Very nice place. But once it’s booked they’ll come to you 
Maybe. The average price for a private room for 2 in El Paso is $43. (Actually that average is thrown off my a unique problem. ABB includes listings in Juarez, Mexico. They shouldn’t because people coming to EP are not going to stay in MX. And if someone does accidentally book there they will be PISSED when they get to town and find out there’s a two hour wait at the bridge.) There are at least a dozen more rooms that are $46 a night for 2 people for random mid Sept, mid week dates with 4.5-5 star reviews. I could lower my rate. I feel like I need about $30 a night to make it worth my while. But I also know that some people feel like others on this thread: they wouldn’t even look at listings that were below a certain price. They would change their mind if they researched my town. I had a guest who booked at one of my higher rates and he said he wouldn’t have looked for anything cheaper than my place.
That investment also added to the value of your home, so it’s a win-win in the long run, and good investments are often the long-run type 
That’s amusing :)))) I go for cheap like most do, but of course you need to look at the ratings.
Definitely! I actually wanted to make a second master suite in case my sister and brother in law needed to move in with me. Then my sister passed away two weeks after it was completed. And it would be useful for a future room mate or live in help. I value my privacy and adding the extra bathroom helps with that and with having the dog boarding and humans at the same time. It seems excessive to have 3 bathrooms in a single story, 1700 sf home but oh well.
2 Likes
Depends on the season!! In January I booked the gorgeous boutiquish hotel, the Normandy in DC for only $79 per night!! And they threw in breakfast for both of us because “I” had made a stupid booking error! I prefer hotels whenever possible and there are great deals to be had depending on the season.
1 Like
I only stay in hotels! It makes me feel like I am on a real vacation. I dont think I would use airbnb for myself as Im pretty picky.Maybe if they had a ton of 5 star reviews and were super clean and separate geusthome where I dont have to see the owner.
2 Likes
I hope so. On other ‘certain sites’ I find so many dumb questions and comments from new hosts who seem to be completely clueless. I know that everyone has to start somewhere but it does seem that so many people are leaping onto the ‘rent your spare room and get rich’ bandwagon. At the first sight of a dirty towel or a broken cup they say that they are having ‘nightmare guests’.
3 Likes
We’d better hope so because if everybody really can do it then there just isn’t going to be enough business to go around.
2 Likes
As they say ‘if was was that easy, everyone would be doing it’. And I don’t think that it’s easy money
3 Likes
I think it’s so much less work when it’s separate and not only private room plus it’s better earning.
1 Like
That’s good to hear since I’m about to spend a bunch more money making my ‘semi-private’ apartment private. However, I think I came up higher on the search when it was ‘private room’.
I’m actually wondering if I can list it both ways and sync the calendar. I have no idea. Some people do book us so they can ‘meet an American family’.
For the same area but getting it private make a big difference of price if you compare for what I see
I think people are forgetting that not everyone is comfortable having strangers stay in their home. Many of the people I know would have multiple fits at the idea.
And it involves the stress of keeping random strangers happy. I don’t think it is all that easy. Aside from all the hard manual labor involved. And all the online correspondence, much of which doesn’t go anywhere.
5 Likes
You can stop those senseless emails if you craft your listing properly. I use to get Aholes looking for discounts ETC. Right off the bat I tell people. I DO NOT GIVE DISCOUNTS!THAT STOPPED THE CHEAPSKATES DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS. I also have posted in my listing 2 weeks is the maximum stay allowed ;DO NOT EMAIL ME WITH REQUESTS FOR A LONGER TIME.Bam!No more people trying to stay for 3 or 4 months! I rarely get inquiries anymore. Everyone just books instantly! That has saved a lot of time, I have not lost business.
1 Like
Hi @diamond54,
Interesting. Thanks for the advice.
Most of the queries aren’t people asking for discounts, though. They’re wishy-washy questions about whether the place is available at some point + random questions, frequently silly, about travel and such. Like one chap wrote and asked me, months ago, how long it took to get from my place to Bombay Central. This is a train station some distance away. Apparently he was planning his return journey from my place! Before actually booking, or anything. Can I get an LOL?
I did politely answer his question. Another few months from now, I might be too jaded to do so. The funny thing is, he had good reviews, and sounded like a reasonable person. But it was definitely a wacky question.
2 Likes
I did get jaded for a bit - then answered a guest curtly and advised she return to the listing and read it - then actually wrote back and apologized. I still don’t like it but don’t want to be rude again.
Try to keep your chin up and don’t let them get you!!
1 Like
wow!nice new lisitng today for private room for 26! now rooms are regularly going in the 20’s!!!STOOOOPID! you can get the same amount by just renting it as a regular rental room, get a roomate! Duh. Total idiots out there.
When I was in San francisco couple months ago I was really surprised to see how much only private rooms were. In 100s $ range. Almost the same as hotels.,I guess northern CA is much more expensive than southern.
Same here in South Florida. Prices dropped ridiculously.
It’s not rarety to see rooms at 25-35$. I watch closely what’s happening when a guest is due to move out.
Like now, I will have room available from 21st, not a single inquiry for the past month. Miy price is 52$, but I give weekly and monthly discounts .
Hi @dcmooney,
Just to be clear, I’m not jaded yet, but I can imagine it happening in the future. Thanks for the encouragement!
1 Like