EPISODE 3: Don’t Start Your Airbnb Without Planning These 4 Things and This Guest is Full of Gas

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4 Things to Plan For When Starting Your Airbnb

The most challenging part of starting your Airbnb is not knowing what you don’t know. These four steps are the stepping stone to running a successful property. Once these are carefully though through, your chance of success will be greater.

1. Financials and Numbers

   • Do not be easily influenced by what you see on social media! Have you seen a host post what they make on one booking and thought to yourself, “Wow, how come I’m not making that much?” or “Wow, you can easily make that much as a host?!” Don’t be fooled! What they are failing to show you in their gross payout is the cost of their mortgage, utilities, insurance, permit fees, cost of maintenance, etc. Having a skewed perception of what you’re paid may lead to some disappointment when getting started. Make sure to be fully aware of what the expenses are for a property in comparison to the earning potential and gross earnings a property can make.

2. Legal

   • I had a 1:1 consultation with a host who happens to host in Big Bear as well. Big Bear city council passed a rule where you cannot advertise self check-in on your listing or you will be given a $2,500 fine (city council believes that checking in with your guest face to face will ensure the property is treated better…I can go on and on about how I disagree). Luckily, she was not caught but it was only a matter of time. This was a quick fix but a good example as to the importance of being knowledgeable of the legal things, where your local city ordinance is, where to check for updates, and being subscribed to your city’s STR updates newsletter, etc. Legalities are not the sexiest topic but can be a costly mistake if you’re not cognizant of the proper legal checklist prior to operating your Airbnb.

3. Design

   • Of course a beautiful design is key in attracting bookings and reservations, but interior design for a short term rental is totally different. You must think about comfort, logistics, and functionality and ask yourself questions such as: is your property easy to turnover for your cleaners in between guests, does the space flow, or are there spaces where guests could potentially knock over objects? Does your dining room table offer enough chairs for the number of guests on your listing? Does your pullout sofa easily pullout or does your guest have to rearrange the whole area to sleep? It is vital to go through every scenario when thinking of your design.

4. Logistics

   • Who is going to manage cleaning, maintenance, repairs, restocking? Even if you live locally, you must think outside of who can cover this just in case you’re not available.

If reading all this scared you, don’t worry. I would love to help and answer all your questions. Sign up for my Crash Course and I will cover all these topics in greater detail. Five more days to secure your spot!

Airbnb Quick Tip:

Add a digital guidebook to your Airbnb listing! Adding a digital copy will list your property higher in search rankings when people are searching your area. There is also a section on Airbnb where different guidebooks are featured that will link back to the listing from the host that created them. This quick tip also helps you out! If your guest reaches out to you with things to do in the city, you just need to redirect your guests to the digital guidebook. Keep it simple with 7-10 suggestions and provide a variety of things (i.e. coffee shop, breakfast diner, things to do, etc.).

How to add a guidebook to your listing

Question of the Week: Do I use AirDNA?

While I do acknowledge that AirDNA has a wealth of stats and data available to prospective hosts, I advise you to use caution with this site and others like it! Be careful to not use AirDNA as an excuse to keep procrastinating your commitment to starting your short-term rental. The data provided can be valuable, but only if you actually apply it, which you’ll never have the opportunity to do if you keep opening various subscriptions to different markets without making any official moves.

Am I the Airbnb-hole?

This week we react to a post from a host with a good reminder that mutual respect should be honored for both guest and host.