Anyone else have this problem?

Question

I run my Airbnb by myself but I still have a property manager and cleaning staff.

At the end of the month, I have to send the next month's reservations to both of them to inform them when to inspect and clean the property. I know that I can share my calendar but they don't have that workflow.

It annoys me so much that I have to do this manually every month. Anyone else have the same problem or found a solution?

Leslie Anne Morris · Answer

This is probably more cost-effective way if you don’t have the ability to check the property yourself. On the other hand, I have cleaners that have this level of expertise.

Patricia Steiner · Answer

You're working too hard and paying too much.  We have a streamlined process that enables guests to easily access the property and even choose their own lock codes after checkin. As owners, we can remotely change door locks, AC/climate control, more - and exterior cameras provide us with a complete overview of the property.  Our cleaners are connected to our guest calendar and know when to have the units guest ready.  A handyman is identified in each of our markets in case we need to have a quick repair made at any time.  And, here's a shocker:  guests don't want a host to greet them...they want to get on with vacation!  So stock your unit with all the stuff of vacation and provide info on all the amenities and then get out of the way.  The days of doing all this manually are long gone - and thankfully so.  Hope this helps...

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @Brandon Huang. This is kinda weird. Your cleaners should be your eyes and ears on the property.

Talk to them and ask.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

You can sync your AirBnB calendar with an external calendar, then give everyone access to that external calendar: https://www.airbnb.com/help/ar...

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Oops! I corrected the link on how to share your calendar. Thanks!

Dan Maciejewski · Answer

Guesty for hosts, lodgify, hospitable, are all decent software solutions for like $20-$34/month/property.  They come with some other automations that make life easier, like automating communications, which saves a ton of time after you set it up.  I know you know, but in case others don't, automating emails is a life changer for those that send each email by hand!

@Brandon Huang -- what your property manager does is what hotels call an inspector.  They will follow the cleaners, act as extra eyes and ears, and check things the cleaners miss, like par levels of soft goods and consumables, condition of hard goods, stuff like that.  It's generally a +-$20/hour job in my area.  See if that works out for your guy/gal.  Vacasa pays like $16/hour for that job, which seems low to me but that's why they have the reviews they have.  You could also 1099 them and pay per inspection.

If you don't have additional software that gives you a cleaner portal like the above, you can try to share your ical link with an external calendar and have them confirm that they've seen/accepted the jobs like @Nathan Gesner suggests, although I think his current link may be for something else!

Ben Scarborough · Answer

Hey Brandon, have you tried using Guesty by any chance? One cool feature Guesty offers in addition to the capability of sharing calendars, is that you can set up scheduled messages to your team on each property that are specific to upcoming reservations. For example, you can automate it to where Guesty sends your cleaner a message when you get a new booking and again on the day of the clean (or the day before a clean) to make sure you are crossing your t's and dotting your i's. Happy to discuss more. Another option would be to find a cohost instead of a PM. This option can come out to take much smaller of a hit on your bottom line and the cohost can be in charge of making sure your cleaning team is staying in the loop with your listing for you, for example. Happy to discuss more, feel free to reach out!-Ben Scarborough

Brooklyn McCarty · Answer

The solution?

Self manage! You can do it easily and quickly once you get your systems in place. BP offers a STR bootcamp

Andrew Steffens · Answer

We use Streamline VRS which is designed for larger sized PM companies and has the solution for this problem.  You will not need such a cumbersome and expensive software for 1, I am 100% certain there are software services that can solve this problem for you inexpensively.

Anyone else have this problem?

Most Popular Reply