How to list
On Airbnb
Renting your place on Airbnb: a 15min how-to guide of expert rent tips and host tricks
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this is a how-to guide for getting your
space ready to rent on Airbnb it
includes beginner tips and expert advice
for becoming a successful host and it's
really the video I wish I had when
starting out on Airbnb when I was trying
to get started I found lots of news
articles and web pages with generic
advice and most of the came from people
who had never hosted with Airbnb before
this video explains how I went from
extra bedroom that was completely empty
to when almost always booked high
quality Airbnb listing and hopefully
this helps others do the same the video
is divided into ten big topic areas with
about a hundred little tips and tricks
mixed in the video does go pretty fast
and it might be a little dense but
hopefully this makes it more useful to
you and helps you avoid newbie mistakes
you're probably familiar with the basic
idea of Airbnb it's a website where
people can host or rent a spare bedroom
a house a spare couch etc the Airbnb
site organizes and manage most of the
booking process and payment process and
the host simply has to fill out a
listing which describes their space my
first advice for any new host is to try
booking and staying in someone else's
Airbnb first to understand how this
works from a buyer's perspective new
users can usually get a signup bonus if
you use a referral code when you set up
your account if you're ready to become a
host how do you get started well we'll
use my apartment as an example so in my
apartment I had one extra bedroom that
was completely empty except for a nice
queen-size mattress that I had and I
wanted to turn this into a great Airbnb
listing I was a little bit nervous at
first that I would spend a bunch of
money to create a bedroom and then no
one would end up staying here so I
started out with a two-part budget just
in case it didn't work out part one was
all the essential costs for basic items
that you needed to get a rental on
Airbnb and part two was the extra
upgrades to make the rental experience
better and I did this after I had
started making money the first step in
creating your space is to find a style
make sure it's a unique and catchy style
and something that can distinguish your
listing from all the
others in your area check out sites like
Instagram or other Airbnb listings for
inspiration remember to also consider
function in your design like the ease of
changing sheets the ability for the
equipment to handle wear and tear and
the time it takes you to actually set
everything up don't forget to consider
the style and design of all your
amenities too like hangers mirrors
lights trash bin etc a few set of tips
that I learned first if your guests can
use your closet leave the door open so
they know that also put all your Airbnb
items inside the room but don't
necessarily put them all out for your
guests for example I have warm blankets
and extra linens in the closet where
guests can see them and use them if they
need to but since 95% of guests won't
use them it saves me time rewashing and
refolding them and it decreases their
wear and tear this also minimizes the
chance that your guests will bother you
asking you for more towels or even worse
leave you a negative review saying that
you didn't have enough towels the most
important tips for your bedroom are the
actual bed make sure your bed is
comfortable and if necessary buy a piece
of memory foam also buy a vinyl mattress
enclosure this is a 13 dollar piece of
thin plastic that encases your bed and
prevents things from getting through to
the mattress this will protect your
mattress from odours perfume water and
even bed bugs pin worms and lice
obviously those are very rare things
that you're not likely to see but this
enclosure is a simple way to reduce the
chance that any of these things become a
problem vinyl covers are also very easy
to wipe clean in a few seconds with a
damp towel next is the bathroom which
I'll spend some time on because this can
be a host biggest problem if possible
try to give your guests a private
bathroom which they have exclusive
access to before you start renting do an
inspection for basic maintenance for
example you might want to resell a comb
the sink or tub or fix a leaky toilet or
scrub and paint some old stains etc
another tip is to get a showerhead with
the hose attached which makes cleaning
the walls much faster it's a really
inexpensive hardware upgrade I would
strongly advise
after you freshen up your bathroom get
it set up for Airbnb guests invest in
bottles of soap dispenser shampoo
conditioner and Body Wash this is a
cheap clean and fast way to give your
guests all the basic bathroom
necessities I would also suggest a spray
can of odor absorber to put on top of
the toilet I like to stack towels on the
desk in the bedroom not on the towel
rack so guests know that they're getting
a clean towel inside the bathroom I also
have some backup stuff on hand like
extra toilet paper toothbrush toothpaste
disposable razors etc just in case a
guest needs them I usually put these in
the drawer where guests who are missing
them might look but otherwise most
people will never use these items the
most important part of your bathroom is
to make sure it's clean before each
guest the bathroom needs to be cleaned
now this is an area where I know people
will be tempted to cut corners for
example if a guest stays for only one
night and barely uses the bathroom you
might say do I really need to clean the
bathroom it looks perfectly fine well
people are paying you for a place that
looks clean they wanted a bathroom that
was actually clean the reason we do this
is because you can't see viruses fungus
bacteria etc so let me give you some
tips on what to do with a barely used
almost clean bathroom that you were
tempted to just leave alone we're going
to do a bare minimum touch-up cleaning
that takes 100 seconds and should
minimize the chance that you have any
problems while saving you time the 100
second bathroom cleaning starts with the
right tools in the same place you need
everything in this picture notice that I
