This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Hi. New the forum, new to AirBnB. So many questions. Here’s the précis.
Ex-UK smalltime landlord (AST). Tenants vacated property after 6 years in August 2019. Refurbed the property from top to tail. £36,000 later, we have a pristine little terraced ‘workers cottage’.
Newly furnished, well equipped and nicely appointed. Light contemporary feel based around mid-19thC little house. Three beds (king, double, single, Emma memory foam mattress), landscaped garden with dining area and private parking for 2 vehicles.
I’ve worked solidly on the place for nearly 2 years. It’s pretty dear to my heart. What I’d really like is someone to come along and validate my work. However.
Q1. I think the property is worth £150 a night, it will comfortably accommodate 4, it’s pristine and has a nice little garden area and parking. AirBnB prices tell me this is quite expensive. I think I’m providing quality accommodation. Who would agree or disagree?
Q2. Because the property is expensive, I have the idea that IB might be an option on the basis that a minimum 3 night stay would cost around £450 plus service fees. That will be some kind of filter. What I want, is guests who will appreciate and enjoy the house. Or perhaps I’ll get no interest at all. Any comments please?
Don’t listen to their suggested price. I have a whole house rental for $195 and I’m booked for the summer. Airbnb suggested price was $125 a night. Don’t forget to also charge a cleaning fee. Your cottage sounds wonderful, I wish I could travel there.
Look at other AirBnb listing in your immediate area which have about the same feel and amenities… that’s what guests are going to look for – are you giving good value for the ££.
For example there is a listing two blocks away in the same “estate” neighborhood. Same age house, pool access. But our listing is a detached “cottage” and I serve a full breakfast. The other place is a room in the house, no food (not even a snack basket) or even kitchen access – for 70% less $$ than we charge. Who is booked almost solid? Not the other place with fewer amenities! In our High Season they’re only 30% booked.
Airbnb’s price tips are designed for one thing only- to get hosts to lower their prices so places will be booked fast and furiously so Airbnb collects its service fees. It has nothing to do with them wanting you to be successful.
Their price tips are only good for a laugh or if you feel like being insulted.
I do think there’s a market for the type of guests you want to attract. Your listing sounds lovely and it’s the type of home that I normally rent when traveling in Europe.
I’ll agree with the others: if you are looking at Airbnb’s pricing recommendations, then don’t bother. They tend to recommend prices that are very low, for me they were usually at least 30% lower than market rate. In low season, Airbnb’s pricing suggestions fell below the equivalent daily rate that you would pay if you signed a 12-month lease to rent it unfurnished without utilities or grounds-keeping.
If your nightly price is based on Air’s algorithms - don’t pay attention. Look around at your neighborhood and nearby hotels and figure out what your house is worth.
It sounds charming and 150 a night split 4 ways for what you’re describing sounds cheap, TBH.
This. I have a room in a house (currently closed) that was “expensive” by the rates of the neighborhood. Yet last year before the lockdown I was booked every single night and the others, with fewer amenities, less privacy (one charged what I did and expected guests to walk through the living room and kitchen to get to the family shared bathroom and past 2 large dogs) had bookings cancel.
I turned on IB with restrictions of: No wouldn’t host again, and several ID verifications. I had only a couple of issues, mostly with people wanting to bring children (2 max, pool and unfenced canal hazards).
Even if you have IB, you can message the guests to make sure they’ve read the House Rules and understand how to get in and what to expect. I find guests appreciate that level of care.
I think we’d all sign up for that one!! @JohnF gets the King room, I’ll take one of the singles, @Joan can you escape Portugal and take another room?
Welcome and good luck! It’s a great forum, bring your big person boots because the advice is unvarnished.
When i started 4 years ago, I matched my prices to the most expensive place in town. By the photos it was cute, looked very nice and it was also reasonably well booked.
Three years ago i actually got to have a good look at it…Tired, carpet worn through to the backing, horrible 50 year old bed frames, cheap nasty furniture, single skin walls, rotting verandah floor and SMALL. Instantly upped my prices by $50 a night and still going strong.
Think what I really meant was some kind of emotional plea, like ‘Tell me I’ve done the right thing’. But after 12 months of near isolation, a few random house guests sounds like a cracking idea (illegal but cracking), I’ll put the beers in the fridge…
@manbitescat
Airbnb’s price tips for my private room listing, with private ensuite bathroom, private entrance, balcony, and full use of my well-eqipped kitchen is less than what a hostel room shared with 3 other people, a shared bathroom and shared kitchen area with many other guests rents for in my town.
Just to give you an idea of how off the mark their price tips are.
Here’s another host who says that you should pay no attention at all to what Airbnb suggests regarding your prices.
I’ve never really agreed with the idea of seeing how much other listings in your area charge because we’ve no way of knowing the circumstances. (Do they own the place free and clear or do they have a mortgage?) Are they believing in the fiction of Airbnb insurance or are they paying a lot of money for their own STR insurance? Etc. etc.)
It should be pretty easy for you to calculate your annual running costs (including labour, STR insurance, any licenses you might need and right down to the little things like loo paper) so you’ll be able to see how much you need to make to break even.
Then you’ll have to add in the £36,000 spread out over x number of years.
Once you have that figure, and you might well forget to add in a lot of things, then you’re on your way to calculate your nightly rate.
That seems pretty cheap to me. With three bedrooms you can accommodate 5 (?) people so £30 pp seems very low. Our apartments are both tiny, with each with a queen bed so accommodate only two people but at certain times of the year we charge much more than you do for 490 sq ft!
It will depend a lot on where you are, of course, and what demand is like in your area.
Yes, it should be. And regarding interest in your place remember that to be fully booked year-round (or as fully booked as you choose to be) will mean that you’ll need to be prepared to promote your place yourself a little and not rely on Airbnb. After a while though, you’ll get repeat business and recommendations.
Look at other units in your neighborhood and, at first, make your price lower. What you need is a lot of 5 star reviews. After 10 reviews or so, start making your place more competitive. And speaking of competitive, I include the cleaning fee in my price rather than adding at the end. (Hotels don’t charge a cleaning fee!) Advertise your place “Cosy Cottage with No Cleaning Fee!” What a deal! We’ve been superhosts for 4 years and this has worked very well for us. We are booked every night we are open. Good luck! Cheryl
Beware of the advice to start off with a lower price. (Not getting at you Cheryl, promise. Just explaining for readers).
When you first open your listing, you’ll get the new host boost from Airbnb, meaning that your listing will be higher in searches. It last for about a month and you might find that you get many bookings in that first period for the next few months.
So, put simply, if you start in January with a low price, people will book for March or June or whatever at that low price. You can’t ask the guests for more money and you can’t cancel them - you’re locked in to those early prices. Also, when guests who have stayed with you before think about staying with you again and see that your nightly fee is $400 per night whereas it was only $275 when they stayed originally, they are unlikely to rebook.
Regarding getting reviews, you’ll get them especially if you restrict your stays to under a week to start with and as long as you build value into your rental.
You see the point though about getting bookings for months ahead with the low price locked in? I have my calendar open in the 12 month setting because I’m accustomed to getting people repeat-book a year ahead because of annual events.
When I listed the first apartment with Airbnb I had bookings for many months ahead but because I’d listed the full price, I wasn’t losing out.
