I just bought a house (~3 months ago) in beautiful Asheville, NC. It's an 1100 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath, mortgage is $700/month - just right for my current situation.
Now it gets interesting... the house also has a full, unfinished basement, also 1100 square feet (obviously not included in the above figure!). Currently, it's only used for storing tools and kayaks and things, as well as the washer and dryer.
My idea is to spend some cash to create a nice little bedroom/bath suite down there, and rent it out using Airbnb. It's already preplumbed for a bathroom, and it has its own door to the outside (I could easily change the lock, and then I could have guests there without them even needing to enter my house). I would be able to do all the work myself (with the possible exception of electric), or with friends' help.
Asheville is a pretty wonderful tourist destination (mountains, hiking, mountain biking, Blue Ridge Parkway, whitewater, arts, etc.) so I would imagine there's a pretty good market here.
Does anyone have any experience doing something like this? I'd love to hear any comments/criticism for this plan/ideas on how much to charge, what features to include in the remodel, etc.
Thanks!
-Dan