Very good advice. We didn’t really like the price being $100 because it was very low for an entire home but we thought it would help get us some reviews. The 4 people who have already booked seem like great people so we are glad to offer them a deal. We want people to have a stay they will remember for the rest of their lives so we are hopeful that it will turn into something big for us. For now we will up the price a little bit, and as soon as we find a reliable cleaner (might not find anyone out here) then its just going to have to be me cleaning it.
FWIW, when I started, instead of having an initial low price, I rebated a portion of the price back to my first few groups of guests (rather than discounting initially) in exchange for verbal feedback and called them “beta testers.”
They were super happy about the discount and it did help me catch some stuff I never would have thought about but not get dinged on it in reviews. You guys seem to be a little more on your game than I was, however, but the irony is that some of the pickiest guests are the ones who look for the cheapest accommodations.
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@SouthEndHospitality, do you have a link to that insurance company? I got a government organization when I typed it in google.
@LegendsCreek, Your property is stunning! You’ve gotten great advice already, so I am just wishing you much success!
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It is just lovely. I list on our farm that there are snakes and spiders. We had a guest leave a three day booking because of a harmless Python. That was easy money that weekend. We are in Australia so this is normal. Our sheep also feature in our pictures and I say it is " a working farm" as well.
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Well thank you everyone for such kind words! It certainly makes all the hard work we put in (and the money spent) worth it to us!
Shanghai, I was just joking with someone about how I really hope people know what to expect when they decide they want to stay on a farm. While we don’t have pythons, people can be sensitive over very silly things!
@LegendsCreek, that is sweeet! Nice way to sell the unique spot. You got me with the tub. I may contact you some day and ask if I can bring a third (brilliantly behaved, of course) and our own air mattress. ; )
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It looks great.
My advice is that it’s very smart to go with the low pricing to start with. Once you’ve got the reviews - even the ones with the 5 star for value - prospective guests don’t know it used to be much cheaper.
Strict cancellation does put alot of people off.
I know you’ve just started and it’s hard paying for set up, but your walls struck me as very stark. Although it looked nice and comfortable, you could easy make it look a little cosier.
You are absolutely right, and as everything was brand new, we have been working as fast as possible to find old wall art (framed prints, etc). We collect a lot of antique/rustic looking things and don’t want to rush and decorate it with things we hate just to get it decorated. We have already put a few things up on the walls and plan to keep cozying it up as we go. Thanks for the great advice!
Thanks for the info. I am going to check them out.
Hi there,
I’m in the process of reserving 7 different Airbnbs for 7 weeks this summer. So, I’ve been looking through a LOT of listings.
I’ve noticed that I’m more likely to click on listings where the first photo is of the actual room/living space. Sometimes people use pictures of attractions near the Airbnb or even close ups of items in the house, such as a vase of flowers.
I think I respond better to an appealing space where I can visualize myself spending time. Once my attention is grabbed, of course I look at the other photos. I would change your cover photo from the goat to the one of the bedroom where you can see the nice bathroom in the background.
One exception might be million dollar views. If the place has a killer view of something beautiful, then by all means, that should be the first photo. An ideal photo for me would be some of the room with the view out the window.
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How are bookings going? A few guests yet??
We had our first guest last night. It was a last minute booking for someone traveling through the state and needed a place to go. The guest was great, in late, left early, and he promised a review, but neither he or I can leave eachother a review. There just is no option what so ever to leave reviews when looking under the reservation. Does anyone know why??
We were hoping it would be our first review, but we read online that sometimes there is a bug and AirBnB doesn’t offer the option for leaving reviews. If so, we are bummed out.
We have 4 other reservations, from now until July, but we were hoping for much more action and can see that our competition is still getting tons of action because their calendar keeps getting blacked out for certain dates. I am certain its because we need reviews.
Any advice would be great!
At one time, I used to receive the ‘review this guest’ email at about 7am (EST) before the guest had checked out. This doesn’t happen now. I had guests check out this morning and the email hasn’t arrived yet (and nothing in the dashboard).
But the option should be there soon - maybe tomorrow. Let’s hope you get a great review 
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They used to allow the guest to write one, let you read it and then prompt you to write yours!
In some ways, this encouraged people to be nicer to each other. Wimdu still does this. Quaint and nice. 
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Well I checked AirBnB this morning, and the reservation has been moved to the “view all reservation history” list. When I click the list, I see the reservation from Friday night, and it just says accepted. There is no link to leave a review for the guest.
Can anyone explain how this works? Does the guest have to review me first? Would they have been emailed a link, or would they be able to leave it from within Airbnb when looking at the reservation?
I was really hoping that getting our first review would help us book more reservations but there just is no option to review the guest, and I haven’t received an email.
Thanks
Of course not 5 minutes after I posted my last question, I received an email asking me to review the guest. haha.
I hope this will be the beginning of many more reviews!
Thanks for this advice, I changed my cover photo based on your advice 
Cover used to be a photo of the whole house taken from outside, but now the cover photo is of the bedroom. (For my listing of the private room/bathroom, for the times when I rent out the whole house, I am considering a cover photo of the living room or kitchen.