Airbnb Co Host

10/21/2024

Pictures of the 2024 leaders summit.

02/14/2024

Airbnb posted better than ever 4th quarter growth last year. But your Airbnb bookings are slower than ever.
Wonder how that can be?
Airbnb makes a percentage of every booking. There is a surplus of listings and in their business model, it doesn’t matter how many listings are out there they will always make money. Unfortunately the more listings out there, the more competition for you.

https://news.airbnb.com/airbnb-q4-2023-and-full-year-financial-results/ #:~:text=Here%20is%20a%20snapshot%20of,”)%20and%20an%20FX%20tailwind.

We issued our fourth quarter and full-year 2023 financial results.

12/11/2023

It’s been a pleasure to be one of the organizers at the San Diego community club meetups.
Looking forward to more of this!

12/02/2023

Are you getting cancelled often in the last minute?
If your cancellation policy is flexible, then this could be the issue.
As STR enthusiasts, many of us see ourselves in the faces of our guests, and as such, we always mean well for them. But are we forgetting something? Is everyone as responsible and caring as we are? And furthermore, are we placing our hearts before our businesses?
If you do, congratulations you are an amazing human! Unfortunately being an amazing human often comes with a lot of setbacks (ask me how I know 😕 ).
So let me help you cross that dirty road without much trouble.
A cancellation policy should never be flexible, and should always be firm or strict.
Why? Here’s a few reasons:
-Plans change, and as their plans take time to change, you will be losing exposure and limit your opportunities to book your listing. When a cancellation happens in the last 5-7 days before check in, it’s almost impossible to book that space unless you are in high season.
If you happen to have one of those cancellations, no matter what they say, most often the real reason is the party who booked you has found alternative accommodations at a cheaper price.
Remember in the Airbnb industry most hosts with space on their calendar scramble in the last few days to get their place booked and this usually means discounted pricing.
So why would you do this and not feel bad?
Someone is going to be holding the bag.
If you allow a reservation to be booked 3 months in advance, the guests get the peace of mind that they have accommodations. But when they cancel on you 3 days before for a cheaper accommodation, you lose and they win without having risked anything.

Hope this helps!!

11/15/2023

https://share.newsbreak.com/5f3cbp83

A San Diego County couple whose 2-year-old daughter drowned at an Airbnb rental home in Mexico announced Monday that they are filing a wrongful death lawsuit...

10/05/2023

What is (and isn’t) the ‘Airbnb bust’?
Some of you may not know this, but this called Airbnb bust has been talked about for a few years. Always around the end of the summer.
So what IS the Airbnb bust?

It’s the feeling of failure a specific group of hosts get when they fail to achieve their goals.
What group of hosts’ am I talking about?
The hosts who recently started and without much research believed all those social media posts saying thinks like:
‘rent a house’ ‘yup’
‘Buy 2nd hand furniture’ ‘yup’
‘List on Airbnb’ ‘yup’
‘200 a night’ ‘yup’
‘3000 net monthly’ ‘yup’.

So is rental arbitrage the real failure?
Not necessarily. The bigger problem that I see here is the lack of research. I’m sure plenty of newer hosts took the time do some serious research and are doing great right now. Unfortunately that is not the majority.

Rental arbitrage has been around since the early days of Airbnb. In the Southern California area it goes back to around 2014-2015 at the latest.
Sometime around 2016-2018 when Airbnb exploded, everyone and their mom was calling around homeowners who had for rent signs in craigslist. (I was one of them) and believe me, in 2018 it was already rough! Many homeowners would hung up on you right away as soon as you said ‘Airbnb’ because they were getting hassled left and right.

So has the ship sailed? Of course not, there will always be a new opportunity. Today however finding a rental arbitrage that will work for you isn’t exactly easy to find. First the homeowners in great locations already know about it and decided what route they will or won’t take and second it’s very likely that at least a few people have tried getting that homeowner to say yes.
So what about rental arbitrage listings being sold?
Be real careful about that! Who would sell a business that is making him/her money?

So what ISN’T this Airbnb bust?

This bust isn’t a system wide bust. People with great listings are doing just as well as other years, perhaps a small decline in line with the economy (5-10%).
What type of listings do I call ‘great listings’ well the obvious ones! Those by select beach locations, those by tourist preferred areas, those who have figured out their niche, or those who solve a problem.!

