- Qaid Jivan and his partner Alyssa McDonald bought a 100-year-old home in Vancouver for $1.45 million.
- They transformed one part of the 9-bedroom house into a two-bedroom 70s-themed Airbnb.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Qaid Jivan, a 32-year-old Airbnb host who lives in Vancouver, Canada and renovated a 100-year-old home with his partner to rent out. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Growing up in Vancouver, Canada, I was always aware of and excited by the idea of investing in real estate.
My partner, Alyssa McDonald, and I were finally in a financial position to get in, but we knew we had to be clever. We conceptualized the property the same way we did our consulting and advisory businesses, and put together a plan in late 2020 to make it happen.
We decided we were going to purchase a larger house that we could reside in as well as rent, both long-term and on AirBnB.
After spending nearly two years searching around Vancouver, we stumbled upon a 100-year-old house that no one seemed to want. The house was in rough shape and had a weird layout for most people because it had nine bedrooms, three kitchens, five bathrooms, and multiple entrances.
For us, though, we saw it as a revenue-generating opportunity before we have kids.
We paid $1.45 million for the house and estimated that we'd spend around $150,000 on renovations. But we challenged ourselves to spend under $5,000 to turn the space we planned to use for our AirBnB into a two-bedroom apartment. Here's exactly what we did.
We did most of the work ourselves and only did what was necessary
We decided to renovate the AirBnB space mostly on our own and with friends to save labor costs. We did hire a contractor to fix up the bathroom and paid around $2,700 for a new toilet, shower kit, and fixtures.
One way we saved money was by not installing a full kitchen in the space. Having to build out plumbing for that could have cost more than $5,000. Instead, we installed a kitchenette which cost under $200. Since most of our guests stay for an average of 2.5 nights, we've found that this equipment is enough for them to make quick meals.
We followed the same approach with the bathroom. Instead of building out a shower, we purchased a shower kit, which is basically a pre-built shower, this cost $1,000, a third of the cost of a custom shower. We found a new toilet and pedestal sink on Facebook Marketplace and just had to pay the plumber for installation.
We found good deals on Facebook Marketplace for furniture
When it came to purchasing furniture for the space, we spent around $1,900 on everything we needed.
In order to keep the costs low, we sourced most of the items from Facebook Marketplace. I spent hours every day refreshing the platform to find the pieces I wanted.
The trick to securing the items is to message the seller fast and be direct with your offering. When it comes to the best deals on the marketplace they go fast, so don't bother haggling or you'll lose.
We wanted to give the space a unique look and picked a 70s theme
This was done in conjunction with our close friend, Romy Sank, an interior designer. We knew we wanted a 70s theme. It's an era me and Alyssa love, it's super instagrammable, and it's easy and cheap to source furniture.
We found a bunch of Vancouver Sun newspapers from 1969, during the renovation. Romy put together a ton of amazing inspiration images, and used a laser level to draw some stellar murals. It really is these murals that make the place pop.
We were also able to source amazing vintage products on Facebook Marketplace
We sourced vintage TVs, record players, and art. A big win came when a friend of ours was "decolorizing" her home; we scored a gorgeous EQ3 couch that we never would have been able to afford otherwise, along with a handful of other items.
Still though, my favorite pieces are the framed Vancouver Sun articles from 1969 that hang in our living room. Although this style is very labor-intensive, it was cost-effective and absolutely worth it.
It was a challenge to figure out how much to price the AirBnB
As first-time AirBnB hosts, it was hard to figure out how much to charge. When we first started, we used the platform's automatic pricing feature, which uses its internal algorithm to determine a recommended price. We decided to charge about $140 a night during the off-season and upwards of $180 a night during the summer and holidays.
We could charge more since there aren't a lot of other two-bedroom apartments available in the area on AirBnB, but figuring out a sweet spot with pricing matters.
I am looking into other dynamic pricing apps.
We're averaging around $4,300 in income a month from the AirBnB
This real estate investment has already been profitable for us. To save money, we're strategic about how we use the $50 cleaning fee that our guests pay. We usually hire my sister-in-law to take care of the cleaning, and when she can't do it, Alyssa or myself take over.
Other operational expenses include a welcome basket that we give each guest. We spend around $11 on each basket and include a full-size Hardbite Chips, Lindt chocolate, and a bottle of San Pellegrino. Plus, we spend around $16 a guest on consumable products like soaps, shampoos, toilet paper, coffee, and more.
Since this area is popular during the summer, we tend to average over $5,000 in income. Giving the space a unique 70s theme not only helped make the space stand out on AirBnB but got us more bookings. As it stands today, we have a 4.98 rating on AirBnB.
If you want to be an AirBnB superhost, make your space Instagramable
Go beyond simply being responsive. You can do it without spending too much money, just get creative, and source decor from second-hand shops or Facebook Marketplace.
We found ourselves with the perfect equation for our first AirBnB. We're in a popular location, renovated the space to be attractive, and now have a recurring source of passive income — it's a core reason we're still clearing our mortgage payments despite the rate hikes.
Plus, we're having fun doing it, which makes all the hard work feel priceless.