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We recently discovered a brand new section of the Airbnb website incentivizing real estate owners to list their spaces and let them be managed by experienced Airbnb Superhosts.
Basically Airbnb is planning to do what many property management companies are doing (like Airsorted, Hostmaker or BNBsitter), but using Superhosts as property managers.
Moe info here: http://all-about-airbnb.com/post/150019756336/experienced-superhosts-property-management-platform
Not sure how this will work. A Superhost needs times and full management privileges to his rental to become one. You might find a good relationship with the owner, please to accept your recommendations in order to improve the guest experience but when it comes to time, it is a finite variable. If you add many listings for manage to your already saturated work day, then your delivered hospitality will be affected somehow. If the purpose is to find a Superhost nearby to manage your listings and the number of listings he managed stays low then this might be a good idea. Will see ā¦
There is no way Iād manage someoneās listing for only 10-20%. Thatās absolutely ridiculous. As a LTR and STR manager, I easily make 50% more on STR even being only 60% booked, because of the work involved. Iām working with a friend who is planning on managing an Air for a friend and I told her to ask for 30-50%, depending on the rental price agreed upon.
Yes, the property owner takes on some risk to their property (but all rental does this and I think Air is lower as itās constantly being watched/managed), but even if they cover all the expenses they will still be making more money, especially during the busy months, while the host is taking on all the work. This again is Air being unreasonable in the pricing expectations.
Imagine a $100/night rental being booked for 2 nights and I get 20%. Thereās no way Iād do all that work for $20. Maybe if they found a way to automatically have the cleaning fee go directly to the host as well for that turnover time/cost factor.
@Sarah_Warren totally agree that if MY reputation is on the line, and MY rankings are drawing inquiries in, Iām not giving that away for 10% or 20%. I have a host friend nearby, she managed properties for some other locals for 10% and when I told her she was crazy for doing it so cheap she insisted all that she did was book the guests. Thatās great! But then the locals were awful hosts, it was on HER profile, and she got all the bad reviews. Guess what? She suffered so much from it that she shut down all the listings, including her own.
Seriously?
You need like 10 positive reviews to be a super host. That doesnāt mean youāre an experienced property manager or marketer.
Iāve rented properties since more than 5 years, but Iām not a super host. Iām a 4,5 star host and will never be a super host because of the amount of bookings I receive. But obviously Airbnb means a random host renting a few times a year with a few good reviews is more qualified than people with real long term experience from vacation rental management.
I will say flat out that as someone who lives in a co-operative living arrangement in NYC (in my case, a rental building) I DO NOT WANT transient tourists in my building. I want people who live there and consider the building and community their home. I hope that NYC rises to the occasion and keeps Airbnb out of our apartment buildings and co-ops.
And āSuperhostsā are a joke. Just like @Jan_J said.
Wow they are grappling on a slippery slope with this lame idea.
What he said!! We will never be Super Hosts either, but have over 7 years of experience renting on ABB (with multiple properties in different countries) and 4.5. Guess Iām not qualified either. @Jan_J we should start a club
Me either. 4.5 here and happy for itā¦keeps expectations lower. 
Really? 50%? Isnāt too much?
If youāre doing all the communication, cleaning, turnovers, help during stay, shopping, trouble-shooting, etc, depending on the situation I think 50% is reasonable. For a $100/night place 60% booked, is $2000/month. At 50% thatās $1000 for each. Thatās more than I make per month at my LTR for the same amount of work for me. The reason Iām keeping it that way is because itās not worth the 15-20 hrs a week of work it would take me to turn it into a STR even if I could double my money. But $1000/60 hrs a month is $16.67/hr. This is basic, easy numbers.
Now, if as the host I was just the face/review/superhost doing the communication and check-ins and no cleaning or shopping, Iād take 20% minimum. It would be my name on the line and my reviews. Iād still be easily doing 5-10 hours of work a week though not as much physical labor (but still plenty of driving to check-ins), so in that same scenario, $400/month at roughly 30 hours means $13.33/hour average. Then the owner can do the shopping for supplies and pay a cleaning person. But again, if itās MY NAME on the line, Iād want to be the one in control and make it worth my time. 10-20% even at a higher cost place is a joke, because that means even more work and a higher standard to keep.
If I were to agree to this type of arrangement, Iād ask for 50%, but Iād take on everything down to purchasing the cleaning supplies and toiletries, and do all the cleaning because itās me on the line.
I may be only doing Air for 3 months now, but Iāve been in customer service and people facing as a career for half my life, and now a landlord for several years. AirBnB done right is hard work, and I would expect at least $15/hr for my time let alone my reputation.
I think it is. Here the professional management services charge 30%, and they are a legit operation with 30+ employees, etc.
I think it all depends on the set-up and pricing scale. Based on the numbers I used (which is probably low), it would take 50% to make it to $15/hr. Now, if the owner is buying all the supplies, paying taxes, etc, I would do it for 30%. But itās a lot of work do have a good operation and in reality itās the host taking the risk with their reviews and standings in this situation. Both parties have to make money, but I have gas and taxes I have to pay on these earnings too.
Completely understand what you are saying. I was just letting you know that in our areas (Northern California, Southern California, and Barcelona) 30% is the ānormā for full management and 50% would be HIGH.
Yes, it depends on the market but both parties needs to find a good balance. The more you increase your % the less is getting the owner but if you think he could manage with getting just 50% of what the guest pays then go for it. There are some markets in Aribnb on which the rental price is in its minimum value so I donāt believe there is too much room there to go up 20% of fees for the hosting job. After all the one who defines the price isnāt host but the supply/demand in your area.
Well, in CA everything housing costs more, so thereās more costs to the owner and higher rental values there. Here in the midwest, I rent out a house my husband and I have considered turning into an Air and the numbers Iāve shared are exactly where weāre sitting with it. For me, itās not worth the extra work since itās not on-site and much bigger than our little apartment above the garage. Iām perfectly happy making $950/month with no work. But a whole house rental probably doesnāt have much better than a 60% average booking rate. And I wouldnāt be able to get much more than $100/night for it either.
Oh, and for my friend who I said āsomewhere between 30-50% depending on pricingā, thatās because they would be taking on everything. Supplies, paying hotel taxes, cleaning, trouble-shooting and all maintenance/repair. The landlord would simply be providing the building. And still be making more than if he rented it out long-term.
That exactly what the services here do as well. Also, not everywhere in CA is tons of money to rent, and in Barcelona it is very cheap less than 100E ($110) for a flat. My comment was made, as a more of know your competition before you start asking for a rate that may be much higher than the going rate. Just my two pieces of currency.
I just canāt get believe that Air thinks the āaverageā rate would be 10-20%. MAYBE 15-30% would be a more reasonable place to start. If I was a landlord considering it, I would jump at the opportunity to only pay 10-20%, but would quickly discover 1) I canāt find anyone offering less than 20-25% or 2) Iād lost my hosts quickly because theyāre either getting burned out, broke, or losing their high ratings.
