If you are going on a vacation, you can turn your place into a money-making machine by renting it out for a while. Of course, if you travel frequently, you are no stranger to Airbnb booking. Perhaps you’ve stayed in one before and thought that it could be a sustainable passive income generator.
Much better if you have a spare property that you can turn into an Airbnb rental and become an Airbnb host.
Can you make good money from Airbnb renting out your place?
The question now is: Is it worth it? Ask the majority of the Airbnb hosts, and they will tell you, “Yes, it is definitely worth it!” You can earn an average of P25,000 every month.
There’s a catch, however.
What makes renting your property in Airbnb “worth it” depends on certain factors. First is your economic goal. Second is your commitment to the entire process. It takes time and effort to run a business rental, and Airbnb rental is no exemption.
How to become an Airbnb host?
There are several steps to follow in becoming an Airbnb host. Definitely, the first step is to determine your Airbnb space. It pays to prepare the place and put things—amenities more specifically—that the guests will appreciate. Wi-Fi is just one of these well-appreciated amenities.
The thing is you have to make it suitable for rental through improvements that will better serve your target guests. It all boils down to that Airbnb experience that guests are looking for.
Obtain the necessary permissions
Not because you own the space, you may set it up easily for Airbnb. If you live in a subdivision or condominium, you must obtain permission from the homeowners association or condo management first.
Both have terms that owners and renters must comply with, including provisions for subletting your property. For instance, some condos only allow short-term rentals and restrictions on the number of persons permitted to stay at one time. Whatever it may be, it pays to sort through the fine print.
Create an Airbnb account
Listing the property on Airbnb starts with signing with the website. Creating an account is free. Your goal is to create a profile that people looking for an Airbnb can trust.
Fill out all the forms and be as detailed as possible. You’d want to be verified, so put your email address, contact numbers, and work email and upload a government ID. Link your social accounts also.
Bottom-line, you need to confirm your identity as a host. This helps in building confidence among the would-be guests instead of a barren profile.
There is also a calculator to help you determine the proper setup of your listing.
Set up the listing
First-timers like you may seek the help of Airbnb listing professionals if you find any difficulties in setting up your rental listing. These professionals are Airbnb Superhosts, so they know how to gear your business to success.
For instance, the professionals can aid you in maximizing your calendar. You can block out or open up certain dates, adjusting the rental’s availability anytime you want.
Airbnb also has suggestions on how much to charge guests per night. The suggested nightly rates will depend on the number of rooms, types of amenities, tourist season, location, prices of other listings near your rental, and other applicable things.
This is the main reason why the next steps are crucial in creating the Airbnb listing that rocks.
Put up an accurate description
When writing down the description of your Airbnb rental, your goal is to make the guest feel its completeness as possible. You want the guest to envision what it feels like staying at your place.
Depict the vibe to ignite their interest, and so they finally decide to choose your place over the other listings in the same area.
There are at least four aspects to think about.
- Amenities. List down all the available amenities. Put everything that you think the guests will need while at your place.
- Downfalls. Address any potential factors that may turn off the guests. Don’t let them into dark surprises. Neighborhoods are not perfect. If you make the guests aware of what makes it imperfect right from the start, they’d know what to expect. Noisy neighbors, small or older unit, and dull residential areas are some of the downfalls that you want to let the guests know.
- Perks. Whatever downfalls there may be, compensate them with perks. There are must-haves such as Wi-Fi connection, coffeemaker, towels, etc. and then, there are the bonus perks like toiletries, breakfast, snacks/treats, and best of all, a list of places to eat, drink, and do certain activities. Much better if you can provide a link for a downloadable map where all these places are already pinned. With this, put any low-cost improvement that makes your listing stand out.
- Nearby attractions and activities. Speaking of suggested places, list down all the sites of interest near your Airbnb rental, including walking distance or transit times before they can reach each area. Make sure you highlight how accessible these places are from your place. Cafes, restaurants, museums, parks, grocery stores, local markets, shopping malls, and tourist attractions are some of your target lists.
If you want to rake in stellar reviews from your guests, make sure that the description is accurate enough so they won’t need to ask for any more information and just book directly.
Guests can always go back to your description to point out inaccuracies. You don’t want this to happen because Airbnb rentals thrive on reviews. So you want your first few reviews to be highly positive since they influence your booking rates.
Post-hi-res photos
The importance of high-resolution images to go with your listing cannot be emphasized enough. Showcase your rental through carefully chosen images.
Before you or other professionals take pictures of the rental, stage it. Clean the entire place so you can have photos of the whole space and each room. Take pictures during the day when natural lighting is abundant. Use panorama or landscape setting on your camera when capturing wider photos. Highlight the most beautiful part of the place.
