First, just in case the owner pulls his living situation back out of the description, know that he lives in the basement while renters are present. This detail was not in the property description when I booked the stay. His listing simply stated the rental was for the whole house. If you don't mind clearly hearing phone conversations and television from below along with a strong smell of fried food while you are trying to sleep, then you may consider this a non-issue. Of course, this (and a *terribly* squeeky floor throughout the house) also indicated we had no privacy.
My partner and I communicated with the host prior to our trip that we would be arriving at the property in the middle of the night. Upon opening the door, we realized the heat was not on. Instead, there was an AC unit (no heat) fan in the bedroom window blowing outdoor air into the house (38°F). Once that was turned off, we discovered the central heating thermostat found in the living room was not hooked up; there was no heat available to us in the unit. Luckily, we had packed to go camping after our stay, so brought our sub-zero sleeping bags in from the truck to avoid finding a motel in the middle of the night.
After a mostly sleepless night, we contacted our host about the non-working thermostat and freezing temperatures. He sent his assistant to turn the heat on for us. This is where we found out the owner was staying in the locked basement where the thermostat had been moved to keep renters from having access.