Homestay?

Have anyone run one of these set up before and how time consuming is it? Looking at under 18's to reduce the possible movement and the income break (ATO allows up to 2 of them before considering them to be an income). What are the means of getting a 'tenant'?

 

I have done this a few years ago through Monash Uni in Melbourne. The students were females and over 18. Mainly from Korea and Japan, who were doing short term language exchange program. Their stays were 2-3 months at a time.

We had to go through an interview process and house inspection. Our motivation was not a financial one though. As I think you would get more income from the below 18s, because you have to provide meals and more supervision. It was mainly for the company as there was only 2 of us staying in a 4BR house.

The short term stays were great for us because it was not such a big commitment. All we had to provide was 1 meal (dinner). And a stocked pantry where they can prepare their own breakfast. The students were also encouraged to help out with chores. One cooked us a Japanese meal, and I had a great time learning authentic recipes.

I suggest you can try to contact Universities to find out whether they need any hosts for a start, just to get a feel. Before committing to a long term one.

 

From everything I heard so far it's good.

A lot of money in doing it. If you have time to cook for them.

Please try to make Australia look like a welcoming nice place.

 

We have hosted homestay students from Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Columbia, Korea, Spain and Switzerland for the last 5 years. The host fee is tax exempt for up to two students at a time. We did this once for a few weeks but prefer one student at a time for a less boarding house feel!
Like Adele we have a four bedroom townhouse and can offer the student their own bedroom and bathroom. We receive $270 per week and provide breakfast foods, a main meal at night and snacks. We receive students through a language school where in addition to providing accommodation and food, the role of the hosts is to give the students a welcoming base.
In general we have enjoyed it and have gained a lot from the experience.

 

Mini 2 we had done this for years when my kids were little and can provide you an Adelaide contact.

We cook every single day anyway and found that we didn't even need to cook more, just threw away less. My husband and I both overdo the cooking because we just love to cook. The meals you provide are a key part to a homestay staying with you, we've had people there for years and had ones transferred to us from other families if they were not happy with meals. Never had a problem.
The thing to keep in mind is that it is worth far more than the money you get paid, they are part of the family which means going out to restaurants with the family, movies, involved in birthday parties etc...
I gave them the liberty to cook whatever ethnic dish they wanted whenever they wanted - I bought all the ingredients for them, but it had to be enough for the whole family, either they cooked or we did but not both.

Right now we do not have the routine we used to so can't fit in a homestay. we sometimes have meals at my office, are frequently out, take more holidays and generally busier so it wont work but we enjoyed the experience and keep in touch with all of our homestay kids.

 

My uncle used to take Japanese students onto his large acreage property.

Unfortunately, he took one out in the truck one day and she didn't revel in him maintaining appropriate numbers of kangaroos on his property with a shotgun.

She locked herself in a room for days, distraught until her parents were able to arrange a flight back to Japan to escape the 'murderer'.

Not sure that helps the OP.

 

I had a Chinese guy stay at my house and he crapped in my bin. I wouldnt recommend it.

 

Hi Mini2, If you have a couple of spare bedrooms and don't mind a partial loss of privacy, homestay is an great idea.

$500 or so cash in hand for the price of an extra plate on the table would be nice.

When my family eventually gets back to Melbourne, I reckon we'll get a large house close to public transport and look for a couple of Chinese students for homestay. Good money, company for my daughter and excellent practice for her Mandarin.

 

A mate of mine does it in Brissy. He's near the uni. Been doing it for a few years now and has worked out the ideal homestay guests. He sometimes has three of them, so it's around $800 per week. They feed them, but his wife always cooked a lot anyway. She is from Hong Kong and most of their guests are from up that way. It's a big house and there are no privacy issues.

 

Your mate has a sweet set up. What is the ideal homestay guest he worked out?

 

I'll probably get into strife for racial stereotyping and might have to delete my own post, but here goes:
He's found the young South American blokes good fun, but I think they tended to like a bit of party. Saudi boys had demands before they even arrived so her has never taken them in. Chinese boys were very entitled and wouldn't lift a finger around the house - he asked one to leave. Chinese girls are the ones they have mostly settled on. Because his wife is from Hong Kong, there are no food issues and they are very compliant. The only problem is they don't say 'boo' and often stay in their room so they're not great company.

 

Neighbour had 3-4 home stays at a time, kids had left home and he was putting himself through Uni for a career change. They lived on the homestay income plus Austudy.

Reckoned girls spent too long in the shower and clogged up the drains washing their hair every day. Actually preferred Koreans over Japanese. This was around 15-20 years ago before the large Chinese influx.

You will need good public transport connections. If you opt for high school students you will probably have to drive them to and from school every day. Same for out-of-the-way colleges, but they probably pay more.
Marg

 

I'm more interested in the under 18 kids over the uni students. The in laws have got themselves into this previously and some of the stereotypes are correct - the mainland Chinese (over 18's/uni student type) left the toilets in such a filthy state and said to my in laws I'd rather pay you extra to clean it up than do it myself and they aren't even the wealthy ones either. Somehow they managed to smash the cooktop (it's got a ceramic top) and general wear and tear on the property is bad.

The plan is to purchase a property within the school catchment area with a school that specifically catered for that group. Uni students will be the fallback but preferred not to deal with them though.

 

Quick question, as someone who hosts 2 homestays and looking to host a third, is the third homestay income taxable income?

ATO ID 2001/381 - Payments received under a homestay arrangement

I know the ATO says that hoemstay fees for 1-2 students are definitely not tax assessable, but I can't find anything about 3 or more students.

 

Actually, seems like you can have 3-4 and still not be taxed on income:

Austax

 

I think the 1-2 is only for Sydney NSW. QLD it's different.

 

Curious can Homestay payments allowed to be in serviceability as income?

 

Wouldn't have thought, unless you're going to list them as dependants which will likely outweigh the income