Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
I get asked this question daily, and now with the help of ScreenTime on my iPhone I have an (almost) perfect answer.
In the past 7 days I’ve spent exactly 3 hours on my 5 properties via the apps on my phone. This was a blind analysis as it was done without knowing “screentime“ existed.
AirBnB: 2 hours 29 minutes
VRBO: 31 minutes
180 minutes divided by 5 properties = 36 Minutes Total Per Property
I am in the Pigeon Forge Gatlinburg Wears Valley Smoky Mountain market with 80-85% occupancy year round. Other markets may require less time or even much less time if your properties are not as occupied.
Of course there are occasions when I open my computer and sit there for an hour or two changing prices and policies. I would say this happens once per week or every other week. 90%+ of my “work” is done via the apps on my phone. I also get the occasional texty guest thst cant seem to figure out how to message on the platform. I will entertain them until I start to feel like their therapist and then I ghost. This happens about twice per month.
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
7y
I only have the one and it is the slow time of the year for new bookings. I still have people coming and going for my current reservations and it doesn't take up much time at all.
I am just checking witht he cleaners. I have a lot of repeat guests this time of the year for football games and my canadian family that comes down for most of December they are all low maintenance.
Sometime I go up for "happy hour" with my canadian friends.
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2013 · 88 posts · 44 votes
7y
@Luke Carl Hi Lucas, you are absolutely correct. I started reading the thread and different people started mentioning different things and I sort of lost the original point of the thread. I did start another forum thread per your suggestion.
Just to add to your original comment about the hours needed to run an Air BNB listed so that I'm helpful to this forum:
My assistant and I spend an average of 4 man hours hours a week for each Air BNB rental. This includes not just responding to guest inquiries but also:
1. Overseeing our cleaners and ensuring our units are stocked to include: shampoo, towels, complementary coffee, toilet paper, etc.
2. Overseeing repairs and maintenance on the units. Gardners, overseeing trash pick ups, buying new furniture when needed, etc.
This doesn't include all the man hours involved in initially setting up each unit.
For people looking into getting into this field, The first 3-6 months, I was probably spending over 10 hours a week for each unit because I was new at the short term rental field. As you develop experience, and start developing systems and training your staff, you become more deficient. You set up auto responses, use software management for air BNB, and learn to delegate more things to your team. However, it takes a little bit to learn it before you can delegate this out.
Finally, i'm also a Superhost, which does require ensuring your units meet Air BNB standards. I also have units under consideration for Air BNB plus. I'm only mentioning this part to say that the time you put into Air BNB (or any REI) is dependent on how much experience you have. The more experience you have, the less time.
Didn't mean to be just a taker, and hopefully I added something for others on this forum.
Rental Property Investor · Campbell, CA · Member since 2017 · 419 posts · 499 votes
7y
@Dan K. 4 hours a week per unit seems very high. Can you break the 4 hours down into more exact detail? Anything over an hour-ish and my instincts tell me you’re doing something wrong or inefficient. I own several myself and am also a superhost, have several years experience etc.
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2013 · 88 posts · 44 votes
7y
@mike
I use Air GMS and keyless locks and a few other things to automate as much as I can:
My time suck is on the following areas:
1. overseeing repairs
2. quality control over cleaning
3. ensuring high occupancy %. I'm usually at 80% during the slow months and 95% during the busy summer months. I've used Wheelhouse and another pricing software, but sometimes they are totally off and I still have to ensure things are priced appropriately
4. Ensuring good calendar sync with VRBO/Home away since we don't only use Air BNB.
5. Guest communications is only a small amount of my time. A few times I had to deal with damage claim submission but this usually but this is seldom.
6. I was invited to do Air BNB plus on my units, so I had to oversee this part closely because I wanted to get the status.
Would you mind sharing your thoughts how to possibly reduce your time on your units?