Starting out with Air BnB

[Isabel Beteta]

I’m looking at properties in which I can Air BnB a room or 2 out of, since I am in an area several minutes from a beach and a military base. I’m just curious if anyone had any tips or info I wouldn’t otherwise find on the AirBnB Host FAQ.

Hope everyone’s 2020 is wrapping up positively!

[Michael Douglas]

My wife and I bought a 4br house 18 months ago with the intent of using 2 of the rooms for airbnb.  After over a year of experience in hosting guests, we've learned a lot. Too much to document here.

1) I'd suggest that you look at the room descriptions and house rules for other airbnb locations near you. Copy the best ideas. Reword them and use that info in your own room profiles. 

2) When starting out keep your price lower to attract guests. Deliver excellent customer service, provide a clean and well decorated environment, provide thoughtful amenities. This will result in getting 5 star reviews. Once you collect 10 or 15 of those, then increase your fee a little. Get another dozen or so 5 star reviews and increase your rates again.

3) Allow one night stays. You'll get more guests. Once you have a lot of great reviews resulting in more and more guests, then if you want you can set your minimum nights to 2 or more.

4) Allow instant booking. This will get you more guests. Guests prefer not to have to wait to know if you accept them... while they are waiting for your reply, they may have moved on and booked someone else's room. Plus, the Airbnb software will list instant book rooms higher in the search results when guests are searching for a place to stay.

5) Change something about your room profile every few days. I don't have a way to prove it, but other hosts on the forums attest that doing so gives your room a bump up in the search results.

6) Have great photos of your home in general and of the room they will have. Good lighting, nice decor, high resolution.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to inbox me. 

Godspeed!