Hey what is DSM and what is AirDNA rating? and where do you find out about it?
Thanks
Margi
Anyone who “assumes” they will be booked solid, whether they have 1 property or 95, is an idiot.
Some hosts do get pretty solid bookings with close to 100% occupancy, but it’s not something you can totally rely on at the best of times.
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This is part of the problem.
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Rather confused are you a guest rather than a host? If so why are you posting on a host forum @Larryhat8819 ?
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I’m thinking you misread my question- is anyone else experiencing having a complete lack of bookings? I’m a host not a guest, not sure what you’re talking about unless you’re replying to a different thread by accident!
??? No, I didn’t respond to the wrong thread, and I completely understood that you are a host experiencing a lack of bookings. I was responding to your comment about the guy with 95 listings who assumed he’d be booked solid.
If you are talking about my other response here, I was replying to Larry’s post directly above it, not to you.
Threads go off on tangents, the responses don’t always pertain to the original post.
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@muddy was replying to @Larryhat8819
You might want to experiment with the polling feature to get some feedback.
To do that go to the last icon above, the one that looks like this and press it:
It might be fun to see the feedback you get by building a multiple choice poll that asked (just a quick first stab if I were doing it; you might have a different way of doing it):
How would you compare your revenue [insert time period] from [insert time period[?
No reservations at all
Less by 20% or more
About the same
More by 20% or more
Ok sorry guys, doing this on my phone is very cramped and discombobulated, everything is kind of visually telescoped - meanwhile- here is a very good article from Airdna: https://www.airdna.co/blog/best-places-to-invest-in-us-vacation-rentals-2023
Yes and this is also true for long term rentals. Professionals use a formula when evaluating purchasing a potential rental property that estimates the vacancy rate (starts at 5%) and the costs of vacancy. That formula is used even with 1 year leases.
My place is really booked and my earnings are ahead of last year–my first year, so I made some mistakes-- at this time.
My listing is no longer the first on the AirBnB page but it appears midway on the first landing page when a guest does a search.
I attribute solid bookings to (not in order of importance):
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Good ad copy (I did work for a Madison Avenue advertising firm for awhile, I do know how to do this);
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All 5 star reviews (can’t last forever but I’m enjoying it now);
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NO cleaning fees or pets fees and full disclosure of pet policy high in the listing;
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Dog friendly in my title, and close to plaza in my title;
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Located across the street from dog parks;
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Professional photos. AirBnB offered a pro photog for $65 soon after I listed and I jumped at it. I use some of my own photos also, but a pro photo I use as my main listing photo. It is a terrific photo. Most listings should have an inviting photo of the interior as their main photo and a close up of the bed if it’s nice. Exceptions to that might include a beach side location.
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Located in a desirable tourist destination and walkable to restaurants and some attractions.
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My town has limited STR licenses to 1,000 units in a town of 80,000 with many hotels, but we do not have 1,000 licenses issued yet.
Basically my place is heaven if you’re traveling with 2 or even 3 dogs.
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I do notice that the people who are dog friendly are comfortably booked - we have two large white English labs that live onsite but have never in their lives been downstairs in the unit.
We trained them not to go downstairs to the point that it looks like they think it’s “impossible”. Anyway, that’s so that people aren’t living in dog hair and dander- I’ve had people check ahead to make sure we use unscented laundry detergent etc., so we’ve gone the “fewer allergen irritants” route instead of the pet friendly route.
We include photos of them and often have people ask to meet them.
Our dogs might be sad if we let a bunch of other dogs in here as well.
My alpha female dog, who was actually quite gentle with humans, cats, etc, and sadly passed away a year ago, would never have tolerated another female dog on the property. She was also a constant, prolific shedder, whose fur flew around everywhere. Even though she never went in the guest space, in fact seldom climbed the outside staircase to the second floor where my bedroom also is, I would find the occasional errant dog hair in the guest room when cleaning. No amount of lint-rolling, vacuuming or eagle-eying would guarantee that that there might not be a dog hair in there. I actually used to mention this to guests- “If you happen to see a short, crinkly white hair in there, it’s from my constant shedder dog. She is never allowed in the guest room, but her fur seems to find its way into every nook and cranny.” No one ever complained and she was actually a big hit with guests, who often said they would miss her.
