The vacation rental industry has been growing exponentially since the last decade, and it has inevitably become a fundamental element in the property rental business.
Consequently, to be successful in the rental business, real estate investors must learn to keep themselves up to date with the most recent property news and data to exploit the opportunities in the short-term rental market.
As a matter of fact, Mashvisor’s online platform is specially tailored for real estate investors to study the US real estate market. Coupled with our advanced analysis tools and latest research data of the market, we can customize the most comprehensive rental strategy for any real estate investors.
Airbnb
Airbnb is one of the largest vacation rental companies in the world with over 55 million users each year. Airbnb rental income is now a crucial portion of rental revenue for real estate investors.
Maintaining a good relationship with Airbnb is hence essential in boosting the Airbnb rental income of a property investor. The level of commitment toward the company can be reflected through the Super Host program introduced by Airbnb in 2016.
I have been an Airbnb Super Host for a year, and I believe that there are certain rental strategies to earn the Airbnb Super Host status. In this post, I would like to share these strategies by dissecting the program into its individual components. These strategies will be helpful for existing Airbnb hosts as well as for real estate investors looking to invest in an Airbnb rental property in the future.
How Does an Airbnb Super Host Status Help to Maximize Your Airbnb Rental Income?
According to Airbnb as revised in 2018, listings by Super Hosts can stand out the best in search. This is a great advantage for an Airbnb host as it increases the competitiveness of their listings. Appearing on the first few pages of the search results tends to increase the listing views and the booking rate.
Correspondingly, this will help to increase the overall occupancy rate of the property and result in higher Airbnb rental income. It is proven that a Super Host receives an increment of 60% in average daily rate as well as an 80% increase in bookings compared to normal Airbnb hosts.
Other benefits of Airbnb Super Hosts include offering loyalty discounts to former guests to encourage them for future stays as well as having access to a set of advanced marketing tools from Airbnb. With all these benefits, every host and real estate investor should strike to become an Airbnb super host to maximize their Airbnb rental income.
The Airbnb Rating System
The rating system of Airbnb serves as a benchmark for the Airbnb rental market. Airbnb reviews are categoried into the following elements: Accuracy, communication, cleanliness, location, check-in, and value. Airbnb hosts are required to get 4.8/5 stars rating in these areas to qualify for a Super Host.
Accuracy
Always write an accurate and realistic listing description for your short-term rental property. Do a complete and honest evaluation of the amenities you and your property can provide for the guests. Do not try to ‘inflate’ your listing description by having false information to attract listing views.
Guests will ALWAYS EXPECT to find what you have written in the listing description. A dishonest listing will only damage your Airbnb reviews. Always write your listing description with good language skills and try to provide as many different language versions as you can. This can help to expose your listings to target different Airbnb guests around the world.
Make sure to upload professional photographs of your Airbnb property. A photograph is the major component in marketing your Airbnb listing, guests just love beautiful photographs!
Always keep your Airbnb calendar up to date. This is very important as inaccurate availability will decrease your listing’s accuracy. Furthermore, being a Super Host requires 0 cancellations and 10 trips hosted per year.
Communication
Being qualified for a Super Host status requires a 90% response rate within 24 hours. Download the Airbnb apps to your phone so you can respond to your guests’ enquiries as soon as you receive them. Responding to your guests immediately shows that you care about them and will definitely help with your Airbnb reviews.
Always provide check-in instructions, a Wi-Fi password, and a guide book before your guest’s arrival. You can save all information in the Airbnb chat for your own convenience. Importantly, always try to review your guest and ask for review from them.
Cleanliness
Cleanliness and hygiene is one of the most important categories that guests look for before deciding to book your Airbnb property. Nobody likes to stay in an untidy space. Always make sure to clean the room and change bed linen and towels before any guest arrives.
If you do not have the time to clean, find a nearby professional cleaning company to do the job. If possible, always provide essentials such as toiletry, water, and some snacks for your Airbnb guests.
Location
As the old saying goes, the most important factor in buying real estate is location, location, location. Indeed, this is the same with an Airbnb rental investment. A property located in a favorable location will consistently generate a good amount of Airbnb rental income.
Mashivor’s real estate database provides its users with an extensive insight of the Airbnb rental market. With our heat map technology, we can pin point the best location and the most potential area to buy an Airbnb real estate investment.
Check in
I strongly believe that the key to becoming an Airbnb Super Host lies with check in. Key exchange is one of the most difficult issues in managing short term rentals. Scheduling a check in time with guests is always easier said than done. Flight delays, heavy traffic, or adverse weather conditions are some obstacles that will affect the arrangement for both parties.
To solve this issue, I would strongly recommend using a digital lock that works with an online application. This will smoothen the check in process and would be less hassle for both the host and guests. An easy check in process will certainly boost your Airbnb reviews.
Value
Pricing your short term rental property right on Airbnb is important. As much as Airbnb doesn’t want to admit it, both Airbnb properties and hotels follow a similar trend, and that is seasonality. Hosts should have their own pricing strategy for low and high seasons to maximize their Airbnb rental income.
To boost your overall occupancy rate, always give discount to unbook nights and attract long term guests by offering a high discount rate for longer term stay. If you are new to Airbnb, price your listing as low as you can to stand out from the crowd and slowly increase your price with accumulated Airbnb reviews.
Conclusion
It might seem that there is a lot of work related to managing a short term rental, and hitting the Airbnb Super Host Status is not that straightforward after all. However, a little extra effort now will go a long way in the future.
Professional photos or a clean property alone is not enough to boost your Airbnb income, every factor must come into place, and hosts must put in extra work in every aspect to gain success in the Airbnb rental business.
To start out your 7-day free trial with Mashvisor to find the best investment properties to rent out on Airbnb, click here.