Short-Term & Vacation Rental Discussions
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies

Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal


Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback
Updated over 2 years ago on . Most recent reply

Short term rental with out house as bathroom
This property has an out house with no inside bathroom, it’s really aesthetic but wondering how much that might effect my rental rate or cost/day
Most Popular Reply

Quite a bit.
Not a total dealbreaker though; you will want to make sure it's clearly laid out in the listing and check out some alternative STR sites that cater to nature and camping clientele (they will be your most successful and understanding guests and will appreciate the aesthetic).
If you can upgrade the outhouse or set something up inside, bonus points for that. The toilet itself would be the first focus if there's no running water or compost type system (aka just a bucket or hole in the ground); try to find a better system/upgrade right away. Keep maintenance in mind as well; who's cleaning this thing...you may need to pay extra/look harder if it's a tough job.
Once your toilet is A+ create a nice path, add some lights overhead, and really lean into the "aesthetic" so it seems like a fun "adventure" to not have an in-house toilet for a few days.
If you can't find comps in the area/state maybe start looking at camping rates in the area and build out from that.
Your turnover rate will likely be higher as well; many folks will do the math on how many days they want to go outside to use the bathroom. You should factor that into your budget and strategy, but likely not the nightly rate.