Where am I going with this?
In my previous paragraphs I mentioned the following categories:

Beaches
Tourist heavily frequented areas
Niche listings
Problem solving listings.

If you are not one of the first 2 because you came too late to it when everything was sold OR you just can’t afford a place like that right now….
It’s time to work in the other 2!

I know…
I know…

Everyone understand what a niche listing is but what do I mean with ‘problem solving listings’?
Easy. Are you near the airport? Think business travelers.
Are you in a large city but not in the tourist area?
Think families who need a place with many beds (you’ll need east freeway access)
Are you in the hills?
Think Retreat.
Are you in the mountains outside the city?
Think staycation.

And so on.

Hope this helps and….
Happy hunting!

10/04/2023

Always remember you are in control of your listing. No one else is.
If you receive a request for direct booking trough the platform I suggest you pass on it to avoid issues with your account. But if you are moving forward, then remember you set the rules. You pick the method of payment to a safe one and never back down. Keep in mind most of the scams coming from the platform will ask for ‘direct payment’ and will eventually figure out a way to have you send them money back in the form or western union Zelle or the like. Be sure to ask for secure payment methods like a direct Credit Card payment or a Money Order and never send money back unless the entire reservation has been cancelled and your cancellation policy allows.
Having said that I also wouldn’t be so hot about this reservation for another reason: The guest is saying they need the direct payment to afford this property. And the host is saying the property is high end.
When you have a high end property your target audience isn’t someone who needs a discount.
As a matter of fact most guests asking for a discount will never appreciate your property because from the get go they felt they were paying too much.

10/03/2023

Let’s talk liabilities?

Hosts often add a number of amenties to their listings in an effort to provide value and entice customers to book.
But what if some of those amenities warranted the possibility of a lawsuit against you.
How to avoid it?
An attorney would probably say the least amenties the better, but to be honest that’s impractical.
So what to look for? Any amentity that involves a physical activity should be looked at. For example a bicycle, scooter, golf cart. Anyone one of the can get your guest in an accident.
A bow or a dart would be 2 examples of dangerous sports when the people using them are unaware of the dangers involved and do not prevent the misuse of the articles involved. In many cases the items should be stored away from small hands and a disclaimer should be presented to the guest before they’re allowed to use them.
What’s a handy thing to have when you provide a game room? A liability waiver. (Have a real attorney write one) it shouldn’t cost much more than a couple nights of bookings and the value of it could definitely be as large as the value of your property…
Other dangerous items to keep waivers for when possible:

Pool
Tub
Trampoline
Stairs without railings
Overhead bridges
Treehouses.

When in doubt, contact your insurance agent.

https://www.kpbs.org/news/quality-of-life/2023/09/05/homeowners-are-increasingly-taking-legal-action-over-pickleball-noise?fbclid=IwAR3naWu1Wd-QHHy8XerhT8oUP9zbIiiTQxzh_GWzBjs_vXK3r8X4xAUiTss_aem_AcUOWmy1yu5D-GRQD4dvPsZC3_yyHqXPI7QS3G_00mV9UNjeIE0OZiztAKdr-N2Q4m0&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Pickleball noise is pitting homeowners against players, and some disputes are winding up in court.

09/30/2023

There are many factors that affect the amount of bookings.
-Platform rankings
-Seasonality
-State of the economy
-Location of your listings.
-Reviews
-Listing theme’s if any

But as a general rule of thumb, besides your reviews (no one wants to book a place that has low reviews). I’d say your listing’s location will for the most part define your occupancy rates.
This will however will be minimized or maximized by the state of the economic conditions in your state, country or even world wide.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are many other things to work on, but my point here is that the best 3 things to look at before hosting a property are Location, Location and (Yup)Location.
A great location is going to bring you the most of your bookings.
From there the rest is up to your daily management of the property, from vetting and communicating properly with guests, staging and decorating, maintaining and delivering great customer service in a location that provides the needs of your target audience.
How do you find a great location?
Check this guy’s videos: https://instagram.com/theairbnbdataguy?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

09/26/2023

09/26/2023

keystone CPA INC