Airbnb newbie questions

[Kevin Allen]

I have a few long term rentals and I am considering doing an Airbnb short term rental. I actually just rented a cabin elsewhere and the cleaning fee was $100. However, the area I’m looking at buying in seems to mostly charge $50 as a normal cleaning rate. Do you think $50 would cover someone else cleaning? I know I could probably find someone for that but it seems low to me. I’m thinking that this is a small town and most people are probably doing their own cleaning.

Also how many towels, sheets, etc do you typically keep in your rotation? I think this area will mostly be 2 and 3 day stays instead of full weeks.

[Lauren Do]

The cleaning fee also has a strategic use to encourage longer stays. If there is a high cleaning fee, then for a one night rental, the price for one night is higher. For a week rental, the cleaning fee can melt into the nightly rate.