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Cameroon edition

This guide is written in French (Cameroon edition). An English edition is in preparation.

Before you launch a furnished rental, find out how many nights you need to be profitable.

The step-by-step guide to running a furnished rental, by subletting or in your own property: working out the break-even occupancy, the landlord's consent, formalities and taxes, equipment, prices and day-to-day running.

Get the guide for 4,900 FCFA Calculate my profitability
  • 36 pages
  • 13 sources cited, including the tourism act and the local taxation act
  • Break-even occupancy worked out item by item
Sleep, coolness, electricity, access: what guests judge first, and what fills the calendar.

A furnished rental pays, provided you get three things right.

Furnished rentals are growing fast in the big cities, and the State is starting to regulate them. The most costly mistakes can be spotted before you sign anything:

The lease prohibited it

Many leases contain a clause against subletting. Without the landlord's written consent, you risk losing the lease and your equipment.

The calendar too empty

Rent and bills are due every month, bookings or not. In the guide's example, below 39% occupancy, the rental loses money.

The undeclared business

The Ministry of Tourism is registering furnished rentals and wants to bring them out of the informal sector. Better to know the formalities before opening than after an inspection.

39% then 58%
occupancy to cover costs, then to also pay back the equipment in two years, in the guide's worked example
versus
4,900 FCFA
to do this calculation with your own figures before signing the lease or buying the furniture

According to the press, furnished rentals let for between 6,500 and 75,000 FCFA a night, up to half the price of a hotel, and the Ministry of Tourism has started registering them. Source: 237online (in French)

What you will be able to do after reading it

From the first calculation to the first guest review.

  • Work out your break-even occupancyThe number of nights to let each month to cover costs and pay back the equipment.
  • Assess the neighbourhood before signingNoise, smells, flooding, access, security, power cuts: a four-visit inspection routine and a 20-point scoring grid.
  • Secure the landlord's consentWhat the lease should include and how to present your project.
  • Know the formalities and taxesTourism act, tourist tax, tax regime: where to check what.
  • Equip where guests notice the differenceSleep, coolness, electricity, internet: the priority items.
  • Fill the calendar and protect yourselfChannels, prices, welcome, deposit and safeguards against bad guests.

Look inside

A real working guide: tables, worked examples, tick-box checklists. Here are three pages (in French).

Guide page: table of the worked example with two occupancy rates
The worked example: income, costs and break-even
Guide page: neighbourhood scoring grid with ten criteria
The neighbourhood scoring grid, out of 20 points
Guide page: chapter on the legal framework
The legal framework: landlord, tourism, taxes

This guide is for you if

  • you want to launch a furnished rental with little capital, by subletting;
  • you own a flat or a building and are hesitating between a standard let and a furnished rental;
  • you already run a furnished rental and want to make it compliant and fill it better;
  • you live abroad and want to have a property run on site.

It is not for you if

  • you are looking for a list of homes to sublet;
  • you want to open a hotel: the procedure is different;
  • you want a legal opinion on your lease: that is a lawyer's job.

Calculate the profitability of your furnished rental, for free

This calculator applies the guide's method. The starting values are those of the fictional example: replace them with your own figures.

The complete guide

This guide is written in French (Cameroon edition). An English edition is in preparation.

Guide and Tips to Launch and Run a Successful Furnished Apartment or Airbnb (Cameroon edition)

  • Guide written in French (Cameroon edition).
  • 36-page PDF in A5 format, in large print for comfortable reading on a phone
  • Ten chapters, from the initial calculation to the dashboard, including a whole chapter on the property's surroundings
  • Complete worked example with the break-even occupancy
  • The legal framework: landlord, tourism, tourist tax, taxes
  • Equipment, inspection and risk checklists
  • 13 sources cited, including the 2016 and 2024 acts
  • Bonus: the Kompasguides newsletter free of charge, with fully verified land and property listings every week
4,900 FCFA

Orange Money or MTN MoMo. Download as soon as the payment is confirmed.

Planning a complete project? All four guides: 9,900 FCFA instead of 19,600 FCFA.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sublet without my landlord's consent?

Sources disagree on what the law allows, and many leases prohibit it. The guide recommends getting written consent in every case, and explains how to ask for it.

Do I need a permit to run a furnished rental?

A furnished home let to travellers very probably counts as a tourism activity. The guide summarises the texts and tells you where to check the exact procedure before opening.

Does the guide help choose the neighbourhood?

Yes. A whole chapter reviews what drives guests away from a property (noise at night and in the morning, smells, flooding, access, security, power cuts, neighbours) and gives a four-visit inspection routine with a 20-point scoring grid and deal-breaker criteria.

Does the guide give prices by neighbourhood?

No, they change too fast. It gives a method to survey prices in your neighbourhood in one week and include them in your calculation.

I live abroad. Is it feasible?

Yes, with a reliable contact on site. The guide describes the minimum team and the steps of each stay.

Is payment secure?

Payment by Orange Money, MTN MoMo. With Orange Money or MTN MoMo, the request goes straight to your phone: you approve it with your PIN, without leaving this site. Your PIN is never requested or stored by this site.

How it works

  1. Choose your guideClick “Buy”.
  2. Pay with your phoneApprove with your Orange Money or MTN MoMo PIN, or pay by card.
  3. Download the PDFThe guide is available as soon as the payment is confirmed.
  • Orange Money
  • MTN MoMo

For the next steps of your project