Airbnb has quickly become the poster child of opportunity to earn additional income, as we see many flocking to short-term rentals to create a side hustle or completely get rid of their day job. No matter your reason for joining this movement of fortune builders, it can give you extra income to do more of what you love.
Now we’ve all seen the hosts who give the spiel about how they loved to travel so much and that’s why they’re sharing this little piece of heaven with others so they can give back blah blah blah. As true is this probably is in most cases, bottom line is that they’ve created a business that allows them to earn more and spend it how they please. Whether you’re a beginner or not, it can be a process to understand how to become a successful host, so we found the top recurring themes that the best have in common. Follow the 10 tips below to maximize your investment and get the returns you’ve been waiting for!
1. Quality Photographs
A successful listing relies heavily on the photographs as most people judge this representation first when selecting a stay (aside from price which we’ll address later). This is where you can provide visuals on the layout, design, functionality, amenities, location, and everything in between. By all means, show them your good side but make sure you’re being accurate with how you’re portraying your stay. That ultra wide-angle may make your stay look fabulous, but it can also make it look bigger than it actually is leading to unreached expectations from guests when they arrive. Too much altering of picture saturation can also make your place look a little more vibrant but again, failing to meet a guest’s expectations because you put up misleading photos can leave you with negative reviews and ultimately fewer bookings.
Hiring a professional photographer is always going to be a smart move here ensuring quality content is achieved. More listings are being professionally photographed, and the differences are clear so help your listing put its best (and accurate) face forward with a photographer!
2. Informative And Attractive Descriptions
A listings description can really make or break a property. To ensure that your description is getting you the most bookings possible, just like the photographs, be accurate but let the good parts really shine. The most successful descriptions often tie in local experiences with what they have to offer. For example, if you offer beach cruisers you could say something like “cruise along the Santa Monica pier with two complimentary bikes located on the east side of the property”. Are you mere minutes away from a local attraction, let it be known! These kinds of statements increase interest and can help get more people to click on your property. Remember, people often choose Airbnb over traditional hotels for a unique experience, sell the experience your stay has to offer.
Another note to add in terms of descriptions, being accurate also means including your property’s “flaws”. If your stay requires climbing three flights of stairs, for example, it’s best to let people know in the description so they know what they’re getting into. If you leave things out you’re setting your guests up to be unhappily surprised, which is more likely than not going to show up in your reviews. Be honest, be clear, paint a picture and you’ll have the foundation to a great listing.
3. Acknowledging The Time Commitment
The most successful hosts are realistic about the time they have to offer. It can get overwhelming fast if you aren’t clear with yourself about how much time you have to give. Simply listing your stay and hoping for the best may work, and stopping all interactions once you’ve secured a booking may be fine for some but if you want to become a really successful host it’s going to take effort.
A host’s response time and ability to provide information and services are going to affect reviews, if you want higher reviews and more bookings, you need to be available for your guests during their stay. The job does not end once they book. Keep those notifications on and stay alert if your guests need you for anything. If there’s a problem they’re going to reach out to you first, resolve the issue as soon as possible to avoid any escalation of the problem.
If you don’t have the time but want to get involved, hire out! There are plenty of services offered to handle things like:
- Bookings
- Scheduling
- Cleaning
- Staging
- Managing
- Co-Hosting
- And more!
Not everyone has the ability to take on an STR, be realistic. For questions to ask yourself before getting started and resources to help you make the most of your time take a look at our previous blog on Before Becoming an Airbnb Host.
4. Setting The Right Price
No one is going to book if your pricing is too off. Finding the right price is detrimental to being successful. This part may seem intimidating or a guessing game if you haven’t done it before but your price should be intentional. Consider the pricing of local hotel nightly rates, instead of mirroring these rates, some experts say to beat them by 15%-25%.
This isn’t the only consideration though, look at other similar properties that can be found on Airbnb in your area. What are they asking? Your number should speak to hotel rates and other properties in your area, stay competitive but know the worth of your stay. If you’re just starting it’s best to be as competitive as possible, you need to get numerous people to book so you can build a reputation, then you’ll have more freedom and experience to justify a raised rate.
A beneficial resource to access detailed property information for properties in your area is the Property Evaluation software by Dynamic.RE. We all think our stays are great, but get real with yourself, your competition, and set an informed price so you can start attracting more guests.
5. Having Good Communication
This may seem like an obvious one, but there are plenty of hosts that have rubbed their guests wrong in communication, received poor reviews because of their attitude or perceived tone, and ended up deterring future guests from booking. Guests are going to judge the entire experience from the start of finding your property on Airbnb to leaving it in person after they’ve stayed. Don’t give your guests any reason to think you are anything but extremely friendly, accommodating, and excited to host them.
