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I’m just not buying that you have a huge profit margin. There’s also wear and tear on your home, maintaining it and homeowners’ and STR insurance. I assume you are the owner of the home? Lots of hidden costs that must factor in. To say nothing of your time. Time is money. You have to account for time spent. I don’t provide any snacks because it’s hard to personalize them. I provide coffee and tea but do not promise it. The hand soap, shampoo and shower wash are expected.

I have often told the story of when I stayed three nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui. I did not even get a fruit basket, and you can only imagine what that hotel cost per night. I just stayed at the five star Plantation Cottages in Kauai and all we got was a welcome note and two (2) sample size packages of Kauai cookies.

I think some hosts go overboard with all the treats and they really do munch into your bottom line. This is why most hotels don’t do them or have an honor bar system.

Eventually you will get a guest who wipes you out of everything. Takes all your shampoo, all your bug spray, all your first aid supplies, all your snacks, all your lotion, all your TP, all your coffee pods, all your everything… …because it was “there.” :rofl:

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I guess we’ve just been extremely lucky then. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve had guests that only take 1 or 2 waters during their entire stay despite there being about 15-20 of them in the mini fridge, and guests that don’t eat a single snack despite an entire bowl full of them.

We’ve probably only had one or two guests that have eaten more than half of what we provided in the snack bowl, and we’ve never had a guest that has drank more than half of what was provided in the mini fridge.

I could see how they would, but it just hasn’t happened to us.

Our profit margins are definitely high…

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I agree with @konacoconutz in that many hosts, because they aren’t used to running a business don’t account for their time when working out profit margins.

Time to buy supplies, time to prepare a property, time to manage a listing, time online checking out what to buy for your place, time trying to get to grips with Airbnb’s ever changing rules, time to do your books and taxes.

I think hosts would be shocked if they actually kept a tally and paid themselves a sensible rate.

For example if you paid yourself £35 an hour and put an average 20 hours a month into managing your airbnb - how would that affect your bottom line? (not including cleaning/linen changes etc)

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Now, one thing I should maybe specify/clarify is that we do host only a private room with a max of 2 guests. This isn’t a 16 capacity entire home listing or anything. So I’m sure that plays a big role. (although, you’d be listing a place like that for a much higher cost too, so, I don’t know)

@sirvin Snap so do I and I think 20 hours a month is a realistic estimate for the amount of time a month I spending managing my listing.

That’s why a 6000 sq ft home with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms with fruit basket, wine bottle, six pack of beer, and package of coffee for $750 a night is the way to go. LOL. (sorry off topic)

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@Helsi Agreed. I guess it works out pretty well for us because we make frequent trips to Costco for personal purchases so we buy anything we need for our listing at that time. We never make special trips just to buy supplies for the listing, and we always stock up on supplies.

I work at home, so time spent cleaning and such isn’t a big issue. However, we do spend about an hour to an hour and a half cleaning the room between bookings.

As far as time for bookkeeping, we have a dedicated checking account for all of our Airbnb purchases then link that account to a Quickbooks online subscription that automatically records and categorizes all of our purchases.

I can definitely see though how time could be a much bigger factor for other people though, and something you could easily overlook.

I would have liked to. have been there the first night, LOL. But that was a stand-alone vacation rental in at a luxury price point. This is one room in a private home.

But you are the owner? If you aren’t you can make much more of a profit because someone else is maintaining and fixing things. Whether you own it or not factors in. And by the by, we aren’t huge fans of renters who do Airbnb without their landlord knowing. It’s a profound risk and liability to another person’s property . But that is another post for another day. :persevere::moneybag::grimacing::grimacing:

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Yes, my Husband and I own the condo. Our Airbnb listing, and it’s profits, has allowed us to upgrade all the windows and the sliding glass door in in our living room and install new sinks and granite countertops in our bathroom, our kitchen, and the sink in the listing. Nothing was broken, just old and crappy. Without the profits from Airbnb, it would not have been possible.

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And your HOA permits Airbnb. More than one host here has had the bitter experience of having to stop hosting when the HOA either found out or changed the rules. @Annet3176 is one recent one.

Don’t let our stern questioning deter you from participating. Once you go through our initiation process we can be helpful.

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@KKC I definitely don’t mind stern questioning, constructive criticism, or disagreements/discussions.

Our HOA has no rules for or against STRs.

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Ok, good luck I hope that continues for you.

Is that avatar here your dog? Cute.

