With the rise of Airbnb rentals as one of the most popular types of real estate investments, Airbnb property management is becoming one of the biggest determinants of the success of any Airbnb rental property.
In the recent years, Airbnb rentals have become one of the major types of real estate investment properties, especially among beginner real estate investors. However, what most people don’t realize when they first get into this field of business is that short-term rentals are not easy to manage.
Unlike long-term rentals, Airbnb properties require a lot of time and effort to be put into running and managing them. Otherwise, their performance will decline significantly along with their profits.
While landlords who own short-term rentals will often turn to property management companies to handle all the daunting work for them, property management companies can be an expensive choice for people who are just starting out in the real estate investing business.
So, what other solutions are there for owners of Airbnb properties to help them manage their short-term rentals more easily and more efficiently, and what effect will the different choice they make have on the performance of their rental properties and their profitability?
In this article, I will be focusing on Airbnb property management as a crucial aspect of any short-term rental, as well as some of the best tools to use for Airbnb property management to help beginners succeed in this new line of business.
Airbnb Property Management – What to Expect?
Short-term rentals became a popular choice among real estate investors over traditional long-term rentals due to their higher potential for profits in many cases.
However, to achieve their maximum potential and profits, short-term rentals also require a lot of time and effort to manage.
As the main short-term rental service on a global scale, Airbnb provides its users with Airbnb property management. But similar to any other property management service that you can hire, Airbnb property management comes at a price.
Typically, a rental property management company would charge the landlord anywhere between 8-12% of their rental income. For many beginner investors, this might not be something that they can afford, so they start looking for other Airbnb property management options that allow them to manage their own rentals more easily and at a reduced cost.
But what are the Airbnb property management tasks that you should expect as an owner of an Airbnb property?
Airbnb property management tasks include but are not limited to:
- Finding, screening, and choosing tenants
- Handling property maintenance and cleaning, or hiring these services
- Handling tenant turnover, handing keys, and inspecting the property with every turnover
- Handling all the financial, legal, and tax papers and records
- Providing your tenants with a pleasurable stay from the moment they walk into the door until the moment they leave
- Providing the tenants with all the information they need about the property and the area
- Marketing and advertising the property
As you can see, Airbnb property management includes several time-consuming and daunting tasks, and while many beginner investors purchase Airbnb rentals thinking they are passive income properties, they soon find out that they are very wrong.
So, what are some options that are available to short-term rentals’ owners that will allow them to manage their own properties more easily without having to hire a property management company to do the work for them?
Airbnb Property Management – Hostfully: A Short-Term Rental Property Guide Software
Hostfully is an online platform and mobile app that allows you to manage several different aspects of your short-term rental seamlessly from the comfort of your own home.
Using this app, you can create a comprehensive and interactive guide to your property, which you can also use for advertising and marketing your property more efficiently.
This is especially useful for short-term rentals that have a high turnover rate. Most property owners hate the fact that every time a new tenant moves into their property, they have to repeat the same conversation where they tell the tenant about the property, what it includes, and guide them through the processes and provide them with info about the area and its attractions.
Using Hostfully’s rental property guide, you can simply share all of this info with your tenant in an easy-to-use and easy-to-read format that they can access through their phones.
In fact, when using this app as well as other apps that allow you to lock/unlock your property or provide access to your tenants remotely, it is possible to handle all aspects of your Airbnb property management remotely and without a hassle.
Hostfully reviews highlight that the property guide features include sharing photos and videos about the property, highlighting any special features about the property, or even sharing information with your tenants about the area and the main attractions and activities that they can do during their stay.
You can also send welcome messages through the app, communicate with your tenants and give them a way to reach you anytime during the day, or manage multiple rental properties at once without having to travel to each individual property.
In addition to helping you manage your short-term rental, the seamless and positive experience that you can provide to your tenants through Hostfully’s app can help you gain more positive reviews for your Airbnb rental, which in turn can help you increase your occupancy rate and attract more tenants to your property, which can effectively grow the profits that you gain from the property.
Airbnb Property Management – The Effect of Reviews on Your Occupancy Rate
It is no secret that one of the biggest determinants to the success of any Airbnb property is the reviews you get on your short-term rental.
The more positive reviews that you get, the more it is likely that people will choose your property to stay at, and the more visibility your property will gain on Airbnb.
If you’re looking for a way to calculate how Airbnb reviews will affect your occupancy rate or the number of positive reviews that you need to get in order to increase your occupancy rate by a certain amount, there is even a tool for that!
Read: Airbnb Reviews: Top Influencers Affecting Your Occupancy Rate
Using Mashvisor’s rental property analysis tool, you will not only be able to see what the occupancy rate, as well as the return on investment, is for each Airbnb property that is listed for sale, but you will also be able to see how many positive reviews each property has, as well as the number of reviews that you need in order to increase the occupancy rate to the desired level in order to achieve the returns that you’re hoping for.
To learn more about how we will help you make faster and smarter real estate investment decisions, click here.
Bottom Line
Airbnb property management can be a nightmare for any beginner investor who wants to own a short-term rental.
However, with the use of new technologies and apps, managing your Airbnb property can become much easier and less of a daunting task, as well as help you maximize your profits and get your property to the top of the list.
Make sure to check out both Hostfully and Mashvisor and the tools that they have to help you succeed as a real estate investor and owner of short-term rentals.
To start your 7-day free trial with Mashvisor and subscribe to our services with a 15% discount after, click here.