All Forum Posts by: Bailey Kramer

@Leslie Anne Morris Yes I couldn't agree more on the professional photos! 

@Joshua Messinger You got it and glad it was helpful! 

We put together the Do’s and Don’t of Airbnb hosting based on everything we have learned! 

DO: Get professional listing photos

This is an absolute MUST! I know it can be a bit pricey, but this is the first impression of your listing and it needs to AMAZING!

DO: Spend time creating a fabulous description and listing title

This is your chance to BRAG about your property and tell people with your words and listing photos why they should stay at your property. Highlight amenities, space, cool things to do near your property, and unique features.

DO: Hire a rock solid cleaner

Cleaners are the lifeblood of your Airbnb and having a clean space is ESSENTIAL AND A NON-NEGOTIABLE. If your space is unclean, this will lead to bad reviews, less people booking your property and less money in your pocket. No one wants that!

DO: Price your Airbnb properly

Don’t make yourself go crazy and manually set your prices. This is not only time-consuming, but you are also losing out on revenue potential. Use a dynamic pricing software to maximize your revenue.

DON'T: Overkill on the house rules

List the essential rules like no smoking, no parties and to respect quiet hours. Don’t have a rule for everything in the house as you have to remember this is a vacation. People want to have fun and understand there are rules to be followed. If anything happens, that’s where you submit a claim to your booking platform.

DON'T: Lie about your listing

Make sure you are being accurate with everything that you are saying. It is never fun to have a guest say the listing mentioned this and it was not at the property or untruthful.

DON'T: Be an unresponsive host

Guests need to be able to reach you for any questions or issues 24/7. Make sure you are responding to guests as soon as you get a message. You can help automate part of this process with a channel manager that automates guests messaging.

Remember you are there to provide a service to your guests and always have it be a 5-star experience!

@Mack Lengel 100%!

Hey @Luis Ramirez I have found the best success with local furniture stores as they usually have a local warehouse with the items in stock. For mattresses I like Zinus or for a more high end property, I like Casper. Facebook Marketplace also has some gems as well!

Hi @Christy Flora! Congrats on the STR! I use stripe and I would recommend just increasing the price to take into account the 3% fee that stripe charges.

Lessons learned from scaling my co-hosting business from 0-30 Co-Hosting units in under a year:

In 2019 when I found out about the idea of real estate, I didn't know a thing about real estate, I didn't know anyone in the real estate industry, and I truly had no idea how I was going to be able to get started! 

Big shout-out to BiggerPocket's for their incredible community and such a big impact on my real estate journey. 

Fast forward to where I'm at today, I realized there are a few key things that massively propelled me and literally saved me years of time.

1. Your Network is key

Anything that you don't have or you don't know can easily be accessed by someone in your network (money, knowledge, experience). This is how I was able to buy real estate, raise capital, without having any experience, little knowledge, and barely any money.

2. Buy shortcuts!

Could I figure everything out on my own? Maybe eventually

But why spend months or years "re-inventing the wheel" when thousands of people have done it before me and I can get a huge headstart by learning the tips and tricks they learned over many years and implementing them for me on Day 1! I did this by joining a Mastermind group which put me years ahead.

3. Accountability is a MUST

Having someone to constantly hold me accountable has been the most pivotal piece of it all! Through Mastermind groups, business partners, and close friends. When you tell someone you're going to do something and you know they are going to check to make sure you followed through, you get it done.

These 3 things are some of the keys that propelled me to where I'm at today and will continue to propel me forward!

@Steven Foster Wilson We request a written notice of 90 days to terminate service.

@Keleisha Carter You can use a couple different methods!

1) Airbnb Facebook groups (there are always people asking for a Co-Host or bringing up that they are struggling with X challenge) 

2) Connecting with Airbnb cleaners who are already working with homeowners who are self-managing it and could benefit from a Co-Host taking over 

How to win over a homeowner to co-host their property in 3 steps! (this is for homeowners who are already running their properties as an Airbnb)

1. Find out the homeowner's current situation: do they manage it themselves or do they have a 3rd party manage it?

2. Find out their pain: Do they dislike their current manager or hate managing it themselves? Are they making less money than they were expecting? Are they constantly getting bad reviews? What pain are they currently experiencing?

3. BE THE HERO! Take their pains and show them how YOU can solve them! If they hate self-managing their Airbnb, show them how you can take ALL of the day-to-day responsibility off their hands! If they are constantly getting bad reviews or making less money than they were expecting, show them how YOU can make them more money and get the 5-star reviews!