We have been hosts on Airbnb in various capacities since 2012. Not only has it given us wonderful opportunities to connect with people and engage with the travel community, it has also been a huge contributor to our personal income. We’ve shared different spaces in different ways on Airbnb since we started using the website, and we currently have two active listings. The income generated by these listings is one of the major reasons we are able to travel as much as we currently do.
Read Our Tips for Earning Income Through Airbnb
If you’re not familiar with Airbnb, it’s a global home sharing community where local hosts can welcome guests to their unique space. It offers travellers a more comfortable and affordable alternative to a hotel, and gives hosts an opportunity to earn money through sharing their home. They are a trusted service with around-the-clock support, and work to ensure everyone’s safety and comfort at all times. We’ve had great experiences over the years through this website, and anytime something has gone wrong (things do happen), their customer service has always rectified the situation for us. We’ve been recommending the platform for years and will continue to do so.
Making money as an Airbnb host is an amazing way to supplement your income and leverage your property, and there are a few things that go into being an amazing host. We work hard to continually qualify for Superhost status, meaning that we have a near perfect 5* rating, no cancellations, and a 100% response rate. This status prioritizes our listing in searches, gives us better access to Airbnb customer service, and offers us special hosting benefits. Keep reading for our 5 tips on how to be an amazing host!
Be a Great Communicator
Communication is key, and it can make a major difference in a guest’s experience. Steph handles all communication with guests for our Airbnb listings, and she does an excellent job. It starts with having clear pre-arrival communication, and sending the guests all of the necessary information as soon as they book their stay. They immediately receive clear instructions for check in and check out. They have access to an online guide book that offers all of our recommendations for things to do in the area, our favourite places to eat & drink, the best ways to get around, and any information that will help them have a great visit. When they arrive, they find a house manual with further information about our home, instructions on how everything works, and the necessary emergency numbers. We equip people with ALL the information they might need, and we also make ourselves available to answer questions. Steph responds to each and every message from a guest, helping them through any issues, and is available for any urgent matters. Our guests know that we are here for them.
Stay Super Organized
The more organized you are, the better a guest’s experience will be. Make sure you are coordinating your host calendar properly, arranging dates carefully, and aligning everything on your end to ensure the best stay possible. If you have someone helping you manage your listing, be sure that you are coordinating cleaning times to always have your space ready for check in. Stay on top of your messages, your enquiries, and your reviews. Create systems to make things easier on yourself! If guests keep asking the same questions over and over, create some stock messages and save them in the Airbnb messenger so you can easily send guests the answer. This way, you don’t need to spend time writing out the same information. Keep an inventory of everything in your space, and replace things as needed. Things do happen, glasses get broken, towels get stained, etc. You will need to be sure you are always stocked with home essentials, and keeping everything in great shape. Staying organized makes for a better guest experience, and it also makes hosting less stressful and more enjoyable.
Take Pride in Your Space
Guests often choose Airbnb accommodations over hotel accommodations because they want to feel more comfortable. Make people feel even more at home by putting some extra care into your space, and make it feel special. Your furnishings should put a person at ease and make them feel safe and welcome. On top of that, your space should be impeccably clean, and you should be sure that everything is being tended to regularly. Garbage, recycling, and food waste needs to be sorted. The lawn needs to be mowed, leaves need to be raked, and snow needs to be shovelled. The proper safety precautions need to be be in place like working locks, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors. Some of these things are going to be unique to your home and property, but always do your best to take pride in your space and it will definitely be appreciated.
Listen to Feedback
Your guests will leave you reviews after their stay as well as offer you private feedback, and all of this information is really helpful in making your next guest’s experience even better. Pay attention to what people are telling you. Rectify problems when you can, make improvements if necessary, and find out what your guests love about your space and what you can do better. It’s really valuable to know how you’re doing and what you can do differently in the future. Sometimes guests will have great ideas on small changes you can make that will improve the overall experience. Be open to receiving this information and listen carefully to all of the feedback you get. Having great reviews and a high rating all works in your favour, because a successful listing will get more bookings and generate more income for you. So stay committed to improving!
Go Above and Beyond
Amazing hosts are the ones that go above and beyond what is expected. As an Airbnb host, there is a minimum of what you’re required to offer, including basic amenities like toilet paper, soap, and fresh linens & towels. But why not offer more, and make a guest’s stay even more comfortable! We like to stock our showers with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, as well as offer a hair dryer and first aid kit in our bathrooms. In the kitchen, we provide coffee, tea, and cooking essentials, and in the bedrooms we offer extra pillows and blankets. Occasionally we’ve even left something special like a bottle of wine, usually as a thank you to a guest when we needed to have yard work done during their stay. The more thought you put into hosting, the more of a reward you will see. We definitely believe that the time and energy we put into it, directly translates into financial earnings, and so we try our best to do everything we can!
We are so grateful for the opportunity to share our space, and can’t recommend hosting enough. It has given us so much freedom in the past several years, and contributes to our life of travel, creativity, and adventure. If you’re interested in being a host and sharing your space on Airbnb, click here to get started.
If you have any other questions, please leave them in the comments below! We’re going to be sharing more posts about generating income through home sharing, and would love to cover as much of this topic as we can.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.
