As more and more families with children take in their elderly parents, many property owners are hiring a remodeling contractor to add additional rooms to their homes, convert sheds and garages into extra rooms, or add mother-in-law suites to their properties. In many cases, these additions are being used to rent out as Airbnb suites.

Adding a guestroom to your property may be a necessity, but it can also become a thriving business that will pay for itself in the long run, especially in the Austin area where Airbnb properties are as popular as ever.

Depending on your family situation, even for homeowners who live in a multiple-story house, one or two floors can be used as a guestroom or a separate bed and breakfast while you live in a separate portion of the property.

Here’s how you can successfully add a comfortable guestroom to your existing home or as a separate building on your property:

Upgrade an existing room

Adding a guestroom, which is a commercial venture, should not require starting from scratch. Choose a room in your home that can be cordoned off from the rest of your living area to ensure privacy for both your future guests and your family. Remember, this is a business, and you really don’t want strangers walking through your home at night, nor do your guests want to stay in a home where they can’t have privacy.

This means building a separate entrance to the room where you want people to stay. Make sure it has a lockbox or secure keypad with an entry code. You should have a wall between the main home and the guest suite or a door that is securely locked.

The bedrooms should each have a comfortable bed to sleep in, their own bathroom, and be fitted with amenities such as a television, a sink with countertops, a stove or mini countertop burner, and a coffee maker. Depending on your budget and the kind of fee you plan on charging your future guests, you can select exactly how many comforts and amenities you wish to add to the rooms. Talk to our home remodeling experts in Round Rock, Texas, to figure out the best way to utilize the space and how you want your new guest suite to look.

Converting a garage or shed

Converting a garage or shed in your backyard is a viable option when you want more space for guests—whether they’re family or paying tenants. The first step if you want to pursue this option is to make sure your homeowner’s association will allow it. Some may not allow you to operate an Airbnb-type business in your neighborhood, but they may allow you to build another structure or convert a structure into a guesthouse. Check your contract to make sure.

How you build out your shed or garage depends entirely on the amount of space. Ask our residential contractor in Round Rock, Texas, about whether the structure is sound or it needs to be reinforced or rebuilt altogether. If it’s a freestanding structure, make sure you have enough space for a small kitchen area with a sink, a stove, an oven, and a countertop. It also needs a bathroom with a shower and/or bathtub. That means running electricity and your water line to the structure, adding a water heater, and making sure you tap into the sewer line. Your goal is to make sure that the building is structurally sound, comfortable, and accessible by foot or car.

Hire our home remodeling experts in Round Rock, Texas, for help creating a guestroom

At Freccia Group, we’re a construction and development company based in the Austin area. Our experienced home remodeling experts in Round Rock, Texas, can remodel your property to add a guestroom or renovate an existing structure into a guesthouse. We specialize in residential as well as commercial construction projects and have been serving countless clients across the state of Texas for many years. Contact us on our website for more information or to hire a remodeling contractor in Round Rock, Texas.