Enhancing your property

As a host, have you guys availed professional photography service for your property for one time or on a recurring basis? Is it beneficial to hire an airbnb property management service?

Professional photos 3 years ago and updated this year.

Thanks for the reply @Debthecat.

Do you think as a host if you change photos every 15 days, it will help to accelerate the rate of your bookings than before?

Ahhhh No
I think you would just confuse the booked guest who thought he was staying at one place and is now at something else.
Guests have complained when hosts change the bed linen!

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Are you a host @Prachi_Kshirsagar

If so what is your thinking of changing photos every two weeks?

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I wouldn’t hire a “professional photographer”, since I was trained as one by the USAF back in the Dark Ages. Changing photos every two weeks??? NO! That’s just crazy!!

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I will occasionally update pics when I get a new piece of artwork or change seasonal decor… but I think changing every couple weeks is a little nuts and too much work.

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Why on earth would anyone do that??? @Prachi_Kshirsagar, you have some explaining to do here.

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I’ve had the same photos for 4 years. :rofl: I’m going to update them this spring simply because so many of the soft furnishings have changed since then.

Adding photos does seem to put a little extra sparkle on your listing’s search results, but changing the photos every 2 weeks would be unsustainable. Sometimes I swap out seasonal photos to accomplish the same thing. I’d applaud anyone who could stage, photograph, edit and post photos in such a quick cycle!

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I think professional photography is a must. I would also recommend adding a professional floor plan like archibnb.com

@Prachi_Kshirsagar you posted this exact same thing exactly two months ago. If you are here to sell something just post it already and be done with it.

If you are asking a genuine question as an actual host the answer is: it depends on the property. I have three year old professional photos mixed in with my own photos. I change and update several times a year. As a guest I’m mildly irritated when I read in a listing description that things have changed and new photos will be added soon. I don’t know what the delay is but it doesn’t eliminate the listing from consideration.

I really like these when shopping as a guest but I don’t think it’s needed for many listings.

@Debthecat Some guests would complain about everything. One of my guests complained that the internet password is too long! And he wasn’t an old guy or anything.
yes, I change photos now and then. My boyfriend is a passionate photographer and has good cameras, lenses and such so I ask him to take pics for me. Me? I just do it with my phone. I dont see the value to hire a manager since Im here and I kind of have the time? But if you live in another city or another country yes, in that case one has to have a manager.

I had a guest who complained throughout her stay that she had to use a password at all. Bizarre.

That wasn’t a very subtle plug for your own company was it @skloff?

Knowing just a little about multimedia after working as a multimedia software engineer for 11 years, I am appalled at what Airbnb does to professional photos after uploading. Hosts get only a fraction of the benefit from better lighting and angles of professional photography after Airbnb compresses the sh1t out of beautiful professional photos to save their server bandwidth and make them look good on 5-year-old phones.

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@Helsi the idea behind is changing photos after every checkout. It can come under the category of enhancing your listing online. I think changing photos every month can be a feasible option instead “every 15 days.”

@Helsi I am planning to be a host. :slight_smile:

@Allison_H for your reply. How about changing the photos every month? I am doing a brief survey.

@KKC I am not here to sell anything. Just asking genuinely as I am planning to become an Airbnb host. Thanks for your helpful reply. :slight_smile:

@jaquo Planning on becoming a host so I thought of asking and surveying as to how hosts deal with changing their photos of their listing in order to accelerate bookings. :slight_smile: