That’s a great idea. My husband’s mother lives in Berkeley. She travels to Italy every summer. During the time she’s traveling; she rents her place to visiting U.C. Berkeley professors. It’s worked out well.
That is a good idea. My time frame is june thru october so that might not work for something like this.
You might get one family for the summer term [for research or summer classes] and then someone for Sept-October who is doing research only. Would be worth posting since they only charge a small listing fee.
I have known three people who have done this. In their case, the sabbatical folks have a named chair and whoever wins the chair for the year, automatically gets the house. Has been a financial blessing for them.
I promote the listing extensively on social media. I also network with local businesses and organisations, plus email them and meet them face-to-face. It’s also valuable to advertise offline by printing small flyers about your listing and pinning them on company / organisation message boards. We have also inserted classified ads in print materials and targetted certain areas. This is all part of promoting your business.
And there you hit the nail on the head! You can learn more from this forum that from any other source. But as you say, there’s no point in learning about running a successful Airbnb rental if you have no guests. Getting your place rented is the first and most important step.
You’ll be fine, @sweet66! The most major risks you’ll face as a host are ones shared by local ones: Guests trashing the place, damage, etc. The ones unique to remote hosts can be managed with a great co-host/property manager and by following KIKC’s advice. The general suggestion if one doesn’t know anyone in the area is to look for an existing Superhost and offer them the opportunity (which it looks like you’re doing). All I can suggest is to be ready to come back at a moment’s notice to find someone new if she doesn’t work out. Or have backup. Thankfully I think Air is eventually venturing out by soliciting co-hosts to be matched with interested property owners but it’s not there yet. I give mine 15% of bookings and $20 per hour if I ask for extra stuff like shopping, coordinating repairs, etc. Generally, though, your property manager is going to be the single most important factor. Personally I’m lucky to have a 20-year relationship with my property manager (we’ve also been coworkers before), so I trust him and know his great work ethic.
I have a duplex with one long-term tenant on one side and Air on the other. I’m curious how the math works out at the end of the year but thus far I’m projected to earn like, 30% more from Air even post-expenses. It’s for sure more work (even from afar) but also way more fun. It’s do-able for sure! This comes from someone who dove in head first and started hosting during the mad seasonal rush here. I’m at superhost status as of April, have 4.8 overall, and perfect 5s in cleanliness, communication, and check-in. I say this not to brag (I promise, and sorry if it comes off that way) but to reassure you that if I can do it, you definitely can since your attitude sounds perfect and you seem to be well aware of the realities going into your experience.
Only recommendations I can think of…
I try to make check-in stupidly simple. I have a keypad that opens my gated door, and I keep the second door unlocked. I let them know where the spare keys are. That cuts down on any chance that they get stranded waiting at the front door.
The only thing I also suggest is making sure your property manager/co-host (which yep, you will have to have) goes to the site after each guest checks out. It’s a fail-safe mechanism if your cleaner doesn’t show, which can happen even as an innocuous scheduling error. Personally, I also have family in the area as a third option for a pinch hitter if my cleaning person fails, AND if my property manager fails. You might want to ask a friend in the area and say, “I have no intentions of asking you to watch the space regularly, but if an emergency happens can I count on you?” Friends have no problem.
In terms of my property manager, he keeps $100 in petty cash on him to get anything needed. I order stuff to his house and he brings it over between guests. If a guest requests something, then I can Amazon Prime Now it to them in under two hours.
I also check in with my co-host nearing checkout. I ask him to let me know when he’s on site and to give me an update on the condition, inventory levels, etc. I don’t write guest reviews until he gives me the go-ahead.
If you’re going to rent out your space for 5 months, don’t undersell yourself! For one, give Air a shot during your peak season because it’s way worth it monetarily speaking–I literally earned 350% more times as much as what my long-term tenant pays, post-expenses, during the 3 busiest months. I thought about short-term renting my place during the summer months when times are lean under the assumption “some money is better than none!” But I realized I’d much rather make 80% of what my long-term tenant pays, and only have my place booked 30% of the month, as opposed to earning 100% of what my long-term pays at 100% occupancy to reduce wear and tear on my place and appliances. Plus, utility bills are much higher during the hottest months! If you live somewhere cold, the same logic applies on your heating system. I’d let the busy months carry you during the slower ones and not sweat a low occupancy.
Anyway, it looks like you’ll only be doing this for 5 months or the short time you’re away? If that’s the case, all the more reason to go for it. The worst that can happen (aside from guests wrecking the place, which again is a common concern among all hosts) is that you find it’s too hard to keep all of the balls juggling in the air of managing the place remotely, and you take your listing down. No biggie.
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PHX thank you so much for your encouragement and your tips. I live in a touristy town during peak season, which is exactly when I’ll be hosting. People come here to see the city, not stay inside. So I think there is less of a chance my place will get trashed for that reason. House rules will include no parties and quiet hour since I live in a 3rd floor condo with a small family underneath me. I will try to choose guests with good reviews for that reason. Not sure how to manage keys since there is an exterior door and then an inside door to my condo. I guess I could get a lockbox for keys and install it outside. The cohost that I’m hoping to work with lives half a km away, she could walk here. She is a super host. Fingers crossed, I’m meeting with her on Tuesday. I’m having someone (a stager) come in on Wednesday to give me tips on making my house guest ready with respect to furnishings and arranging - I have no talent where that is concerned. Since it’s my own home there are a lot of personal things around (pictures, my brothers ashes, etc) that I don’t know how to manage. Should all those things be stored away? Once I get that done I’ll take some pictures and then post my listing. A friend’s sister has a cleaning side business. I’ll meet with her and see if she is able to help me out. I think as long as I have a backup plan for everything I’ll be okay. I like your Amazon prime idea. In the end, I need enough money to cover my monthly bills, which according to regional numbers I got from an Airbnb person should be very doable. I’m taking a leap of faith doing this but my gut says it can work.
Absolutely they should. I’ve often read about hosts who have had their personal belongings stolen from their rentals (cameras, computers, personal papers, jewellery, items of sentimental value, valuable ornaments and paintings etc.) and my immediate thought has always been - ‘why on earth weren’t they locked away?’
Be sure to remove anything that you’d hate to lose.
Yes, there will be some items that you need to keep there for the sake of your guests’ comfort but be sure that your insurance company knows that you are doing STR and that you’re covered.
You need to remove your brother’s ashes. When we were cleaning my mother’s house because she was in the end stages of cancer; a friend opened a container and freaked out. The contents were my brother’s ashes. Guests are known for looking through things.