Every real estate investor fears having a vacant rental property and losing the potential of generating positive cash flow. That is why when property investors search for rental properties, they always look for properties that have high occupancy rates and are not affected by seasonal change.
However, is there such a thing? Every rental property, especially short-term rentals, experiences a vacant period at one point or another. The question worth asking is how to make money with Airbnb rentals during the off-season? What strategies should property investors follow to maximize their occupancy rate during the off-season? So if you want to know how to make money with Airbnb during the off-season, then continue reading.
How to Make Money With Airbnb During the Off-Season
1. Determine What Low Season Exactly Means for Your Airbnb Rental
Determining the exact period of the low season for your short-term rental is not easy. There are periods when you are getting bookings, but you are not full. Then there are periods when you are begging guests to come and stay at your rental property. And there are even times when you have to turn down a few applicants because there are no openings for your property. It’s a weird world when it comes to Airbnb rentals.
The low season is also a time when the demand pattern changes. For example, weekends are still full, but it can become difficult to find guests who want to stay during the weekdays. The demand for the type of property changes as well. In some areas, apartments do really well and large properties do not rent well at all during the low season. What you need to do first is determine the low season for your type of rental in your location.
2. Determine Who Your Ideal Low Season Guests Are
Who is the ideal type of guest that you have in mind? Will you benefit from this ideal guest during the off-season? You probably have in mind a family of 4 who wants to spend some time together since they’re so busy for the rest of the year. Sorry to break it to you, but your vision of an ideal guest won’t bring you any profit during the low season.
Rely on your data. Find out during last year’s low season who booked your Airbnb rental. Were they couples without kids? Maybe they were retired people escaping the cold winter. Or were they small entrepreneurs looking for an affordable sanctuary for their executives? Find out how many guests per booking did you get, on average. How many bedrooms did they use?
Start with understanding who your past guests were, as it will help you define who your ideal low season guests are. Once you know when the low season is and who is coming to your place during this time of the year, you are ready to start adjusting your Airbnb rental marketing strategy to capture more bookings.
3. How Low Can You Go?
Price is a big component when it comes to increasing your Airbnb bookings during the off-season. Many suggest during the off-season to lower your current rent price by 40%. However, this may vary depending on your location. If you fear financial loss by lowering your price charge, think about how much money you are going to lose from a vacant property. You need to play around with a variety of prices before finding the optimum price for the season.
Off-season travelers are often on a break from either their work or studies, so they take the lower priced seasons as an opportunity to travel for an affordable price. So if you want to know how to make money with Airbnb during off-seasons, then think about ways to attract your guests.
4. Rank High on Airbnb Search
If your Airbnb investment property listing appears at the top of the search results and is free during the wanted dates, guests will book automatically without going through the other options available. But, how do you rank high on Airbnb search?
- Ensure that your listing is of high quality and is accurate.
- The title of your listing is attractive and includes relevant information.
- Make sure to feature the BEST photos on your listings.
- Illustrate all amenities that make your place stand out.
- In the “neighborhood” section, include things like local attractions, upcoming events, and public transportations.
- You must respond quickly to guests to give the impression that you take your Airbnb hosting ways seriously. (You can view your current response rate by going to the “Stats” menu of your Airbnb account and then clicking on the “Standards” sub-menu.)
- Always aim to get positive feedback and five-star reviews.
- Avoid being penalized by Airbnb’s search algorithm which can happen if you cancel a booking.
5. Approach Your Market and Chase Previous Guests
If you want to know how to make money with Airbnb during the off-season, you need to go after the money. Money is not going to come to you. That is why networking and customer service are two very important factors because they help your Airbnb business survive in these situations. Reach out to previous and potential guests. You can try e-mailing them, calling them or sending out postcards to invite them back to your Airbnb rental. Notify them about any special offers for your listing. Maybe a discounted price for a certain holiday or offer breakfast in bed as a bonus. Offer incentives to previous guests in return for recommendations.
There are many ways on how to make money with Airbnb during the off-season, just don’t stress about it. Once you’ve maintained regular bookings, follow the market and follow your guests to keep them coming back.
6. Contact Organizers of Local Events
Not many real estate investors would go that extra mile for their rental property. But hey, if it will give you a high rental property return on investment, then why not go for it? Reaching out to a local event manager or even someone coming from out of town during your off-season can prove to be a good business move for the long run.
Many event managers will be more than happy to have somebody care about their event and may even offer to list your rental in their leaflets or on their website. They can even mention any offers you may have for your rental property in their next email newsletter.
You need to think outside the box if you want to learn how to make money with Airbnb during the off-season.
How to Make Money With Airbnb During the Off-Season Using an Airbnb Profit Calculator
No matter what investment strategy you choose (long-term or short-term), making money in real estate is the ultimate goal for every property investor. In order to ensure that your investments are profitable, you need the right real estate investment tools. As for how to make money with Airbnb during the off-season, an Airbnb profit calculator is the tool you need!
An Airbnb profit calculator is just like an investment property calculator. Where can you find it? At Mashvisor of course! Our Airbnb profit calculator is an online tool that allows you to calculate the return on investment a property can generate on an annual basis. You can also use it to keep up with your property’s performance after you have rented it out.
To learn more about our product and the different investment property tools we provide, click here.
Using an Airbnb profit calculator can help you when dealing with all the numbers for your rental property. You can use it for:
- The Cash on Cash Return (CoC): This is one of the most important figures you will have to deal with when buying Airbnb investment properties. Cash on cash return shows you the return on the cash you have actually invested in the property.
- Cap rate: This is another figure used to estimate the return on investment for your rental property. Our Airbnb profit calculator can calculate for you the cap rate for your Airbnb rental property easily.
- Airbnb occupancy rate: The Airbnb occupancy rate is very important. We always say, the higher the better. With our Airbnb profit calculator, you can see expected occupancy rates for investment properties in a location.
The Bottom Line
How to make money with Airbnb during the off-season is a commonly asked question by so many Airbnb investors. How you handle the off-season can make or break your Airbnb business. That is why you should always look for different ways to boost your bookings to avoid losing money on a vacant property.
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