Starting your first Short Term Rental with Airbnb and VRBO – Part 1
Lets get right to it… you want to be in the short term rental business because it seems like a fast-growing industry and you don’t want to miss out. Maybe you have experience with a few long-term rentals and you’re looking to switch it up? Maybe you inherited a house that’s just sitting there? What should you know about starting a short term rental with airbnb or vrbo? Well, there’s a lot information to know, and although I don’t know all of it, but I’ll tell you what I’ve figured out so far.
SHORT TERM RENTAL QUICK START LIST
For those that haven’t bought a property yet, I’ll post about things to look for when acquiring the right property in another article sometime, but for now, lets assume for now that you’ve already have your property. To make the property work as a short-term rental, you must put everything in good order, and you must know what you’re guests will expect. Here’s a partial list:
- Smart Deadbolt with keypad installed (sending guests codes is the preferred method of entry right now).
- Working smoke/carbon monoxide detectors in every bedroom and another in a common space on every floor.
- A Fully stocked kitchen (meaning all utensils, pots & pans, baking sheets, bowls, Tupperware, Keurig, etc…).
- Fast and reliable internet (with easy to remember wifi password or qr code for guest to scan)
- Smart TVs (so the guest can enjoy their own streaming content, or use yours).
- A Property Guide (emailed, online, or printed out for guest at the property, that explains simple things like where the linens are kept, where to put the trash, how to use the hottub, etc…).
- Removal of all listening/watching devices (like cameras, alexas, etc… guests will find these items creepy, although an exterior doorbell cam is acceptable if it is disclosed on the listing).
- All utilities turned on and paid up.
That’s not everything but you get the idea. I’ll post more detailed articles on specific bullet points here in the future.
ADVERTISING YOUR PROPERTY
The big two websites that suck up all the internet traffic for short-term stays are airbnb and VRBO, so you need to be listed on one or both of these powerhouse websites. Approximately 90% of our short term rental traffic is through these two sites. Personally, I’ve found airbnb gets more traffic and bookings when your property is located in the mountains or a dense metropolitan area, while VRBO seems like the place to go for coastal properties in Panama City, Daytona Beach, etc.. You can sign up to become a host on these sites for free. You will have to verify some personal information, and they will ask you to do some uncomfortable things, like take a photo of your drivers license and upload it to them to verify who you are. That’s great for the guests who are relying completely on the hosts for a good experience. Unfortunately at the time of writing this airbnb doesn’t enforce the same strict guidelines for the guest, and I’ve found I get several bookings with no photo, only initials instead of a name, and no review history, which leaves me flying blind as to who will be occupying my property. You can setup your listing from any computer or smartphone and be up and running in about an hour.
WRITING YOUR LISTING
The most important parts of of your listing are the maximum guest count, a concise headline descriptor, and great photos. If people don’t like your first photo, they’re probably going to move on unless there’s not much to choose from. Similarly, the headline has to be well written. The best thing to do is search for similar properties in the area on the booking site and see how your competitors are writing their headlines. That will tell you mostly what you need to know. Guest count is one of the few filters people will use before they search so you need to know how many people can sleep in your place. The basic formula is 2 people per bedroom, plus 2 more. If you want to sleep more than that you’d better check with your local municipality to see if they will let you, especially if you are on a septic tank. The last thing you want is a downstairs bathtub filling up with sewage at 10pm on Saturday night.
GUEST COMMUNICATION
Guests would prefer to not have to call/text you at all. They want the illusion that they’re all alone, yet taken care of. I’ve found that the best way to achieve this is to overload them with good quality information – not all at one time, but over several emails or texts. We send all guests a summary email when they book, then a 7-day-out email with all the property info they would probably ask for (check-in/out times, address, parking, directions, etc), a 24-hour-out email with the door code, a check-in email, a follow up email 24 hours after they check in, a check-out email 24 hours before they check out, and a follow-up email asking them about their stay. That may sound exhausting but everything is automated, so I don’t have to touch a thing. At a minimum, you should send them 3 communications- The first when they book, the second before they check in, and the last right before they check out.
Consider an automated system to send emails. I think both airbnb and vrbo may have proprietary solutions on their platforms, but personally I hate repeating the same information over and over, so I use Lodgix.com because they offer a robust set of automated communications that fire off at predetermined times with dynamic data, they call them ‘Triggers‘. That setup will run around $90/month but to me it’s well worth it, especially if you have multiple properties.
That’s just the beginning. I’ll cover the next steps in Part 2 of this article.
Check out some of my other posts on the subject here:
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