Housing

America Has 33.6 Million Spare Bedrooms

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: April 23, 2016 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 10:24 am

The value of an American home is presumably what the owner can get in a sale, rentals and home equity loans. Spare bedrooms can be added to the list. There are 33.6 million in the United States, which represents $175 billion in real estate value. That is, of course, based on the assumption people have any interest in use of those bedrooms at all. It is example of what real estate is worth if it is not, and will not be, used at all. Think unused garage.

According to Finder.com, the value of all these bedrooms is found via a complex calculation:

It’s not unusual to have an extra bedroom in your house. Indeed, a finder.com analysis of United States Census data suggests that there are 33.6 million of them across the nation. If you assume that each of these rooms could be rented out for $100 a week (which would be cheap in many areas of the US), that adds up to a whopping $174 billion in missed opportunities for extra cash each year.

According to the Census, there are 357,032,421 bedrooms in America, and 323,391,100 people, leaving a surplus of 33,641,321 rooms. The total number of spare rooms is likely to be even higher since many couples share a bedroom. Overall, there are 9.42% more bedrooms than people.

The simple reality is that if you’re not using a spare room, you can easily score $5,000 a year in extra rental income. An extra $400 a month could help you pay off your mortgage faster.

The “trade your spare bedroom” for a mortgage is a subset of the idea of renting an entire house for income, either for an extended time or via Airbnb.

The number of possible limitations almost certainly brings the $174 billion number way down. Finder.com admits that through a list of potential roadblocks to making money:

• Check with your accountant for the tax implications of the extra income and how to handle relevant tax payments.
• If you’re a homeowner, check on relevant county or state laws surrounding letting spare rooms.
• If you’re renting, check if the terms of your lease allow subleasing of rooms, and if there are only relevant local regulations.
• Make sure that your home insurance policy covers tenants as well.

Perhaps those spare bedrooms should stay spare.