have a real spray bottle from Home Depot
not the cheap ones that come with
household cleaners this allows you to
make your own detergent if you're
interested and this cleaner has bleach
detergent fragrance and water start by
spraying the tub and letting it sit for
a minute then inspect the mirror and
wipe it if it's dirty then always wipe
the handles on the counter top because
this is where people touch and end by
wiping the inside of the sink make sure
your soap and conditioner bottles are
clean and not empty then check your
toilet paper and go to the toilet and
wipe the handle the seat under the seat
and the rim now go to your tub and mop
the bottom and sides
turn on the shower and rinse the entire
tub be sure to look for stuck hairs even
one hair will stick out and make the
entire bathtub look gross and by wiping
the floor you should do at least the 100
second cleaning every single time don't
forget to do a complete cleaning on a
regular basis which includes washing the
shower and the floor mat this should
ensure that your rental will not become
the feature in a bad news article when
it comes to preparing for your next
guests make it easier on yourself this
starts with good planning make sure all
your linens are white and you have all
the proper cleaning supplies nearby and
ready to go develop an organized routine
and checklist so you can work
efficiently without missing anything my
cleaning process works like this grab
all the bed sheets and towels and wash
them in one load with a tiny bit of
bleach and fabric softener then dry them
with a fabric softener sheet so they
smell delicious with 5 minutes left on
the dryer I start my cleaning routine
arrange the closet then the WindowBlinds
then the desk wipe the bed cover check
the floor check the trash vacuumed the
floor the hallway put the keys on the
table put sheets on the bed after you've
done this a few times it really should
only take 15 minutes to prepare for the
next guest a few pro tips during this
cleaning process as soon as your dryer
is done put the bed sheets on this
avoids wrinkling for towels however make
sure they're all dry before you fold
them because you don't want guests to
think a towel was damp because the last
guest used it also do a pillow sniff
test between each guests to make sure
your pillow smells neutral you don't
want guests to smell someone else's
hairspray all night I recommend having
backup pillows and bed sheets just in
case last pro tip sticky roller for
hairs this is the shiz because hairs are
one of the few things that just don't
come out in wash to use it roll it over
the pillowcase before you put it in the
laundry and then check the whole bed
after washing to pick up any stray hairs
even though washed bed sheets with one
hair on them are actually completely
clean as I mentioned with cleaning the
bathroom hairs are just one of those
things that guests associate with being
dirty or unwashed once your place is set
up in
you're ready to create a listing
creating a listing is a bit more
straightforward than getting your house
ready because there's a lot more
instructions from Airbnb on how to get
your place posted on their site my basic
advice here is read what Airbnb says and
read the descriptions of other rentals
in your area particularly the successful
ones to know how to make a good listing
that looks better than the competition a
few tips and pitfalls here that are
worth noting though mention things that
your guests might have a problem with in
your house for example are you up late
at night are there kids pets strange
smells what about the area that your
place is in sometimes you'll have to
have a few guests stay before you'll
actually notice what the problems are
also mention things that guests don't
have access to but do this briefly you
don't want to have one page of house
rules because nobody will rent from you
one thing you can do here is use certain
expressions like normal use or
reasonable amount when describing how
many amenities guests can use in your
home another little tip tell guests
almost all the advantages and features
of your place but save a few for when
they arrive for example offer your
guests something small that they weren't
expecting like a basket of mints or a
bottle of water this helps undo any
problems if one of your listing features
wasn't quite as specified in your
listing the most important part of your
listing is the photos because this is
what guests see first you'll need about
10 good quality photos in one perfect
photo which would be of your actual
bedroom do some mild digital editing
like adjusting the brightness and
contrast color saturation and using a
high-resolution camera if you use your
cell phone camera make sure the photo is
not compressed when you send it for
example text messages are usually
compressed also remember not just to
write a really great listing but also
have a good host profile and host
picture I didn't do anything crazy with
Airbnb like listing your spare room and
your couch and your whole house for a
premium and sleeping at a friend's place
some people might do that but it didn't
interest me I did offer an optional air
mattress in the living room for
and forth guests and charge ten bucks
more per night
that brings us to pricing check your
local area for prices on similar
listings and start out on the lower end
you can always change the price
budget-conscious renters are sometimes a
little bit less picky about the
amenities that you offer you can vary
the price on peak days or days where you
are busy like weekends remember the
price
Airbnb charges your customers is a few
dollars higher than what you charge this
can be important for example if you
charge 48 dollars the buyer will
probably see a price of $52 so if the
buyer searches for anything below $50
using the Airbnb filter they'll never
find your rental I'm not going to go
into discounts short-term versus
long-term rentals because this is very
market and listing specific but I do
want to point out that you can really
vary the type of bookings that you get
by how you adjust these extra charges
like cleaning fees for example consider
two places one at 30 per night with a
