Rachel Smalley: Would you rent your home to Lions fans?

Would you rent your home out to Lions fans while they're in NZ? Photo / Getty Images

Here's a question for you. Would you think about renting out your house during the Lions tour?

You move out, for a week or so, you move in with the in-laws, or perhaps you head off for a week in Fiji or Oz, and you rent out your house to British or Irish tourists.

No? Not keen? What if I told you that you'd get more than $10,000 for the week?

That's the kind of money we're talking about if you've got the right house in the right spot. In New Zealand, when we host a big event, we simply don't have enough hotels so rooms are in short supply across Auckland, Wellington and Rotorua from late June to early July.

Campervans and campgrounds are also pretty busy - that will be chilly, won't it? Camping in June-July. AirBnb and BookaBach are trying to fill the gap.

I have friends who do this every year. They live on the coast and over Christmas they rent out their house and that pays for their overseas holiday later in the year. But it's quite a rigmarole.

You have to remove everything that's personal to you. So, down come the photos on the mantle piece of Aunty Marge and the cat, you need to clean out your wardrobes and your chests of drawers, and the bathroom cabinets. The fridge needs to be empty and so too does the pantry, unless you're happy for the guests to use what they wish. So you essentially need to turn your home into a bach for a week.

For me, I couldn't be bothered, that's a lot of work, and if I'm really honest, I don't like the thought of strangers lying around on my lounge suite or sleeping in my bed, but if you've got the right home, you're talking about $10,000 here, and that's a decent wad of cash.

Around 20,000 Lions supporters are coming here, and most will likely be at each test match, so that's another 20,000 people in Auckland and Wellington. But the Lions will also tour through Whangarei, Christchurch, Dunedin and Hamilton too, playing some of our Super rugby teams.

So would you consider cashing in on the wave of Lions fans coming here? And at what price? Or is your home, just that - your home?

Rachel Smalley hosts Early Edition on Newstalk ZB