Dual Key – Air BNB

Dual Key – Air BnB
Your guide to passive income

It’s official Air BnB the global room sharing app has disrupted short stay accommodation around the world and is driving down hotel rates at some of the larger chains. Airbnb is a website for people to list, find, and rent lodging. It has over 1,500,000 listings in 34,000 cities and 190 countries.

Now the average home owner can easily capitilise on this modern technology trend by cleaning out the spare room, creating an account and opening the front door to the world.

Air BnB landlords enjoy the increased activity and excitement of welcoming new people into their home on a regular basis and earning additional income from sharing part or all of your home has proven to be very popular helping the company grow exponentially since 2008.

Of course if personal space and privacy are important to you then renting out a room may not appear to be a viable option and when holiday renting your entire home seems like too much hard work, what are your options?

Dual key homes provide a completely separate part of your home, self-contained and fully council approved and are the most popular investment property trend. Traditional small development options were to build units, a duplex or even add a granny flat to an existing home to maximise the rental income available from a single allotment but the most affordable and cost effective is to build a new Dual Key Home.

Appearing from the outside like a conventional home and available in multiple configurations to suit land shape, style and budget, these multi-tasking homes are coming to a suburb near you.

New home buyers can appreciate the flexibility offered by the separate living spaces allowing guests, students or elderly parents to stay independently from the main home and maintain privacy or interact as desired.

Regardless of age, lifestyle, location or demographic this new style of home is in demand across the country.

First home buyers can more easily make home repayments with the added rental income.

Professional couples and investors appreciate the proven 30% increase in rental income which positions Dual Key Homes in positive cashflow territory.

The ability to downsize and earn additional income without relocating has many baby-boomers and soon to be empty-nesters excited about retirement.

Now while the upside is overwhelming, investing in property is a serious business with long term benefits and ramifications for the uninformed, research is the key to finding the location, property and finance that best suits your personal situation.

Do more than search online, drive or walk around your shortlisted suburbs to get a feel for the liveability of an area before entering a sales office.

Even if you are an investor who does not plan to live in the Dual Key Home look for a growth area with employment opportunities to ensure you can source the best possible tenants.

Schedule a meeting with your accountant or a (non-affiliated, full disclosure) financial planner to discuss tax incentives, depreciation schedules and potential capital growth scenarios.

When you are comfortable with your capacity and requirements investigate non traditional options online to buy wholesale property via Revalu8 which like Air BnB acts as a middleman for the sales process.

If you choose to purchase land to build on or an existing house/land package in an estate consider similar products available from competing agents and enquire about the building companies list of repeat clients (clients who have contracted the same home builder more than once) to ascertain if they were motivated by price or quality.

Be pushy, this is a huge investment of your time and money, ask for some contact numbers and gauge your decision based on the sales agents response or lack of.

If you do get some numbers give them a call, if not drive/walk the suburb on the weekend to find people washing cars, gardening and making improvements to their homes and casually ask the following –

I love your home, did you purchase this home new and who was the builder?

Ask about call-backs or issues during the build and how seriously they responded?

Would they build with them again or refer a friend?

Ask how do valuations stack up for home loans in this area which is a great way to tell if the sales packages are overpriced?

This is not generally a problem when buying from a land estate sales office but more common when purchasing at investment seminars spruiking house/land packages in a faraway “growth suburb” or boom town.

Remember slow and neat that’s the treat, investing is a long term strategy requiring thorough research before the purchase and regular monitoring of your asset during to ensure maximum gains are maintained.

Your future self depends on it and will be grateful for your patience and diligence while kicking back/sipping a drink in early retirement.

In the interests of full disclosure the author Royce Beale is a director of Optam Building Group

At Optam we design, build and develop residential property with a sustainable approach for lifestyle and investment

We strive to engage and support ongoing relationships with customers interested in long term strategy and building a portfolio of appreciating assets