Good communication can take you far, especially when addressing problems. This is a business at the end of the day, and a rule of thumb in business is that the customer is always right. This is obviously up to your discretion, we acknowledge there are special circumstances with challenging guests who aren’t respectful of house rules and such, but even these circumstances should be handled with professionalism. Essentially, make sure you’re being kind in your communication, and people will take note of it.
6. Offering A Clean Space With Amenities
This should also go without saying, but make sure your space is clean and well-stocked with the essentials and even extras if you want to go above and beyond. A dirty space is the quickest way you can wind up with negative reviews. Make sure you have a reliable cleaning service to ready your stay for new visitors or give it a once over if you’re able to before a new booking arrives.
Keeping a well-stocked Airbnb mimics a hotel experience, but better. The accommodations of a hotel, but in a home away from home setting. Ensuring your guests have things like bathroom and kitchen essentials speaks to the convenience of your stay and allows people to maximize their time there. A goal of most successful hosts is to make sure their guests want for nothing. To get those rave reviews, keep it clean, and well-stocked!
7. Providing Local Recommendations
While most of us have probably seen hosts that include either a physical or virtual guide to their area with local recommendations and highlights, not everyone does it and it can really set you apart. For those guests traveling to your area for the first time, local recommendations are a thing of gold. You have the opportunity to go the extra step here and provide them with information to have a great time.
Things like:
- Restaurants
- Hikes
- Museums
- Attractions
- Markets
- Anything notable that’s popular with tourists and/or locals
Give them a tour of the best without actually giving them the tour.
You have no control over their trip outside of your property, but a bad trip may inadvertently affect their review. if you provide them with recommendations to popular experiences, and they follow your advice, you can essentially guide them into having a better overall experience which they’ll thank you for.
8. Being Flexible With Minimum Night Stays & Instant Booking
Being flexible with minimum night stays can directly decrease your number of vacant days. Once you start getting picky with this number you’re limiting yourself to the individuals whose trips align exactly with what you’re asking for. Some hosts do this in an attempt to maximize their returns per booking, and while this can do that you are also increasing the probability of vacancies. Want more bookings? Don’t ask for a minimum 6-night stay. Especially starting out, you want to bring in as many guests as possible to create a strong reputable foundation.
Shortening your minimum night stay will require more work on you or your team’s end as you’ll be turning over your property more often between bookings, but the benefits here often outweigh the costs. Consider making a test out of it and change your minimum for a period of time and track the difference in the number of bookings, cost, and returns.
Another tip that eases user friction is to allow for instant booking. For those travelers who are pinched for time, your property won’t even display as an option for them to consider if you do otherwise. Hosts have their reasons for not selecting instant bookings, and if you’re one of them, it doesn’t mean you can’t be amongst the more successful. It does however mean that you have to be more responsive and available as filtering, approving, and disapproving this way requires more work.
9. Personalizing The Experience And Welcoming Guests
Get personal with it. The most successful hosts make their guests feel especially welcome and they do this in a number of easy ways that really make a difference in the perception of that guest’s overall stay. It can be as simple as:
- a chalkboard message saying welcome with your guest’s names
- a bowl of snacks
- a bottle of wine
You can start their experience off on a good foot with such minimal effort. Tailor these “gifts” to your guests by taking into account the individuals you’ll be hosting and the reason for their travel. For example, a couple may appreciate the wine, a family may appreciate the snacks, a group of friends or family may like the welcome sign. Whatever you choose, that extra oomph at the beginning will go far.
10. Bookending The Trip With Communication
Lastly, touching on communication again, start and end your guest’s stay with a message from you. Send a message close to their stay date including:
- a welcome
- any extra additional information they may need for entering, parking, etc
- well wishes for their stay
- a reminder to get in touch should they need anything
Then, at the conclusion of their stay send them another message including:
- friendly reminders about departing duties, if any
- how it was a pleasure to host them
- that you hope they enjoyed their time both in your place
- a polite request to leave a review to better the experience of future guests
People are more likely to leave positive reviews if these kinds of conversations occur and it allows you to have the last word in the experience. Make it friendly and leave it on a good note!
Follow these steps and you’ll be on your way. We wish you happy wealth building, a slew of positive reviews, and bookings in the near future.
Still wondering the best way to get involved with short-term rentals? Check out our blog post on strategies and roles you can play in the world of STRs today. From low to high commitment, there’s money on the table for anyone!
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