Location, what is up with the 4 stars?

Would make no impact.

Yes. I understand. Iā€™m saying that those guests are rare. The vast majority appreciate value.

The vast majority of young guests, or guests from cheaper regions have no clue of how expensive things are. Some ask about the bills because they are thinking of setting up their own place and they are flabbergasted. Then they say they cant believe how cheap my place is. They have no measure of value.

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I guess my place is just too cheap to have this issue. I have a private 350 square foot in-law with itā€™s own entrance. I usually get $30-$35 per night. To most people, regardless of region this is pretty cheap vs what is provided. I could easily see what you are talking about for places that are priced higher. I stayed as a guest in Toronto and I was shocked that there were no places downtown for less than $250 per night. I did think to myself, what the hell is driving the cost up. Iā€™m sure they had a good reason.

Is it possible that your price is a little too low?

Itā€™s horribly low was far as I can see. I donā€™t understand how such a low price can take into account wear & tear, STR insurance costs, licence fees and so on.

I have been told by a few guests that my place should be priced higher. I tend to agree, but Iā€™m afraid to raise them. I will probably raise it up this spring after I reach the 100 review mark.

Expenses and local taxes arenā€™t that much for me since itā€™s an in-law that I reside in, and Iā€™m making less than $12,000 per year. I take home about $0.60 of every dollar after expenses.

Well,there you are then.

Can you take same day bookings? I found that if you can, you can have a higher price. The low price places book up first. And even if you raise your prices and lose a couple of bookings isnā€™t it better to work less and make the same money? You may even miss out because people donā€™t even search for places priced that low.

Nothing magic about 100 reviews.

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I never even thought about the search results. Thatā€™s true. I currently take same day bookings, but Iā€™m usually booked out one month in advance.

There are others in my neighborhood with similar listings to mine that charge around $65 per night. Iā€™ve been monitoring their listings to see what their booking schedule looks like. It seems like they get 2-3 bookings per month in the winter and 4-6 bookings in the summer. That means they are grossing about $300 to $800 per month depending on the season. I have consistently made $900 -$1,200 per month. It IS a lot of work having it full all the time. Iā€™m just afraid of losing volume, especially since Iā€™ve read that Airbnb discriminates against places that arenā€™t ā€œgreat dealsā€.

Maybe I should just raise it little by little or turn off the ā€œsmart pricingā€?

Reviews can be left with stars only and no text. It could be that the guest you think left no review actually did and gave you less than 5 stars for location.

5! Thatā€™s why I didnā€™t get it.

Good or bad locations are subjective. I am in the middle of Pittsburghā€™s little sister, so I wonā€™t get rated like Cap Ferrat. Itā€™s a pleasant surprise when I get a 5. But happy people tend to rank 5 star across the board.