The thing about real estate is that you can sell it, ie, rent space, but you still have it. I watch all the programs on auctions, car boot sales, and yard sales, and I have also sold my things at auctions, car boot sales, ebay and yard sales. Many of the things I sold, especially at auctions, I regret not having now. I lost Clarice Cliff to an auction house, when it didn't reach the reserve in San Francisco, and the agent there said her mother liked it and could she have it for, well, peanuts.
When I started renting some of the places that I owned, I almost felt like I was taking money for nothing, because I still own the places. All those financial equations about return on your money are just air bubbles to me, because I want to own the places whether it makes sense or not. So when I began the B&B rentals in London, this was just extra money for nothing, really. I've been a flat sharer and an advocate of it, but in a way, this is much better, because they come and go, and you aren't left with someone who feels they own the spot, too.
My friend in Paris who started this summer found it 'a wheeze', paid off her overdraft, and had all 'very nice people'.
This is the last day today of my summer rentals, and I am going to San Francisco, to rent out again the garden studio there. But I'll be back in November with more guests.
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