twenty dollar cleaning fee and the other
at forty per night with no cleaning fee
many guests will book for 1 to 2 nights
while the $30 listing is more likely to
get week-long rentals you might look at
rentals in your area and say these are
too cheap for me I guess I can't do
Airbnb well first you should try it out
at a basic price a few times just to see
if you like air B&B then you can always
list your place for more money because
you might still get a few bookings and
here's why the hotel industry is famous
for having wildly fluctuating nightly
rents each city has a few weekends a
year where there's a big event in town
and all the hotels are charging top
dollar and all the cheap Airbnb places
were booked up a long time ago so your
place may look like a great deal even
though it's usually too expensive for
communication you should reply to all
messages right away because response
times are tracked by Airbnb send all
your guests a personal confirmation
message so they know that you were
paying attention to your Airbnb listing
this is very important if you allow
automatic booking because then you may
not have talked to your guests yet by
the way automatic booking worked great
for me but you should be cautious about
enabling this initially
because you want to know who your
typical renters are first the day of
arrival I text guests a photo of the
house and a map so they don't get lost
and they ask what time they expect to
arrive this is very important if you
have neighbors with similar houses to
you because guests can get annoyed and
neighbors can get annoyed quickly if
guests keep coming to their door and you
don't want to be unneighborly of course
also if you're a tenant or your landlord
has special rules for short term leasing
this might be a problem so check with
your landlord your lease agreement and
your homeowners association first okay
so back to communication for check-in
try to be home to give guests an
introduction to your place though if
you're not available there are things
you can do for example you can put a key
hidden under the door or better yet get
a lockbox like real estate agents use
for extra security and then just text
gets the access code as far as how to
greet your guests and welcome them well
I have no specific advice but just try
to be nice and welcoming and point out
all the things like amenities light
switches and thermostats that they may
want to know about also write a one-page
summary of all the information about
your place probably things you've
already told them but print it out and
put it on the desk like Wi-Fi
information house rules tips suggestions
for places to go and things to do your
name your phone number and alternate
person and their contact number and any
frequently asked questions or
suggestions from other people who have
stayed I save this topic for last
because I wanted to cover the
substantive suggestions first and deal
with some of these overdramatize
concerns later it seems to be human
nature to think that new is scary and
different is offensive we saw the exact
same thing with uber and lyft every time
there was one bad story about one over
or lyft driver it made national news
even if these problems happened
frequently with taxis also for
ride-sharing we heard people say things
like ooh why would you have a stranger
sit in your car well for Airbnb one of
the things that people often say is if I
let people in my house won't they steal
all my stuff and of course this doesn't
make any sense if I
wanted to steal your stuff I would just
break into your house after you left why
would I pay you money and stay with you
and share my name address credit card
etc and personally meet with you in
order to steal your stuff there's just
much less risky ways of being a thief so
guests committing crimes is one of the
exaggerated fears of Airbnb also I want
to distinguish true safety issues in
which you need to call the police from
simply having guests stretch or not
follow your house rules if it's not a
true safety issue always try the easy
interventions first like talking to your
guests and explaining the situation most
people are pretty reasonable of course
the easiest way to avoid problems is to
check the ratings of your guests first
to see what other hosts have said about
them and then always be careful if they
don't have any reviews yet from this
video you can see that it's easy to get
started with air B&B and there's a very
low barrier to entry I really like
Airbnb and the sharing economy idea in
general because it allows anybody to
benefit from all levels of a business
for example to make money as a
traditional hotel owner you would need a
few million dollars at a hotel first to
make money as a hotel manager you would
probably need a degree with work
experience to make money as a hotel
janitor that doesn't take much
experience but it doesn't pay any more
than minimum wage Airbnb however allows
anyone to make a little bit of money at
all levels of the business process well
whenever you talk about making money you
always need to think about legal areas
like regulations and taxes you'll likely
need to pay taxes and should be aware of
your local laws on short term renting
you may find however that local laws and
regulations are uncertain or out-of-date
for example in some cities you have to
be a fully licensed Hotel in a
commercial zoned area just to rent a
couch for somebody for one night if your
local laws are not favorable to Airbnb
you should get involved in the political
process
unfortunately hotels are already active
here and are lobbying legislators to
restrict Airbnb because they believe
you're taking a piece of their pie
if you're able to start on Airbnb a
single bedroom can add hundreds of
dollars a month in rental income with
relatively little time investment by
estimating 30 minutes of prep time and
$40 of net income per day you can
theoretically make $80 an hour for my
apartment I estimate this is closer to
$50 per hour which is still very good
considering how easy it is to get
started so if this video helped you or
motivated you to get started be sure to
like it and share it with others if you
have your own Airbnb tips or tricks
write them in the comments below
