Airbnb is on everyone’s lips at the minute and it seems that hardly any Apartment or Letting business can do without this online platform. But how exactly does Airbnb work for landlords? What do hosts need to do to be successful on Airbnb?
Anyone who wants to become an Airbnb landlord themselves should think about such questions beforehand. As soon as you have decided on this booking channel, how do you start on the road of renting out your property via Airbnb?
How does Airbnb work for Landlords?
There’s a reason Airbnb now has accommodations in nearly 200 countries. Airbnb landlords can not only offer rooms but apartments or houses on the platform. The original idea came from “Bed & Breakfast”, i.e. only one bed and breakfast. That’s why Airbnb hosts can just offer a single room (as well as any other type of accommodation). So if you just have an empty room in your home, you can still host Airbnb guests and let travelers stay with you on short notice. The creation of an Airbnb profile and the listing of the accommodation are basically free of charge for the time being. However, that will change as soon as guests start booking your apartment or room with Airbnb.There are service fees per booking, which are deducted as a percentage from the final price. Airbnb has changed the percentage of the fee and the regulation of who pays the fee several times over the years. At the moment, Airbnb landlords can decide for themselves and set whether they want to split the service fee between guest and host or pay the entire fee themselves.
How to get set up on Airbnb?
Even if you already have your own website for your holiday home, it can still be very advisable to use external booking channels. Especially if you are just starting out as a landlord. Airbnb is a good starting point because it is one of the largest and most important booking portals globally. Because it has grown so much in recent years, it is no longer enough to simply be present on Airbnb. If you want to become a successful Airbnb landlord and get a lot of bookings, you need to set up your profile in the best way possible and stand out from the crowd.
Invest a little time and energy in well-written texts, inviting photos and loving communication with your future guests, and your efforts should soon be bearing fruit. To start renting your vacation home through Airbnb, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1) Create a full profile
2) Know your competition and set yourself apart from it
3) Use price settings
4) Ask guests for a review
5) Instant booking & updated calendar via channel manager
Create a profile with a photo and description, find out about similar holiday homes in your Sollé4 and think about how your holiday home can stand out from the others. Why should a guest book with you and not elsewhere? Use these insights to update and hopefully improve your profile. Play around with the pricing options Airbnb gives you. Special prices, weekend packages or even prices on a certain date that is important for your region, e.g. because an event is coming up. Keep in touch with your guests after their stay and ask them for a review – which you will of course also write for each guest. In addition to the various price settings, Airbnb offers many other tricks to position your own profile at the top. Take advantage of this!
How to create the perfect Airbnb listing
Your Airbnb profile includes the listing for your apartment or room, the photos of the property, and a description of yourself. Based on this information, potential guests will decide whether you are a trustworthy host. It is therefore very important to make a serious impression therefore, the accuracy and precision of the details of your Airbnb profile are crucial!
Write an inviting description of your home and come up with a title that will encourage you to click. Your title should summarize the most important of your apartment in a nutshell, such as:
Spacious house in Puerto de Sollér
Cozy house on the beach
Modern townhouse in Soller
You can try several different titles at the beginning to find the one that works best.
You can also use the title to draw attention to current events in your area or special offers. Customize it e.g. B. on the winter and summer months to address seasonal guests. On Valentine’s Day, you can have special offers for couples and festivals in your area where you can incentivize young people who travel to do so.
After the title and description, it’s now about the photos. These should be truthful, professional, and welcoming. Of course, the property needs to be tidy before you start taking photos. Also, use a good camera and take photos in plenty of daylight. It can sometimes be a little daunting creating your first property listening. It is becoming more and more common now to enlist the help of professional Real Estate Agents when creating a Letting Business on Airbnb. Real Estate Agents can help you to take professional photographs and advise you on how to write property descriptions that will make potential travellers want to book with you. They can also answer some of your other questions like, are you the only Airbnb provider of accommodation in the area? What alternatives does a traveler looking for accommodation in your region have?. Getting the help of a professional can help you save a lot of time and stress in the process and help you avoid some of the beginner mistakes people make when they first list a property on Airbnb.
What do I need to consider when renting out my home in Mallorca?
The cost of a holiday rental licenses in Mallorca are fixed. The costs are decided by the CBAT consortium, The fee changes according to the type of accommodation in question, 3,500 euros are due for guest beds in holiday homes. In holiday apartments the price is 875 Euro per guest seat. For a holiday rental license for 60 days per year, the price is 291.67 euros per guest bed. An interesting new feature is that the guest beds can be paid off in five annual instalments.
Importantly: The prices are only valid for new licences issued by the Balearic Ministry of Tourism in accordance with the new holiday rental regulations. Already issued licenses of holiday homes are protected. Until now, the rental of apartments to holidaymakers in the Balearic Islands was not officially permitted. The new rules adopted by the state government last year provide that, in principle, licences can be granted for apartments, but at the same time a number of new conditions and exceptions have been decided. This can all seem a little overwhelming and it is recommended to contact your local town council. Unless you are very comfortable negotiating this paperwork in Spanish an alternative again is contacting an estate agent. An estate agent has years of experience and can in many cases speed up the process of obtaining a rental licence or can tell you if the property you have bought already has one.
How do I manage my listing?
When someone searches for accommodation on Airbnb, he or she may want to book directly instead of making a request. If possible, you should therefore activate your instant bookings. In this way, you allow future guests to book one or more overnight stays with you with just a few clicks. But this also means that your occupancy calendar must always be updated!
Airbnb doesn’t like it if you frequently cancel bookings and can even punish you for this with a poorer ranking in the search results. Of course, double bookings do not make you very popular with guests. Use z. B. a channel manager to avoid such cases. All information about your apartment is synchronized on the various platforms (such as your website, Airbnb and other booking portals).
If you feel like this is all a little bit too much to handle, a lot of Real Estate Agents now in exchange for a small fee can take over the management of your Airbnb Calendar and Booking. It means you don’t have to sit in front of the computer and spend time trying to organise the calendar and try to organise a cleaner, all this is take off your plate.
What makes Soller a great destination?
Soller currently is one of the most desirable tourist destinations on the Island of Mallorca. Due to its unique position on the north of the island combined with its history it offers something for everyone in the family. The Town of Sollér and its surroundings like the Port de Sollér and Valleys attracts a wide range of tourists and travellers. This is ideal for anyone looking to rent out their property as they have potential guests at every age group and at every price point. Some travellers may prefer to rent a rustic Finca in the Valleys and be surrounded by olive groves and citrus trees while others may prefer a town house in the center of Sollér to have closer access to the bustling restaurant scene. It is important early on to know what kind of guest you are trying to attract and what side of Sollér you are trying to sell to them? Do you want to show them the historical side of Sollér the beautiful architecture and rich history that lines the street? Or are you trying to sell them the idea of long evening walks along the promenade with a choice of the best restaurants the island has to offer?
Going down the Airbnb rental route is a great option for those looking to earn passive income on the side.