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This is SO FUNNY! So INSIGHTFUL . . . and it goes beyond dogs.
There’s that.
Things we think and do not say.
[Jerry McGuire]
You’ve already been given lots of advice around issues that affect a hosts bookings. Have you done any market research to see if issues like oversaturated markets/falling demand etc is affecting STR business in your area.
@SleepingCoyote you can’t assume because you have operate your STR business in a certain way that’s what is needed for businesses success elsewhere.
My view (as a marketing professional as well as a host) is that firstly you need to look at supply and demand in your location, then look at pricing and costs to estimate how profitable you are likely to be . Then if you think an STR business is viable, it’s about designing your listing with your target guests firmly in mind - style/amenities/photography/copy. This alongside great customer service is what’s likely to lead to optimising bookings.
I am having my best year ever in terms of projected income and advance bookings. I don’t have professional photos, I don’t accept dogs. I am not in a desirable tourist location (I’m in an inner city area). I am not opposite a dog park. I charge cleaning fees and don’t have all five star ratings 
To me, this is one of the most important things when listing an str. Too many hosts try to appeal to anyone and everyone. But that can lead to all kinds of problems, because different demographics have different needs and expectations.
It’s much better to target specific demographics and gear the marketing, the amenities, etc, to them. You want them to read the listing description and think, “Hey, that’s me they’re talking about.”
If you look at magazine and other media ads for various products, you see that this is what successful big businesses do. It might be a clothing company whose ads are designed to appeal to youth, or business customers, or maybe mature women, it might be car ads for SUVs aimed at families, showing them loading up camping gear, or picking up kids to go to soccer practice.
We can’t please everyone, so best to cater specifically to the ones you can. I think it can lead to less complaints and better reviews. If you have a place surrounded by hiking trails and other great outdoor activities, gearing your marketing towards active, outdoorsy folks means you won’t be attracting guests who sit inside all day and complain that you don’t have 100 TV channels.
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What you do have is a shortage of available lodging in your area, and you’re probably rated at least 4.8 with some very nice reviews.
hi Chris, wondering where you’re located? And is there a way to screen guests at all on BDC when you can’t write guest reviews? I really worry about not having any idea who is staying and I’ve heard about issues with credit card fraud on there a lot too? Thanks for your insight!
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Margi1 -
- If you pay for a subscription to AirDNA, which is a tool that takes AirBnB data and provides additional insight into your area, including giving it a grade. It was the cheapest option I found for my two listings, and it has provided some good data. It assigns a letter grade to your area, my area used to be an A- for listings, now it’s a B because of the 69% increase in listings over the past year.
- DSM is the airport designation for Des Moines, Iowa. I have a friend who is a pilot and have just gotten used to using the airport abbreviations.
- “Look, we’re just “spent 45 grand of inheritance money to fix up the basement as an Airbnb to pay our mortgage” place and all these people buying up properties like hogs to trough are killing it for the little guy.” I WISH it was only 45 grand of my inheritenace on my place. It’s double that and counting, but I plan to move into the bottom half of my duplex for a retirement home, assuming I don’t win the lottery. And as far as big investors ruining it for the little guy, in my area it’s a resounding, “YES!”
- Our next door neighbor moved into a new build, and turned his 1900 house into an AirBnB. He’s almost totally booked all the time, but I think he advertises to trades somehow, because there’s a lot of construction people there. He just put the house up for sale at a very healthy price, and may actually get it. He extensively remodeled it himself top to bottom, no permits and no inspections. It’s lovely looking, but I’d be afraid it would be a fire hazard with that much DIY.
- Since you’re in Minnesota (turns to face north and waves) you’ve probably got some of the same issues I have. No one really wants to visit somewhere cold in winter unless they have a good reason.
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Booking.con is instant book.
Anyone can book for anyone.
they expect to be able to cancel for any reason
You cannot cancel a guest
I just built Tiny Tiki with my heart, my design experience, and with uniqueness, comfort and romance in mind. That is what my guests want, pay for, and encounter here.
March filled in very nicely including 2 direct and april only has one booking atm.
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