Homestay Beijing 2008

Local Media - CityWeekend

On July 31, CityWeekend published the article below.

Link to original article.

Olympic Homestay Bonanza

Make ¥30,000 just by leaving Beijing

by Zach Overline

The entire world is descending on Beijing to cash in on the Olympic craze, but one group of foreigners is determined to make small fortunes by skipping town, choosing to rent out their apartments to Olympic-hungry tourists.

According to Piet Bos, the founder of Homestay Beijing 2008, this is not just a beer-fueled expat fantasy. "Of course it depends on the size, the location and the proximity to the Olympic stadiums, but my rule of thumb is that you can charge about ¥500 per person per night, "and at one person per room, you can earn up to ¥30,000 per month," Bos claims.

Bos's system, which has already caught the attention of the Washington Post, is ingeniously simple. Contact him through the website, he stops by, takes pictures, does an interview and collects ¥300 to make sure you’re serious. After that he advertises your place to his roster of prospective sublettors. The day the tenants arrive they give you a wad of cash and Bos a finder's fee, and you're off. Of course you won't see the Games, but will that really matter when you're sitting on a beach in Thailand?

So far Bos has about 100 people waiting for apartments and 25 people signed up to sublet, and he expects the numbers to jump in September. It's definitely a big market, as Google traffic shows. "It won't be difficult to compete with hotels," Bos says, "their prices will go up about ten times—it's practically a Chinese law."

It might seem creepy to have someone staying in your home while you're away, but Bos says that it's mostly families who are interested in homestays. Besides, there are measures in place to ensure that tenants don’t go sniffing around your unmentionables and their kids don't touch your action figure collection. He takes a deposit from the sublettor, tapes up your drawers and if the seal is broken, the deposit won't be returned.

If you're looking to make three months rent in two weeks time, or if you're just lonely and want a roommate to share the Olympic fever with, contact Bos. As long as your place is clean and in a decent location, you are good to go. Throw in your ayi and driver for an extra big slice of the money cake. Most importantly, get started now, because that torch is just around the corner.

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