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As the title says, we are long time guests and users of Airbnb. We recently had tenants move out a house we were renting/letting and decided to take the plunge and list it on Airbnb.
Within the first half hour we had a booking and within 24 hours we had 4 and it snowballed from there and have only had three days vacancy in about three weeks and have a lot of future bookings as well.
I would love some constructive criticism (or praise too) on our listing to make sure we are getting it right while we are still new.
I don’t share your view on Instant Book. I’ve found that our Instant Book guests tend to be more easy going as they can’t ask a million questions if they Instant Book. Also, it’s nice to not have to get up in the middle of the night to approve or decline a booking request.
I got a look at all the pictures. It looks like a great value. Might be time to raise the price just a bit or at least increase that cleaning fee. I see a photo of the main bathroom but not of the half bath listed. I have no problem with instant book and also love it but I rent a room in my house and so I’m onsite. If you are going to be off site you might want to install some exterior video camera so you can see if people are bringing. extra people they didn’t pay for or pets.
I think the house looks cute but for me personally if I were booking the photos being too dark might deter me (because it makes the house seem darker, smaller, and you can’t see as much detail so you aren’t sure exactly what you’re going to get). If you have a lot of competition and raise your prices I would recommend investing in some professional photos of the interior and bedrooms that are brighter. The decor is a little plain and sparse for my taste, which might be a deciding factor to make me choose another place if I was comparing several. But overall looks good
We thought being new we would start out a bit cheaper than our competitors so we could get some reviews up and running and then put the price up as we go. I have since put the prices up twice since we started and will keep an eye on our competition as we grow our reputation.
I was going for a clean/fresh/hotel look without too much ‘stuff’ or decor, we do have a few more items that we could add, but didn’t want the place to look too cluttered. The professional photos do sound great, I mean that is what our place will get judged on so thinking about it, it is a very wise idea, as is the security camera.
We haven’t had any issues with the instant book as yet, I find it a bit exciting hearing the little ‘ding’ of the app on my phone notifying me of an instant booking.
So far we have had some great reviews and very happy guests, so I think we are on the right track. But will take all of your comments on board.
I haven’t encountered problems with instant booking, but we live on the premises. The only thing that bothers me is that I can’t have instant book on multiple sites because there doesn’t seem to be a good way to synchronize.
I like your listing. I don’t think it’s too dark, or at least it’s not that dark that it would keep me from booking.
I would put in some extra wall art or a splash of colour. It does look a bit like “we are only going to live here for half a year”. Don’t overdo it, but add a limited amount of big pieces or a few accent walls. And try to give it some touches that represent your area, but without making it tacky.
Think about rules you would like to add. Although most of them will be common sense, not every traveller is gifted with common sense, and you will suffer because of this. Some extra rules may lower your chances of suffering.
Being at the other side of the world I can’t judge your price, but it does seem to be cheap. Have you calculated costs?
We are on the cheaper side at the moment, but like I said we are trying to build up a good base of reviews, but we have a lot of bookings now so we are putting our prices up.
As we had rented this house out to a tenant previously for $250 per week, we were quite happy making anything over that plus the water/power bills that we will now have to pay seeing as though we are no longer renting.
We had no idea how AirBnb would go, but are very happy with the results so far and are currently making more than we ever would if we had of kept it as a rental.
Still learning though, so all of the tips we are getting here are amazing and so very helpful, so thankyou everyone again
You obviously know your market better than any of us and I agree that pricing slightly lower is a good strategy while you build your reviews. Just remember it’s not just utilities that are the added cost vs long term renting. Also think about:
cleaning (even if you do it yourself, your time is valuable!)
consumables - toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, any food you offer to the guest etc
extra wear and tear from so many people coming through all the time. Minor breakages (drinking glasses, plates etc) that all add up. Just more bodies in a house in general can put a lot of unexpected pressure on a building
sheets, towels etc will need replacing, probably more often than you think.
don’t forget to factor in the time it takes you to answer enquiries, tweak your listing, check in your guests. This can add up very quickly too.
Best of luck, it’s great to hear you’re doing so well already! I agree with Guthend that your pictures look fine and wouldn’t put me off booking either. There are hosts here that believe it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver by not using fancy professional pictures that put your place in the absolute best light possible. I tend to agree with them
Love your place and the clean uncluttered style works very well. Like others say, your price looks cheap but you know your market best. I hope you continue to enjoy the airbnb experience, at times you will need a generous spirit and nature (!) but in my experience, most people are fine ranging right through to great! Good luck.
I liked it. I too would like some wall art in the main room. Also $9 bucks for cleaning? HUH??? Waaay to cheap, considering how many beds and linens and sheets it will take to turn the house. Good reviews too!
We do offer coffee and tea, and yes, still not sure how much to charge for cleaning as yet. The $12AUD we charge covers the laundromat and the cleaning products, we probably should put it up… Still learning I guess.