Also, add photos of the neighborhood, including the streets. These photos will help the guest in envisioning how he or she can get around the area once there.
Put captions to each photo. This will also make the guests feel that you are not hiding anything from them. Be creative with your captions, though, and avoid using the words’ small,’ ‘old,’ ‘dirty,’ or other words that overtly negative they drive the guests away.
Set up the price
This can be the trickiest part since Airbnb itself noted that hosts are in full control of pricing their rental space.
The secret is if you know your target market and you’ve prepared the space enough to include not just the necessary amenities, you can price it higher than usual. Nonetheless, that does not mean sky-high prices, but still reasonably priced.
Also, remember that guests will rate the place based on value. Some guests can rate you higher in other areas such as communication, location, check-in, cleanliness, accuracy, etc. but low in terms of value.
In some instances, the price is the differentiating factor for choosing your Airbnb over the others within that specific location.
Airbnb guides the hosts on pricing with its metrics. You may actually lower or raise the prices depending on the demand surge as well as the season or day of the week.
Maintain a good acceptance rate
Be wary of your acceptance rate. Keeping a careful watch on the times you accept bookings on your Airbnb rental is crucial to make sure that guests won’t be declined.
Declining booking is okay. Know, however, that it shows on your profile as low acceptance rates. High decline rates may deter the guests from looking at your listing in the first place.
Also, come to think of it. You are in this business not to decline bookings but to accept them if your place is available.
Update the calendar regularly
Guests are typically declined due to an inaccurate or incorrect calendar. With this, you need to update the calendar daily to reflect the availability of your rental.
While at it, be very particular about the check-in and check-out times of your guests. The sooner that you make your place available, the better.
Maintain a strong response rate
Respond to any inquiries the soonest you possibly can. If you don’t respond within 24 hours, this will also affect your acceptance rate. Eventually, this will impact becoming a super host.
Guests also gauge how reachable the hosts are based on how quickly and frequently they reply to inquiries. So promptly respond to them.
The secret is to always have the final message on a thread because the system tracks the non-message to the guest. This will also bring down your response rate.
Have an emergency contact
Another way to make you a reachable host is by putting in an emergency contact. If there are any emergencies or concerns, the guests can easily reach another person just in case you are not available.
The right message is critical at this point because the guests may think that emergencies often occur. So choose the words carefully.
Review your guests
Leave a courteous and detailed review for your guest. Focus on the positives of their Airbnb experience. Be respectful about it also.
If any problems occur during their stay, there’s no need to mention that, especially when it was already solved.
Things to consider before renting out your Tagaytay vacation home in Airbnb
1) Monthly rental
Would you want a monthly rental so the place can pay up for itself? Some condos or apartments available in Airbnb are on a mortgage. With the consistent cash flow, however, the monthly repayments are covered.
2) Short vs. long-term rental
Would you want to rent out space for a few days or a few months? Will you use the place on certain dates? You need to decide about this early on so you may prepare the right contracts.
3) Service fees
The prices are higher on your listing compared with what you will receive as a payout. Airbnb charges hosts a certain cost for listing their place and a 3 to 5% service fee per booking.
4) Supplies
Airbnb recommends that the hosts take care of the essential supplies, including towels, linens, and toiletries. Locks and other security features are also suggested.
5) Cleanup
Regular cleaning is a must. While Airbnb indicates that you can also ask the guests to pay for cleaning services, some hosts are not keen on this. Instead, they want to include it to the total costs of the stay and just have someone clean up the place every other day or every week. Professional cleaners can do the job.
6) Maintenance
Aside from the regular cleanup, deep cleaning and upkeep are also required. You want to have it maintained regularly. Both cleanup and maintenance services incur additional costs to the host. That’s why pricing the Airbnb rental to cover all these costs without being a cheapskate is paramount.
7) Insurance
If you want to insure the place, much better so you are covered in case of any damages. Find an insurance company that can offer this type of rental insurance.
FAQs about Airbnb hosting
Can I become a host?
Anyone with a spare room or entire apartment can become an Airbnb host.
Do I have to pay for anything?
Creating an account and listing is always free. However, Airbnb charges up to 5% service fee per booking, depending on the numbers and types of transactions done through the platform.
How to choose a listing price?
Airbnb hosts are free to choose the price for their listing. Nonetheless, the platform also offers a smart pricing tool to help the hosts decide in addition to suggested prices per night based on historical data and other factors such as demand levels.
Above are the critical steps toward becoming an Airbnb host. While there are several steps to take, don’t skip any of them as well as deciding on certain considerations. All these are designed to contribute to your Airbnb success.
Good luck!
