What are the best and worst parts about being an Airbnb host?

Hello everyone, I joined this forum last week it seems like great community and resource. I’m a solo software developer with an interest in the world of Airbnb hosting.

I’d like to find out what you enjoy about Airbnb hosting, which areas are difficult, how you got started, and what makes you continue hosting.

What would you avoid if you could? What would you do more of if you could?

Answers here all greatly appreciated.

These sort of questions have been asked quite often on this forum.

What sort of listing are you looking to set up and where ? The answers will vary quite widely depending on how you intend to set up your listing.

Or is this market research for the software you are developing.

Have you tried using the search function?

Hello @Helsi, thank-you for your reply. This question is research, I have a project in an early stage and I hope to get some broad info here.

Thanks for pointing me towards the search function, I did look and try to find similar topics. The forum also auto suggested some other posts based on the title. However, the only similar topic I found was from 2 years ago and wasn’t quite right… although it was quite interesting to read that many hosts say the hardest part is constant cleaning!

Can you give an example of how changes to a listing would increase the variance of answers?

Ah, it’s the end of semester I see.

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On Airbnb you can find luxury castles that hold a couple dozen overnight guests. You can also find an off-grid tree house for a max of 2 where you’d compost your poop. And a homeshare in downtown Berkeley where you’d have a bunk bed over another guest and kitchen and bath facilities shared among a dozen fellow guests. Each of those will have their own types of problems and hosting styles, as you can imagine.

About the only things all hosts have in common are the need to clean/manage their listing and possibly some irritation over guests not reading the full listing and rules. With such a wide variety of listing types you’ll need to do more homework and background research. It’s hard for us to answer such broad questions in a way that’s meaningful or helpful.

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@KKC My uni days are in the rear view mirror, but I’ll take the compliment! :rofl:

@Allison_H Thank-you for for taking the time to reply, your answer is most helpful. I appreciate the plethora and range of properties available, and I’ll admit that this question is broad, but it is intentionally so.

Not sure if you are trying to be particularly obtuse, the question is not research, that is the methodology you are using. Do you want to carry out research because you are setting up a listing or because you want to make money from hosts by developing software and are looking to identify a niche?

If you are just looking for broad information wander over to Airbnb Community perhaps the search function there would be more useful for you. And do a google search on the plethora of Airbnb blogs and websites.

My questions were if you are looking to set up your own listing but if want to develop a ‘project’ it is difficult for anyone to comment if you don’t say what it is.

I don’t find your questions difficult to answer, welcome to the Forum!

I am a home share host, however the unit is an attached casita and I do not share any common space-my hat goes off for those that do :heart_eyes:

My favorite part of hosting is seeing my guest truly enjoy all that I offer; I am in Palm Springs Ca, so the majority of my guests are here to sun and explore the natural beauty of the desert. I love when they enjoy the backyard amenities; pool, hot tub, firepit, outdoor dining, etc.

My absolute least favorite part is the cleaning and laundry! I would love to find a cleaner that is as anal as I am. Your cleanliness score dictates whether you live or die on Airbnb :slight_smile:

Why do I do it? It pays for home renovations, amongst other goodies

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The best for me is that the income is helping me pay my mortgage and property taxes. The worst is when they leave the space really dirty or break things and don’t even have the common courtesy of offering to pay for damages.

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Best parts are extra income and meeting cool people. Worst part is having my normal life disrupted. It might be having to wake up in the middle of the night due to guests not being able to get in or some other issue like a power outage. Once I had to leave at intermission of a touring Broadway production because my dogs were barking and disturbing the guests. That’s probably the most irritating thing that happened. But I learned to quit hosting guests if I have to be away from the house while they are here.

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Am in my 3rd year of being an airbnb host. I love hosting and have met so many really lovely people. I cannot say that there is anything that I really hate about it.

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