Whether you want to make quick cash or earn a long-term living, you can do so by renting out your home or other space you own on the Airbnb market.
Renting your space on Airbnb is not difficult and, if you do it right, you can find great success. Many people, however, fail to enter the Airbnb market successfully because they make many common mistakes, such as overselling and under-delivering.
While it may sound obvious, in order to enter the Airbnb market, you need to know how to create an Airbnb listing. A big part of success in entering the Airbnb market, in fact, is writing an effective listing. Before that, however, you need to identify the space for rent, what you will include in that rental and what you will charge for it. Moreover, since recommendations and reviews are such an important part of success in the Airbnb market, after your effective listing yields some rentals, you need to deliver on your promise.
Getting Started
To begin on your new adventure in property rentals on Airbnb, go to the Airbnb website on your computer or download the Airbnb app onto your phone or tablet, if you have not already. Then, create an account and personal profile for yourself. While you are on the app, click around to familiarize yourself with its features and current offerings. This will serve you later as you have to interact with the app in order to list your rental, communicate with prospective renters and process rental transactions.
Preparation
Before you can enter the Airbnb market, you need to know what you are offering. Are you offering a room in a home or apartment or the entire home or apartment for rent? If you are offering just a room in the place, is it a private or shared room?
Likewise, will you or other people be present on the property during the stay? Will your renters, better thought as guests, have their own private bathroom and kitchen or will they have to share the bathroom and kitchen? Is there a private or shared porch or balcony included, and it covered, screened or completely open?
Is there a pool or garage on the property, and will the guests have permission to use it? Should guests be aware there will be pets on the property? For that matter, is it a pet-friendly property open to guests bringing their pets with them? If so, which pets and under what, if any, limitations or restrictions?
Will smoking be allowed on the property? Is there a private or shared yard? Is private parking included or public parking available? What about public transportation? What else comes with the rental, if anything? Is there, for example, cable television in the room or a landline telephone?
Once you decide on the exact details of the rental, it is time to figure out the price you are going to charge. One of the best ways to come up with this is to research other similar properties for rent on Airbnb. What are they charging for the same type of place, features, amenities and location as yours? Are there any reasons you can think of to charge slightly more or less than what others are charging for almost the same thing?
Is your place nicer in some way, or less desirable for some reason than the comparable places you are finding? How many similar places are there for rent in your area? Are you one of the only places people can find in your area on Airbnb or is your area saturated with similar places? Might you want to offer a lower rate simply to compete with nearby properties?
How to Create an Effective Airbnb Listing
Entering the Airbnb market successfully requires giving people an accurate description of the place they will be renting and, then, delivering on that promise. Therefore, an accurate description of your rental serves you far better than a fancy sales pitch that may capture some initial interest but will rarely deliver a recommendation or favorable review, let alone a repeat visit. When you tell people exactly what they will get and then deliver on it, you get guests who want what you have to offer. More, these guests will be so pleased to have found what they were seeking, they are likely to refer you to others with the same desires and return themselves next time they are in the area.
Remember plenty of good photos too. Effective Airbnb listings require more than words. They also require well-lit photos of the rooms for rent and spaces included, like bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms, from sufficient angles to give an accurate picture of the rental. The space should obviously be clean, ideally looking exactly as it would when a guest arrives for his or her stay.
Execution
Recommendations and reviews are a huge factor in how people choose which places to rent on Airbnb. The way to earn the best recommendations and reviews possible is simply to deliver on the promises made in your listing. If you list a private space, plan not to be there. If you list nearby amenities, provide a map and listing of those amenities. If you offer parking, make sure the offered space is available. Make sure the space is perfectly clean and well put together, especially if you have limited space. Make sure you provide a way for the guest to get the key to the place upon his or her arrival.
Make sure the electricity, telephone, TV, heat or air conditioning and hot water are all functioning properly, and that no light bulbs need changing. Check to see if the door and window locks work. Inform your guests of any building or neighborhood codes they may need to know during their stay, such as a noise ordinance. Leave your guests with instructions on how to reach you in case they have a question or an emergency. Let your guests know about check out instructions upon their departure, such as where to leave the key and whether to lock the door on their way out. All of these details will help ensure that you get increasingly new and repeat guests alike.