Airbnb is a house rental-sharing service. For instance, if you’re on a trip, or you traveled to a different country, and you want a feel of a home rather than a hotel room, you can just use Airbnb because It allows you to rent people’s homes or property for a certain period for a specific fee according to the type, location, and size of the home you’re renting. If you’re renting an Airbnb, then you’re a Guest. Airbnb also allows you to list your property for rent. You can list your home, or if you own rental apartments, you can list them on Airbnb. By this, you’re giving out your home for rent to guests, making you a Host.
Are you someone who travels a lot for either business trips or tours, or your occupation requires you out of home most times, for instance, a flight attendant, a field journalist, etc. You can make extra money in addition to your income by listing your home for rent on Airbnb. When Guests rent your home, both Airbnb and the Host, which is you earn revenue. It’s already clear that this is a legit money-making scheme. In this article we will be giving you the steps to start an Airbnb.
What to know before starting an Airbnb
Before starting an Airbnb, you have to settle certain questions like;
1. What is my budget?
You have to ask yourself how much you have to invest in your Airbnb by making renovations, buying a house or an apartment, or for maintenance.
2. Do I have a property to list for rent?
You have to check if you have a property to list for rent in your Airbnb. If you don’t have a property, there’s no need to give up. You can borrow some funds to buy a cheap apartment or house and renovate it, or if you have enough money, you can buy a new house. If you borrowed cash to start up your Airbnb, you should analyze the profit you will need from each hosting you do so you can pay back the funds.
3. What will my Airbnb price be?
After setting up your Airbnb house/apartment/space, you should fix your price based on how much profit you would like to make to meet up maintenance and also to pay back the funds you borrowed if you used borrowed capital.
4. Analyze a likely location for your Airbnb.
This is the most important thing in starting an Airbnb. For you to make maximum profit, you have to set up your Airbnb in a location that tourists visit often or a very popular city in your country or some other country.
If you’re considering using your personal house for your Airbnb, you should also consider how frequently you are away from home before starting your Airbnb.
How to start an Airbnb
If you’ve answered these questions above, here are the steps you can use to start an Airbnb;
#1. Get an Airbnb account
Before anybody can start an Airbnb, you need to get an Airbnb account to be able to list your property for rent. Here are the steps to create an Airbnb account:
- Go to www.Airbnb.com
- Register; you will be asked for your phone number, and a code will be sent to you. After confirming the code, you will fill in your Email address and choose a username.
- After completing the registration process, you must confirm your Email address.
- Set your account type to Host. Once this is done, your account will be ready.
2. Add a Listing
After getting your Airbnb account, you will have to click on add a listing to be able to list a property for your Airbnb. When you click on add a listing, you will be asked to fill out a form with these questions:
1. The number of guests allowed in your Airbnb rental.
2. The city you’re listing your vacation rental in.
3. What amenities your listing includes.
4. The number of bathrooms, bedrooms, and bed types your rental property has.
5. The type of property you’re listing;
Concerning the type of property you’re listing, you select from;
- “Entire place”
You could use “entire place” if you’re fully away and the Guests have access to every room in the property. - “Private room”
You could use a “private room” when you feel like setting limitations on rooms and amenities the Guests could use in your Airbnb. - “Shared room.”
You could use a “shared room” when Guests are not staying alone in the room, maybe with you or some other Guest too.
3. Hire some help
Once you start getting guests, you might need help with Email checking, Guest-Host communication, and Guest check-ins. If your Airbnb isn’t so big already, you could do these things yourself, but if you won’t be available to check in your Guests, it is recommended you hire a co-host who will be around to help you with that.
4. Set your pricing right
When starting your Airbnb, you should be aware that it collects about 14%-16% service fees, which are deducted immediately from your payment once they are made to your Airbnb account, so you should do some good calculations when setting your prices. It should be noted that Airbnb service fees differ based on your Host type; super hosts and hosts with strict cancellation policy pay a higher service fee. Also, note that there can be seasonal discounts too.
After going through these steps and starting your Airbnb, you should note that you should always provide details and specific information that will be helpful upon their arrival; you should make sure to keep a 90%+ response rate to guests and a very low cancellation rate and most importantly make sure to treat
Guests properly to earn good reviews. If you do these few things right over a few years, you will get more customers, which means more money, ranking up in search results, and becoming a Super Host.
