I didn’t know that! Thank you.
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Florbone, I agree with you completely!
I have total of two bookings, five nights in total for the month of August. For September one booking, three nights in total. Guest who paid 50% reduced rate in August a mini rate of $65.00 which includes 11.5 percent tax that i still have to pay to the city, per night for a 2 room sublet, plus electric bill of $15-20 a day and who almost destroyed my AC, which if I had to replace it would have taken five months of income according to what I make.
Last year the same, I gave such a low rate, and it was not even appreciated. I make breakfast, I give wine, snacks. My home is not in a fancy neighborhood, and no matter what I do inside the first impression is the most important. Lower rates attract a certain type of a guest, you have few good ones and than “one”…
Lowering the rate is a slow slop to the exit. Those host who can charge big $$$ are more insulated and can withstand slow periods and damages done by the guest. By the time i pay license and taxes and utilities I am basically working in the negative.
I don’t need statistics. I can not move my home to a fancy neighborhood and therefore demand higher rates.
I have only two busy months out of the year, so I have some homework to do this year.
I think that Airbnb is recruiting to many new Host, it is becoming impossible for me to compete and only Host with deep pockets will control how many crumbs I will get. I have indeed a lot of homework.
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You are all victims of the Newbie Bump. The ranking in my small town in the Catskills is the same. New or relativly new hosts come up first. Me, the number one ranked host in town, came up as six. Air just wants volume. They really don’t care if you make money. I have often thought they are just trying to pad their numbers for their IPO and that once that happens practices like this will change. … Nah…
I also have to say that I think the number of people who want to share a home when they travel is finite.
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Definitely. But when half of Americans haven’t even heard of airbnb, there is still room to grow.
As I said previously, I cringe when I see people posting here about how dependent they are on airbnb for income. No market ever cares if you need the job or if you can pay your bills.
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@KKC your response to that comment is another contender for the @KKC Comment Hall of Fame. We need a new icon for that.
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Or any employer either
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I guess today is the day for Cold Harsh Truths. There should be a special day in the year that we could call Cold Harsh Truth Day.
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Why do you think people are opening their doors in to their homes and in to their private life’s?
Yes, I for myself do depend on the money, and I believed in the principle of “Shared Economy”.
I think they do it for the money, why do you ask?
If you are referring to my “cringe” comment you are the second person to object to that so I guess I need to think of a way to rephrase it. I don’t mean you are wrong or bad for depending on airbnb income. What I mean is that there is so much out of your control. Competition is a big one. Not everyone can fit at the top of the search rankings. The laws in your city can change, you could become ill or injured and have no sick leave or worker’s compensation.
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I have to admit I depend greatly on the money Air offers and have never really recovered from getting slammed in the recession. Air has enabled me to stay in my home by easily covering my mortgage payments. However, it’s always fraught with uncertainty. Until you get a really good handle on when your slow seasons are, you are often on shaky ground depending on Air income. I plan for it and it’s still hard during the slow season.
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What I mean is the following: Airbnb was founded on sharing your space (home) which gave the guest a great rate and Host needed income. I am seeing for 1. Tenants who are subletting houses and or apartments without permission. 2. Owners who are evicting tenants and and converting entire apartment houses in to short term rentals 3. Time Shares used as short time rentals 4. Host with money who are purchasing properties for short time rentals only, and therefore not acting as Host since they are not living on the property 5. Host that are affluent, keeping rates ultra low(manipulating market) until the small guy is at the curb. Sometimes they may send their friends acting as guest, only to give you a low rating. Host putting other host down, so that they can shine. It is easy to point to someones KIA when one has Merzedes, mentality.
I see few Host “Super-host” that are 70-80 percent booked up during low season, whereby majority other Host, including myself and only if lucky to have 3 to 5 nights in the month during slow season.
The original concept of shared economy is no longer the same. It has turned in to Big Corporation’s mentality concept. In my city eventually Airbnb may be banned for all the above reasons. It is already happening in many other cities and I can name quit few.
Hotels are rated based on amenities and service and accordingly priced. With Airbnb if you are not Super-host you are going to have little exposure if any, and guest that may prefer to stay with you will not be able to find you.
I had a repeat guest that went true exactly that, it was by accident that we connected.
Anyway Airbnb was and is a “Great Idea”, but it has been hijacked by big money and those that have more than most of us little fish.
As for your comment when one gets sick: you loose income of course, but those that are getting crumbs can never save enough for those days, and that is precisely my point.
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I think if that was the case then only superhosts would get bookings.
Hosts need to be proactive with their listings - have their own websites, post to social media etc. After all, these are our businesses so we shouldn’t solely rely on Airbnb’s search algorithms to get guests.
A big YES for you! I totally agree
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@jaquo , if I start another post, will you be willing so tell us how to link our Airbnb sites to social media and other ways to promote our listings?
I’d be glad to. I’m sure that there are other hosts who have plenty of tips too.
Jaquo, you are 100 percent on the dot.
However some of us don’t have technical abilities, and or funds to hire someone. As for Social Media, not all are in to Social Media, but you are right, one can and should never rely on one source, but that is exactly what I am trying to say, it is turning in to a “Big Business”. I do not want to be a Hotel owner, or cab company operator.
But you DO want guests.
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Sandy of course, like we all do. I am just not in to Social Media much and I do not have technical knowledge and or funds to have an effective website.
You’re right. But when you think about it, we are relying on the internet to run our Airbnbs. For many people, this means just relying on the site itself. I also understand what you’re saying about not everyone has technical abilities but they’re all easy (they just seem to be daunting sometimes).
Let’s take an example. I remember when fax machines were new technology (yes, I’m old). No-one was born knowing how to use them but at one time, it was impossible to run a business without them. We had to keep up with ‘latest technology’ to survive in the business world.
All hosts know enough about the internet to have their businesses on Airbnb and how to send emails and use the technology to some extent. So increasing our knowledge is just the next step and because all know how to use the internet and email, we have a good head start.
After all, our competition do it 
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I know what Airbnb says they were founded on and that’s what I do, offer a room in my home where I live. There a lot of listings I don’t like to see. But in my city of El Paso TX the number of listings that I think of as my competition has gone from two dozen to over 50 since May 2014 when I started. I’m talking about rooms in homes where people live, not properties purchased to rent out. So I have been unable to raise my price or increase the number of bookings. Maybe in your city the problem is the big bad corporation but in my town it’s too many people just like me. They increased supply faster than demand.
This doesn’t mean I excuse Airbnb for allowing any kind of listing.