Any Airbnb hosts about? Thinking about starting up.

[stayathomegardener]

Would love to talk to someone who is already hosting about potential and pitfalls.

Not an AirBnB host but renting our spare room out via SpareRooms and FiveNights which means we have less laundry and we get to know the people who stay, and we can find out more about them before they come.

Mortgage company had no problems with lodgers and we got Lodger Insurance from Admiral.

I think there are more AirBnB threads in the Home Working section.

Also consider hosting International Students. Places are desparate for homestays at this time of year but for £24/night plus needing to provide breakfast we decided it wasn't for us.

Thanks Jam, will try reposting in the home working topic.
I've already discounted students as I would be looking to rent an adjoining barn to sleep 4 and don't think the set up would work.

I looked into AirBnB quite extensively but decided it wouldn't work for me and have instead rented out my spare room on a 4 night a week basis. [@JamMakingWannaBe I found fivenights to be pretty rubbish, everyone on there was also on spare room and spare room is much more user friendly]

The pitfalls I could see with airbnb were:

• Difficulty of check in - just having a key safe and telling people to let themselves in didn't appeal. Would maybe work better in a standalone accommodation block but I think most people would feel uncomfortable letting themselves in to a home and finding their room.
• More laundry of towels and bedding
• Constantly changing people - could be good (never stuck with anyone) but also you kinda have to be on host mode
• Cat - I have a cat, not sure about a constant stream of strangers who may or may not like cat.

If I was around more like I WFH or was part time I probably would have done AirBnB as could have made a lot more on a per night basis and it miht be fun to be a host, but what with being at work all day I have a nice guy who is here Mon-Thur and we coexist nicely.

Is it an empty property you're looking to airbnb or a room in your home?
A family member has moved city and rents out her old house on airbnb. She manages it through family here who go up and receive the guests and show them in and around etc. She employs a cleaner who does a deep clean after each group has left, costs her 60quid per let.
It's worked brilliantly for her to the point that I think we'd consider doing with this house wen we move into our new house that we're renovating at the minute rather than letting long term.

Interesting.
It would be an empty barn, linked to our new house. We have almost finished building and are in the process of moving over.
Pros- I'm home most days and DD leaves for uni in September so keys/handovers should be fine.

Cons- The barn would need some modifications. Doors blocking off, a set of stairs adding, general redecoration.
We have a grumpy older dog who likes to roam round and guard his territory but he could be walked and would then sleep indoors all day so not insurmountable.
I wonder if DH and I are suitable hosts.

In case it's helpful I'm about to copy an email of tips I sent to a friend who was interestedd based on my experience. Some may not be relevant as it's based on a London flat.

The fees work out about 3% of the total charged, which is fine.

• You can add a ‘cleaning fee’ which you get, which is definitely worth it. Think I added £20 but others are higher. This means you can either pay a cleaner or feel better about doing it yourself!

• When someone comes you get the money 24 hours after they’ve checked in – either by paypal or bank transfer

• When you first sign up you wont’ have any reviews,but you can get a friend to write you a recommendation

• Re: pricing you could put yours slightly less than the competition in the local area to get bookings to start with

• I did a three-night minimum as it seems a faff to change sheets/clean in between. If you’re away for longer you can set it at whatever you like

• If you’ll be away leave a set of keys with a friend for emergencies and contact details with your guests. I’m the emergency contact for my neighbour and her guests often get locked out or can’t work out how to use something!

• I got a set of sheets/towels from TK Maxx that I use for guests as I didn’t like the idea of using my own. Apparently people like white as it’s more hotel like

• Check what time they want to check in before booking as you might take a booking only for the person to then mention they’re arriving at 2am. (this happened to me)

• Vetting guests – I’d only accept people with verified ID who have some Airbnb reviews already. It might seem harsh, but I didn’t like the idea they didn’t have any reviews. Also you get to tell who is the kind of person you want by the messages they send – e.g. some people just say ‘can I rent the flat’ whereas others describe their trip, what they’ll be doing and why they want to stay, which is better!

• Be really clear in your description about the flat & what you provide -e.g. can they use a washing machine. Good to leave some shampoo/shower gel then you can tick the ‘amenities’ box. I found most people bring their own anyway.

• Mention how many stairs there are & be clear about the area and noise - I added something like ‘Please note that while the flat is quiet for London, you’ll hear noise like in any big city – some traffic, planes and sirens, which you may notice if you aren’t used to city living.’

• Best to not use instant book if you’re new, so you can vet people

• Read up on the Airbnb insurance – it sounds great but basically hardly anyone has ever been able to claim on it. it doesn’t include valuables or communal areas such as your living room (which is mad if you ask me). & be aware your house insurance would probably be invalid if you claimed on it and told them paying guests caused it. Just worth bearing in mind. Because of this I used the ‘security deposit’ function which means you get 48 hours after someone has left to claim up to that amount back for any damages. I think I put it at £300. In reality most people will be fine but accidents do happen.

• Be clear about any instructions – people might not be familiar with plumbing etc e.g. someone broke friend's shower by forcing the knob the wrong way!

• Don’t cancel anyone’s booking as Airbnb penalise you for this – so only accept people you are happy to have to stay

• Keep your calendar up to date.

• The website and app are rubbish in my opinion – I always have to google what I want to do and then find it on the site. It’s really unruly and not user-friendly so can be frustrating

You can make an area guide on Airbnb which you can then print out to give to guests. You just put in names of places near you (restaurants, shops, bus stops etc) and it puts them on a map with a description.

• You can always do a search in your area and see what your neighbours are charging and how they have described their place/the area to get an idea.

I've always wondered about doing this, as we have a few spare bedrooms -don't know if I would be any good at being a host as I'm a bit quiet !

That was really helpful @Nightmanagerfan Thank you.
Actually made my first Airbnb booking using your tips!

I would love a quiet host Oneplan but that's just me.
The very idea of having to go beyond providing a practical service to entertaining guests fills me with horror.

We have an Airbnb in our basement. Its pretty easy if you don't mind the cleaning / bed changing and laundry!

I get annoyed with Airbnb's review system as I feel I'm being told off for getting anything under a 5* review. Most people give us 5 / 5 for the individual aspects (cleanliness, location, check-in etc) and then a 4 / 5 overall which is frustrating. You have to not take it personally when a review is less than great! Ours in a pretty basic apartment but quite big, well equipped, clean and warm and way cheaper than a hotel so it rankles a bit when we get the occasional average review.

Most people are fine and require no practical services at all but we do get the odd high maintenance guest who rings / knocks on the door a lot.

You can have as much or as little contact as you like by leaving keys in a box for check -in and out and once you've paid the set up costs it's fairly easy money provided you are in an area where there is demand.

That sounds encouraging Gatherly.
Definitely decided to go ahead, local competition is between £65 and £150 a night.
We need to do some work to block of various rooms (and possibly put in a set of stairs) but nothing insurmountable.