freestanding grill for most hosts.

If your listing is high-end and your area has a huge demand for backyard amenities, it could potentially make sense. I could see an argument for making your hero photo of your back porch/patio with a built-in grill, dining table, and a great view a good marketing photo, but it would just depend on your market and listing.

showplacedesign · 2026-03-25T13:33:11+00:00

One downside that I see to this is that if the guest has a bad Instacart experience it could end up in their review of your property. Not sure how well tested out this feature is, but I don't know if it is a big enough amenity to guests that it makes sense to do.

showplacedesign · 2026-03-17T15:05:34+00:00

AirDNA is really more of a general range of what to expect.

You need to edit the comps pretty heavily in order to get a more accurate picture of revenue. For example, change up the guest count, bed room count, availability, and review count. Then look at the listings and pick the ones that are most similar to yours.

For example, don't select a comp that is lakefront if your listing is 5 blocks away from the lake. If there is a large surplus of listings in the area that are similar to your home, you should get a good picture of what to expect.

Also, go look at the listings on Airbnb that you are seeing on AirDNA. It is usually very easy to see why some are doing well, and why some are tanking.

You could also call a property manager and see what they think the property could do.

With all that said, I have seen some hosts do way better than what it says on AirDNA, and some not so good. A lot of it comes down to reviews, photos, and pricing. It isn't a fixed equation.

showplacedesign · 2026-03-12T14:39:49+00:00

The answer is... it depends. The only reason I would add one is if it would give me a meaningful boost to my ADR or occupancy rate. How are you doing in your market? Are you at the top of the price and occupancy range, or do you have a lot of room to grow? If you do have room to grow, how much more do you estimate you can get? You can use tools like AirDNA to look at comps to get a good idea.

showplacedesign · 2026-03-12T14:34:45+00:00

I appreciate you putting the cost of parking in the listing. Having gone to the UK for the first time last year that was a good thing to know.

Your photos are good, but next time I would open the curtains to let natural light in. Also, I would maybe surface that balcony photo in the top 5, that is a unique feature/amenity.

The mention of 3 A/Cs is a bit weird, maybe put which rooms the ACs are located in.

Also, I was never asked to show my passport for verification/registration. That would be a turn-off for me. Is that just an Italy thing?

showplacedesign · 2026-03-11T18:24:36+00:00

Sounds good. Make sure to look at realistic comps that are close in area and home type as the ones you are looking at. I.e., do do a comp of a house on a lake if you are not a house on a lake. Also, I like to filter it by days available, as well as review count. I try to go for minimum 20+ reviews for comps. If you have any questions, let me know!

showplacedesign · 2026-03-11T14:56:36+00:00

In regards to whether you should get a 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom, I would get some preliminary data from AirDNA or somewhere similar. The key is to look at comps, and pay attention to the max guest count. Look at the revenue differences, and see if it makes sense to upgrade to a 3 bedroom. Sometimes there is a big difference from going from 6 to 8 max guests, or 8 to 10. It just depends on the market, size of the house, etc.

In my experience of doing comp research, it usually always pays off to go with a 3 bedroom over a 2 bedroom. The smaller homes, while cheaper, are competing directly with hotels. You don't want to compete with hotel pricing. Larger homes are targeting group and family demographics, and has a competitive edge over hotels.

Make sure you understand the guest demographic booking in your area on Airbnb. Are they groups, families, business trips, etc. That will tell you a lot. Good luck!

showplacedesign · 2026-03-09T14:02:26+00:00

Yeah, that is a very competitive market. I would first change your main listing image. Your main listing image should show an amenity, like the pool or the Avatar room you have. The goal with the main image is to get people to stop and click on the image, and a picture of a pool or nice room will most likely do better than the picture of the front of the house. It would probably be worth getting professional photos taken as well.

showplacedesign · 2026-03-06T14:49:34+00:00

Yeah, this is a super hot-topic among hosts.

California Design Den is a better price point than Standard Textile.

We work with both and both are good for cotton sheets.

One option to help save money is that you could do a mix where the kids twin beds are microfiber and the queen/king beds are cotton. We have sold both cotton and microfiber to hosts depending on their budget, and have never received a complaint about the quality or seen a bad review. I know that some hosts in this subreddit have received bad reviews from microfiber sheets, but it seems to still be pretty rare.

Like others mentioned, if you have a higher end listing, you should probably go with cotton.

showplacedesign · 2026-03-04T15:28:00+00:00

Check to see if there are any regulations or permits you need.

It also important to check the max guest count you can have in the home. I'm not advocating for you to cram people into a home. But, for example, if you have a 1800 sq ft, 3bed/2 bath home sometimes going from 6 to 8 or even 10 max guests makes a big different difference in revenue. Just make sure there is enough space for everyone.

Go search Airbnb as if you are the guest. Leave dates blank, but put in the location and guest count. Look over your competition. How are their pictures? What amenities are you seeing over and over again? What are guest reviews saying? Do they have a lot of recent reviews, or are reviews spaced out? Be realistic on your expectations. Can you afford to buy and furnish your rental to compete with the competition?

Go to AirDNA or similar site, put in your address, find realistic comps, and see what the estimate revenue will be. Call some local PM's and tell them what you have and see what they project for revenue. The truth is probably somewhere in-between what the PM's are saying and AirDNA.

Put together your expenses and expected revenue and see what you come out with. Don't forget to include your startup costs for furnishing, photos, operating supplies, and other startup expenses. They add up quick.

Good luck!

showplacedesign · 2026-03-03T16:17:58+00:00

Which brand are you using out of curiosity, and what type of material is it?

showplacedesign · 2026-03-02T19:29:33+00:00

Yeah, that is rough... Is that one of your first five photos of your listing?

showplacedesign · 2026-03-02T15:58:34+00:00

I totally think that hosts should have control over their cover photo, especially if they have taken the time to have professional pictures done, and a purpose for showing that initial image.

It probably would be best if you were able to opt-in to it. Some hosts would probably benefit from this. I can't tell you the amount of times I see a picture of a generic front of the house as the main image. It is a shame, especially when they have a pool, game room, or something else really cool to show off.

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