With skyrocketing real estate prices and high mortgage rates, families are choosing to open their homes to international students.
Although relatively new, it’s an increasingly popular co-living arrangement! But both host and home must be well prepared to guarantee a positive experience.
Set Clear Expectations From the Outset
One of the most important steps when hosting an international student is to talk openly and honestly about each party’s expectations. For example, you may wish to discuss:
- House rules: Explain your expectations regarding the shared use of common areas (kitchen, bathroom, living room), cleaning, garbage disposal, and other co-living rules.
- Schedules: Because they’re young adults, students can be touchy about how they manage their schedule, particularly regarding mealtimes and bedtime. Also specify the acceptable times for noisy activities, as well as when you require more peace and quiet, or privacy.
- Financial responsibilities: Discuss the rental costs, comprising rent and additional expenses, such as internet use or household supplies and consumables (cleaning products, meals, etc.). Or you could decide to charge a flat rate that covers all these fees, simplifying the process.
How Much Should You Charge?
You must take different factors into account when determining how much rent to charge. These include the distance between your residence and the educational institution, proximity to public transit, how up to date your property is, and the amount of personal space allocated to the student.
Supply and demand equally play a role: if you’re one of only a few people in your neighbourhood choosing to host an international student and your home is in a desirable location, you may be able to ask for more.
Make sure you crunch the numbers in any case. Calculate your hosting expenses and expected revenue to see if this is all worthwhile. Unless, of course, your principal motivation for hosting an international student is the experience and not another income stream to help you pay your mortgage!
Their Room and Private Sanctuary
The student’s bedroom will serve as their main living space. It must be properly furnished, functional and cozy to ensure they feel at home. You don’t have to create a luxury suite, but the following elements can make a big difference.
- A comfortable bed: Make sure the mattress and pillow are adapted to the student’s needs and conducive to a restful night’s sleep.
- Practical storage: Provide enough storage space (armoire, dresser with drawers, shelves) so they can put their belongings away neatly and not live out of their suitcase.
- Lighting: A desk lamp, soft reading light and a sufficiently bright central ceiling fixture to illuminate the entire room are all important. This isn’t just for practical reasons (to be able to work effectively), but also for the student’s comfort (subdued lighting promotes better sleep). In short, layered lighting makes for a far cozier room!
- Personal touches: Add a few decorative accessories, like cushions and matching curtains to make the space more welcoming.
- Reliable internet access: The bedroom is where the student will spend most of their time. Therefore, consistent internet connection is a must. You can purchase an inexpensive Wi-Fi booster or extender, which should solve a poor signal issue.
- A desk: So the student can work in an organized and ergonomic manner.
Expect Some Cultural Differences
As you are inviting a person from another continent into your home, chances are both of you will have a quite dissimilar outlook on daily life. Getting along will require keeping such things in mind. For instance, dietary habits can vary considerably from country to country: a frank discussion about kitchen use is essential!
Are you concerned about the language barrier? This problem is easily solved: download a voice translation application that you can both use to communicate with each other. Very practical!
Supervise… But Only Up to Point!
Depending on the student’s age and how self-sufficient they are, you may feel the need to watch over them. Indeed, international students can have a hard time adjusting to a new culture and country.
Consider, for example, taking them on a short tour of regional attractions, student hangout spots, libraries, and other useful locations. If you’re comfortable with administrative procedures at the local level, offer to accompany them on tasks such as opening a bank account, registering for public services, or obtaining a transit card.
To summarize, welcoming an international student into your home is about more than gaining an additional source of income, it can also be a rewarding experience for the entire family.