If you have the option, owning assets that produce income is a better financial strategy than owning assets that generate expenses. If you own a house or apartment for your own residence, for example, you need to pay for maintenance, repairs, taxes, mortgage interest, landscaping, utilities, or a homeowner association fee that covers some of these expenses. If, however, you own a house or apartment available for renting or lease, you can generate income with the property, and in some cases, end up with positive cash flow after all those expenses are paid for.

Being a landlord is a viable vocation; after all, landlords exist for every rental tenant, and they often thrive financially. Succeeding in the business of rental properties requires a certain set of skills and desires, and making a living isn’t always as easy as others would lead you to believe. There can be some pressure to earn the monthly amounts that you would need to make this a viable income option.

From a tax point of view, when you rent out all or part of your residential house or unit through a digital platform, like Airbnb, Home Away or Flipkey, you:

- need to keep records of all income earned and declare it in your income tax return.

- need to keep records of expenses you can claim as deductions.

- don't need to pay GST on amounts of residential rent you earn.

If you are carrying on an enterprise renting out commercial residential premises, such as a commercial boarding house, you will have different income tax and GST obligations. However, just because you provide services in addition to providing a room (for example, provide breakfast or cleaning services) doesn’t mean that you are providing ‘board’ – or anything else other than renting out your space. It is rare for someone to be carrying on a business because they are renting out a property.

Producing an income in this way can definitely work (given the location, accessibility, need) you just need to consider how much income you can generate to make it worthwhile for you.