I'm just about to finalise on the purchse of a property in Everleigh.

It's a brand new, 3 bedroom, ground floor unit with a nice garden and braai area. It has ample space, and is fully furnished.

There is ample parking for tenants and visitors as well as a gym for tenants. A nice bonus is that the units have great sound insulation as all doors and windows are fitted with double glazed glass.

Now, I have weighed up my options on this investment and have decided to go the Airbnb route in order to improve my income on this property, as opposed to earning rent from traditional long-term tenants.

Airbnb hosting though,higher income aside, obviously comes with a much more hands on and admin intensive demand on a host than would be required for landlording a long term tenant. Browsing through the site today, looking for a late afternoon punt, I wondered if having a WG (or 2) working from my apartment might not give me the higher returns I'm looking for without the Airbnb demands of hosting and managing. Obviously it comes with its own set of challenges.

Pardon me for the essay but:

- Fellow Punters, is this an idea worth investigating further or have I lost my marbles?

- WG's, would a venue like this work for you? DM me to discuss.

The higher the returns the higher the risk.

AirBnB may provide you with higher returns than long-term rentals, but as you say, will require more management and you're not guaranteed occupants.

Renting to a WG may be even riskier. The large majority probably aren't flush with cash; only the top performers. You run the risk of not being paid, as well as associated risks for hosting a business like this.

Even Warren Buffet would tell you that a long term steady return on an investment beats unpredictable short term flashes in the pan.

YMMV.