Thanks! Yeah, that’s our Coco :heart_eyes:

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How about the city? Hawaii had nothing for years and years… and yet the latest ideas include:

HB2605 and the companion is SB 2963- provides Counties with up to $1M for VR enforcement.
HB 2568 and the companion is SB 3035 applies to short term rental booking services.
SB2280 established a revolving enforcement fund.
SB2999 sets up a 1 time amnesty program for back TAT and GET, allows State to take all profits from “illegal” future rentals, empowers Counties to phase out short term rentals, makes illegal (criminalizes- fines and prison) advertising of a rental in an area not zoned for it.

And that is just the state! The county wants to regulate all rentals not in the resort zones, which is 99 percent of us. For now hosted ( in your home or you are on site) are in the clear. For standalones, they can be grandfathered ONLY if you get a special use permit (could take up to a year) and show your taxes to show you were legal before January 2018. This penalizes the mostly rural and ag areas of this island.

The comical and disgusting thing that happened though is that the woman who sponsored the bill has a rental in the resort zone that she somehow “forgot” to disclose. Not only that, she “forgot” to disclose her income from the rental on her council disclosure papers. Essentially it means that she introduced legislation that benefits her while shutting down the competition unceremoniously. So for now, the bill is pulled while this person gets her ethics and tax compliance investigated. :kissing_heart:Karma is sometimes swift. :rofl::rofl::joy:

Regulation is coming… EVERYWHERE. Sooner or later. It’s like the sheriff and the posse riding out. They are comin for ya. :cowboy_hat_face::cowboy_hat_face::cowboy_hat_face:

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My mom has a Coco too!

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I have a Coco too! As well as Elle and a dog I’m fostering for the next 2.5 years for a former student who is in law school now. I also board dogs in my home in addition to Airbnb.

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Currently, CA has no rules/regulations on STRs to my knowledge. County has no rules/regulations. For our city, it gets kind of wonky. Technically, it’s not against code to have an STR, but you’re supposed to have a business license for it, but they just don’t approve any business licenses for STRs. So, all the Airbnb listings in our area just don’t apply for business licenses and the city doesn’t go after anyone. (for now)

We basically know we’re on a ticking timer and it’s just a matter of time. So we’re just trying to make the most of it while we can.

I heartily suggest everyone read this fantastic post…

Let’s Share REALLY summed it up well… could not say it better!

LetsShareThoughts3h
Absolutely agree, that guests who made a mistake with booking (that can happen to anyone!) and immediately let me know, shuold of course be refunded. This has happened a couple of times with us, with little fanfare or inconvenience.

On the subject of Air taking out money from future bookings, OMG, have I got some STORIES!

We used to live in a very popular touristy location, and had been hosting since the advent of Air, with mostly stellar interactions…in the beginning. After the site’s popularity grew (as well as the market saturated with other hosts-inevitable), we noticed a sharp decline in both Customer Service for hosts, as well as caliber of guests.

One guest booked our home over Christmas fro nearly the entire month. We made our own holday plans accordingly, as this was our main residence and rented it out whilst traveling.

After this guest had checked in, the troubles began. (We have all had “high-maintenance guests” so we thought after a decade of hosting we could handle any issues that may arise). First the guests said the house was too cold. We asked if the heater was not functioning properly and the guest had turned it off! She said she was not sure how it worked (it has a thermostat-lol). It turned out after some queries, that she was unaccustomed to natural gas and was frightened to use it. Ok. After assuring her that the gas was safe, she then tells us (two days later) that our house is “too hot.” I kid you not. Too cold, then too hot.

She then says that she wants to leave…but wants a 100% refund. Yes, you read that corrcetly. We gently tried to reel her in (mind you, she is staying in our home already and we are out of town), and told her that we would have our property manager bring her electric space heaters (that the manager would need to purchase). Nope. She wants to leave, but she insists on the FULL REFUND—BEFORE SHE WILL CHECK-OUT!

We tell her that this is not how the service works, and unless there is something catastrophically wrong with a listing, there are no refunds after a guest checks in at all, and that we were making a special concession for her, but she would of course need to pay for the days she has already stayed and also needs to handle the cancellation from her end to free up the calendar days for re-booking. Once that happened, we’d be happy to discuss a refund. She does not budge, nor does she leave our home or cancel.

She continued to stay in our home…FOR FIVE DAYS! At Christmastime!! This “awful hot/cold place that is so inhabitable that she must leave.”

Do I even need to tell you what happened? AIRBNB GAVE HER A 100% REFUND!!! ----AND TOOK THE MONEY FROM OUR FUTURE BOOKINGS. $2500. Not exactly chump change. It tooka. week to open the dates again, but we were only able to rebook about 1/5 of the days, still having to pay for the cleaners (again) AND she left a holy freaking hell of a mess to boot.

We stopped hosting that home very soon after this.

