New to this, lets see what happens

Introduction
41

Hi Bonny,
Lets all hope hey, do you have a ling to your property ?

42

Hi @Ross_Johnstone

Do have a look at the help section on the BNB website - no their biggest fan by any means but most of the questions you need answers on are in there.

Pay special attention to

  1. House rules
  2. Deposits
  3. Cancellations
  4. What to do if something goes wrong and you need to get a guest out/make a claim against them.
43

Hi again Ross

Here’s my link www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/16031706
Happy to help any way I can. As you can see Im a noobie too. Got our first booking Dec 2nd
Cheers
Bonny

45

Hi. Bonny,
Looks great, I listed the property on Wednesday of last week and have four bookings already which is looking positive. They are only overnight stays mostly but its a good start to paying the loan repayments.
Today 5 Chinese people from Melbourne checked in, they were lovely, so far so good but eventually we will get a bad one.

Regards
Rossco

46

Thanks Helsi,
I am off to a good start so far.
What is the best way to keep the sheets crease free? I am a bloke and am not sure.
I wash them and they come out all creased and yuk.
It is a bit of work changing the sheets and keeping the place spotless but so far the guests love it.
Regards
Rossco

47

You’ve only just noticed sheets get wrinkled when you wash them…?

…surely you’ve washed them before?

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious - you iron them :slight_smile:

If you are doing BNB alongside a full-time job and this is a separate property from your home, you could look at getting a cleaner.

48

Hi Ross, Your listing looks good and congrats on getting your first booking! I think the previous comments regarding adding some colour and artwork are helpful. Just use the colour as accents - it’s easy to go overboard, especially with the colour red. Have a peruse at other listings and look at the ones that work and that will give you a good idea on how to improve your own listing. When you start to get some money coming in from guests, maybe you could add a rug on the lounge room floor, some hardy plants in the verandah tubs and also a couple of magazines on the coffee table.
The wording in your listing could be confusing for o/seas visitors. I was not sure whether your listing was in Ireland, until I read about the Australian animals! Might be a good idea to drop the ‘Irish township’. Just enjoy your guests (don’t pander too much to the demanding ones!) and good luck with your Airbnb journey!!

49

Hi again Ross,
Forgot to add some comments about keeping creases out of sheets. I have a system whereby I wash the sheets, hang them out to dry (I avoid putting them in the dryer if I can, as they always come out creased!) and then I hang them over a door (make sure the top of the door is clean, otherwise it will leave a mark) as soon as they come off the clothesline. This keeps the creases out and airs them out a little. If you take them off the line late in the day, they can feel a bit dewey and this helps to avoid that. I always try and fold them as neatly as possible the next day or two, or make the bed up straight away. This system works for me, so I hope it helps you!

50

take them out of the dryer right away and fold.

51

Good tip. Thanks Louise

1 Like
52

Hi. Sunny girl,
Thank you for your feedback. I am not sure if adding is required at the moment. I have found so far that guests are really looking for quality and service, good linen and the little extras are working so far. I have planter boxes on the verandah built the plants are only babies at the moment. Once the grass grows and the garden is established the place will look a lot better. Yes I will have to put some books and magazines on the table. It is going better than I had expected at the moment anyway, I am surprised to be receiving booking during the week but we have a lot of overseas tourists travelling all of the time, I am sure that some one will make a mess one day which will be disappointing but I guess that it will happen. Have you experienced a bad guest?
Regards
Rossco

53

Hi Louise,
Spot on, that is the go, no creases YEY :+1::+1:

Thank you
Regards
Rossco

54

Thanks Helsi
Regards
Rossco

55

Hi Ross,
Good to hear you are getting plenty of guests. We have had no ‘bad’ guests so far but had some guests we would not welcome back. One decided to hold a skype session in the early hours of the morning at a fairly loud level for a number of hours ( we live upstairs, so it kept us awake). Another couple, were hard work, with lots of demands and left our unit messy. I think they were 1st timers to abnb and thought I was their maid! Generally, most of our guests are great. Good luck with yours!

56

Good advice above - I especially like @sunnygirl’s idea of hanging them over doors.

Yes, if you fold them the minute the dryer stops, that’s the best way if you’re not line drying. It’s a lot better if there are two of you folding but it’s perfectly possible to do it yourself.

One of the first things I do when I’m getting the rental ready is put the fitted sheet on the bed. This eliminates a lot of wrinkles. Then I put the duvet cover (cover only) on the bed and tuck in the sides to pull the creases out. After maybe an hour, by which time I’ve cleaned the bathroom or something, both are pretty wrinkle free. So then I make the bed properly.

I know of one host who uses an extension cord to iron the sheets once they’re on the bed. This seems like a good idea too.

57

When I want to hang sheets to dry indoors, I use two skirt hangers and hang them from the door. For the Airnb laundry, I wash them at home, then take the whole lot to the laundromat in town. My home doesn’t have a gas dryer, it’s too expensive to use the electric dryer. This is quite convenient for me as I go to town to do my nursing home visits. I put the sheets in several dryers, do a nursing visit, come back and fold the sheets. It usually costs me $5 for the dryers.

58

Yes, that is the case. By the way, I refer to it as a ‘preparation fee’. As far as I’m concerned, the fee is to prepare for the next guests, NOT to clean up after the last lot! I expect guests to leave the place in great condition.

So one nighters pay our $75 ‘preparation fee’ and if guests are staying for three weeks, they pay exactly the same. I thought it would discourage one nighters but it doesn’t. :slight_smile:

59

I find one-night or two-night stays requires a lot less time cleaning. The place is usually very clean and tidy, kitchen is uaually unused. Cleaning takes less than 2 hours for a 130 square meters home (in my case). For longer term stay like 7 nights or above, cleaning takes double or triple the time. So I have a fairly low cleaning fee for now, which covers two hours cleaning time, and for longer term stays I have to subsidise cleaning fee but longer stay gives more profit.

60

Ross I have hosted over 450 guests…and not one bad one yet…in the country we seem to attract the nicest people. My way of explaining it in australian language…’‘the bogans or ferals have not found air bnb yet, they are down the road at the caravan park’’!

61

Thanks sunnygirl,
I have already discovered that I need a key box. Some travellers ignore the check in times and are arriving late which is a pain.
I always like to meet my guests but I am not waiting around until 9.30pm for them.
I have just ordered a key box which should make life easier for the late comer

Cheers
Rossco