How to Separate Rooms for Renting out by Room

[Rei Julian Pornobe Teodoro]

Hi,

We are investors in Sandy Springs, GA and we have a question regarding renting out by room through airbnb?

1. How to separate each room? what type of lock needs to install (ex. smartlock)?

2. What other important things we need to consider?

Thank you!

[Christian Ehlers]

Any sort of smart lock or lock that you can change the code to is likely all you need for that. I would keep in mind the personalities of the different tenants you are putting in there as they will have to share common space, fridges etc so trying to make sure they actually get along will make your life a lot easier!

[Eliott Elias]

Use the August lock, they can connect from their phone

[Mohammed Rahman]

Hey @Rei Julian Pornobe Teodoro I recently saw an Airbnb that just had a bunch of different drywall/sheetrock setup to divvy up the large space into smaller rooms. That could be a way to separate a large space, and if you already have the rooms built out and just need to manage access for each one separate a smart lock would be good investment unless you're also in the space and can provide/collect keys from people. 

[Tommy Parker]

Smart locks would be best for this! Putting them on the entrance room doors. 

[Nicholas Coulter]

@Rei Julian Pornobe Teodoro I would add a theme to each room and get smart locks that you can make the passcode the last 4 digits of their phone number! Also get professional photos!

[Michael Dumler]

@Rei Julian Pornobe Teodoro, a smart lock for each room is a must for rent-by-the-room investments. Moreover, each room should be numbered in my opinion to avoid tenant confusion. Also, just curious, what cleaning service are you using assuming the room turnover will be relatively quick? Let us know how it performs!

[Miller McSwain]

We are using the "rent-by-room" strategy, and we put electronic locks on all bedroom doors and the front door. Our locks allow us to remotely add a pin for a new resident, make temporary pins for handymen/contractors, etc.

We looked for any lock that uses the "TTlock" app on Amazon. That way, all of our locks are in the same app and have the same functionality.

For exterior deadbolt locks (front door, garage door), we used this:
https://a.co/d/2SFMNcy

For normal interior locks (bedroom), we used something like this (the ones we have are currently unavailable, but this has similar capabilities):
https://a.co/d/8C6nYen

You can create codes from anywhere without the locks having internet connection because it can create them using an offline algorithm. But if you want to create specific codes with certain digits (instead of random), you either need to be close enough to the lock to use bluetooth or you need to have a gateway. The gateway is just a hub that all the locks connect to.

We are using this one, but there are other options:
https://a.co/d/0kEUCXv

Another thing to think about is what utilities do you want to include, and where you want to provide anything else.
We include all utilities, we furnish all shared spaces, and we provide all shared items (pots/pans, utensils, trash bags, toilet paper in the shared bathroom, etc). By including all of these things, it has decreased the chances of housemates having arguments/problems.

Good luck!