This was the THIRD TIME Air refunded guests 100% AFTER they had already checked in and stayed a while, (using everything-eating and sleeping there). Honestly if someone walked in, didn’t like something and left, we would work with them. It was the audacity that they would not only stay, but stay for days, cooking, eating, sleeping, bathing, snooping into our private stuff, etc. and then balk and say they want a free vacation. We learned that scam artists had found out how to buck Airbnb’s system, and that as a business partner, Airbnb could not give a shite if we, the hosts, were left holding the crap bag.

But we did eventually return to hosting (on a different property), and we have learned a few things about Air that may help you, especially if you are new to hosting:

Airbnb is not on the side of hosts at all. (Etch this into your brain…and then let it go).
Air has proved time and again that hosts are (now), simply a numbers game for them. Guests on the other hand, have quite a few benefits and if they bitch hard enough, will be granted almost anything.
Air went from being an amazing small home-sharing site, to being a billion dollar operation, with hosts now assuming nearly all of the risks. At least with regard to their own properties.
As Airbnb’s popularity has grown, so has its userbase. That brings with it the good and bad. ALL guests used to be stellar in the beginning. Now, you have to take the problems with the benefits. Faster bookings, greater reach, but also more creeps now. We still consider 99% of guests to be stellar. Sadly, it is the “problem child” guests whom we remember the most.
Airbnb’s reviews are totally skewed towards the guests. (Also etch this into your brain). Guests couldn’t care less about their own reviews. They can just pack up and make a new profile if they get a bad review. Hosts on the other hand, work hard for every one of their five stars, and take deep hits on negativity. We also are viewed poorly if we “tattle on” or react to, problem guests. It’s almost like a flashing neon sign on your listing, so react with caution. Guests do peruse your reviews and responses. A better tack is to just ignore any negativity and let it fade into obsucurity, drowned out by the other great reviews. Hoping that this part of the site is changed soon. One fab idea would be secret reviews (only seen and shared by other hosts).
Airbnb does NOT have a $1m insurance guarantee. Just look up the truly horrific stories. They abound. Do not ever think that they will cover anything and everything, or you could lose your shirt. Cover yourself and know the risks.
But most importantly:
6. AIRBNB IS STILL AN AMAZING SITE and you can make money, supplement your income, create a business, improve your home with the funds, take holidays, etc. You just need to be savvy, always know the risks, and plan accordingly.

We now do a few things very differently from our original hosting home-sharing days:
-we limit the number of days guests can stay (no more eating thousands $$). If a guest cancels, not a big deal anymore because it’s just a few days-maximum.
-we only host “on-site.” i.e. we also live here but have guest quarters. No more leaving our home in the hands of (sometimes) unscrupulous strangers with no one there to keep a watchful eye.
-WE HAVE SURVEILLANCE (outside). Just this alone we think keeps people on good behavior, cuts down on creeps like smokers and partiers and degenerates.
-we carry extra insurance, have a property manager, have watchful neighbors, and keep in constant contact with guests. We don’t intrude, but we always greet people, get a gander, take down their license plates (this is a law in many cities) and are just…present. This has cut our headaches down to almost nil. Yes, it is a bit more work, but who cares? We’re still making money. Things change. We learned to be adaptable.

Understandably not everyone is retired or can be onsite and do all of these things, but you can definiytely keep abreast of what is happening with your property in numerous ways, and just knowing the benefits and limitations of Air, feel much better and confident as a result.

So yes, our original easygoing gravy train had ended, but a new chapter began. One that is honest, direct and less simple, but still a lot of fun and ultimately beneficial to our livelihood. In fact, I think we enjoy hosting now much more than before. It feels like when we very first started but witha helluva lot more control. As a result, we are able to be more flexible than in the past. We have so many guests and high volume that we happily grant the odd request here and there. Hosting feels like less of a burden and we experince less burn-out. There are also new things that never existed before, like meeting other hosts, trading ideas and having co-hosts, etc. That part is awesome! We cover our asses more now for certain, but still make money, have fun and try not to sweat the small stuff. Still learning every day how best to navigate this.

In short, be cautious yes, but don’t be frightened!! You still control your property. You can still partner with Air, just be aware of the risks and know exactly what you’re doing and why. Then you will never feel like a victim. When you know that this is a “brass ring” type of deal, you can just grab it while it’s there. Maybe your city will change, maybe the service will change, but taking control of what and how you run your business wherever and however you can, will have you feeling much better about it all…and feeling grateful. Like the first time you saw the money show up in your bank. Cha-Ching!

We are still incredibly grateful to have discovered Airbnb. It is hands down the top site for bookings. The glory days of Airbnb are over. Take the good with the bad and GET PAID! $$$$$$ :slight_smile:

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How did you know? It’s like you’re psychic or something.

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