My first day here and I have TWO questions! Hope that's OK.
Over the past 20 years we've hosted around 20 foreign exchange students (summer, semester, and full year). We were thinking that as part of our mustachian journey, we would rent room and board in our home to an international university student starting with the spring 2018 semester.
I contacted the Office of International Services at NC State in Raleigh (the closest university to us), and they said they'r put out the word to their students, though they think one of their visiting scholars might be a better fit (older, no daily classes, probably own a car). They asked me to send them an email with all the details...including cost.
I'm really not sure what we should charge. All our experiences with hosting exchange students have been on a volunteer basis. Last year we hosted a male dancer for a few months and his family paid us $600 per month...but man could that kid eat, and he had some habits that were pretty expensive (like washing and drying his dance clothes every single day). Not sure we even broke even on that situation.
Here are some details, if it helps:
We have a guest room with a trundle bed, nice dresser and side table, large recliner, and good-sized closet. The renter would have access to a shared full bath and their own parking space. We would provide food/meals. (We don't cook every meal...sometimes, for example lunches, we just grab something out of the fridge.) We also supply heat, electricity, water, and WiFi. Common spaces like the living room, kitchen, dining room, and screened in porch are shared. The renter would pay their own entertainment, special food, clothing, and so on.
We live maybe 20 minutes from the university, in a small (1,800-sf or so) house that's very clean, bright, and sunny. We have an almost-9-year-old boy who gets along great with pretty much everyone, and three friendly indoor/outdoor cats. We live next door to a school playground that we're allowed to use when school is not in session, including the track. We're just a 10-minute (.5-mile) walk from downtown.
The renter would need to keep their room and bathroom clean, and I'd expect they would help out with keeping the rest of the house clean, too. (In other words, I'm not picking up after someone else's mess, and wouldn't mind a little help with light chores like emptying the dishwasher, vacuuming, etc.) The renter would do their own laundry, but I would wash their bed linens and towels with the rest of the family's. Also, we do travel overseas once or twice in the spring, and I'd be happy to reduce rent for those months if the renter took care of our cats whole we're away.
So, pretty much like a foreign exchange student situation, except it's not free. :) Is what I'm suggesting even a thing? Any suggestions on how much you would charge? My gut tells me $800 per month, but that's based on absolutely nothing. (All the posts I find online with this question are referring to charging an adult child rent...and I don't see any room and board offers on our local Craigslist for comparison.)
Thanks so much for any direction anyone can give me!
