How to make $2,000 / week on airbnb

A comprehensive guide to hosting.

At the moment, hosting my place on airbnb is my wife’s and my sole source of income. I’m a mere 2 months into my startup SpareSquare, a platform for getting tasks done by pros, and my wife is en route to med school. So for the time being, Airbnb is our sugar momma. In late July/early August, we made nearly $5,200 renting our place for a total of 19 days.

Suffice it to say, because our livelihood depends on it, we’ve gotten pretty good at hosting. Specifically, booking stays, getting 5 star reviews, and making some cash money. We rent out our full place when we are away, as well as an extra bedroom when we are home.

A friend and new airbnb host called me recently and had some questions, so I thought I would share them all with you lovely readers. Here we go:

What should I charge?

Airbnb does a great job of suggesting market prices. In the early stages, before you have your first reviews, I suggest discounting your price by 15–25% from the suggested or market rates. You need to incentivize people to take a risk with you and your lack of a track record by subsidizing part of the cost. Don’t think of these first few stays as a means to generate revenue, think of them as a means to generate credibility.

Here’s what we have framed for our guests to read. This is a great way to manage expectations.

Do guests need to have access to every area of my house ?

Only if you want them to! If you want to keep a spare bedroom off limits, lock it up. If the garage is a no-fly zone, just let your guest know. They won’t expect the whole house to be accessible, as long as you tell them beforehand. It all comes down to setting expectations of what is and is not included with their booking.

Should I include meals?

Interestingly enough, the airbnb story actually starts with the founders renting a few airbeds out in their apartment and cooking breakfast the next morning. Hence, the expanded form of airbnb is “airbed and breakfast”. However, meals are certainly not expected, nor are they necessarily valuable to your guests. They may have their own plans. I would suggest simply leaving some snacks out, such as chocolate, crackers, cookies, and granola bars. Water is also greatly appreciated. The $4 you spend here will go a long way and make the stay that much better.

When do I receive payment?

Most of the time, we get full payment at the time of check in, or shortly after. It’s deposited right into our checking account.

Is it weird renting out a room/couch?

Not really. When we were in San Francisco, we rented out our living room couch. Now, in San Diego, we have a bigger place and rent out our second bedroom. Suffice it to say, the extra bedroom is definitely a better setup. Most guests are in town for something specific, and will probably spend little time at your place anyway. They’ll be there to shower and sleep. Be friendly, respectful of their privacy, engaging, helpful, and your guests will most likely reciprocate. One of our couch guests from Canada even bought our yet-to-be-born daughter a book!

What do I do if I get a bad review?

Reviews are everything, especially in the beginning. So, you’ll want to mitigate a bad review right away. Don’t let it sit out there unaddressed. First, drop your ego. People are usually reasonable, and even though their reason for a bad review may be petty, it was still bad enough to illicit such a response. So, act with empathy. Put yourself in their shoes. Respond to the review directly, so other potential guests can see your side of the story. Don’t be defensive, but rather be apologetic, and illustrate how you could have done better, and how you have now addressed that issue for future guests. Lastly, sincerely thank them for their candid advice.

Should I only list the dates I have available?

Even though we don't have any planned trips or specific reasons to be away, we've got October wide open, for example.

I say, only list the dates you have unavailable. By default, our calendar is wide open, other than when we need to be in town for appointments, weddings, events, etc. If someone books our place, it forces us to go on a trip! Granted, we are not tied down locally with jobs, so this may not work for all hosts.

What cancellation policy should I set?

You can choose among three standardized cancellation policies including Flexible, Moderate, and Strict. If you are just getting started, you’ll want to further incentivize your potential guests, just as with price. I recommend setting it to flexible. Since we now have 16 reviews under our belt as of this writing, we have set our policy to Strict. It really depends on your own plans, too. If it’s really not a big deal if someone cancels on you last minute, then keep it flexible. But if you plan to go somewhere else contingent upon your guests staying at — and paying for — your place, you may choose differently.

Note: There are 2 other policies, including Super Strict and Long Term. These apply only to special circumstances and stays over 28 days.

Here are some other helpful tips:

Experiment with pricing: Just like hotels adjust pricing due to demand, you can too. You may be able to get a higher price during a holiday and when big events come to town. In July of 2014, we got top dollar for our place because many of the hotels were sold out for Comic-Con. This does come with a caveat, though. Don’t pull a bait and switch. If you get rushed with inquiries, don’t use that as a mechanism to price gouge. If people inquired about a certain price, honor that price. However, if a potential guest offers you more than your asking price, feel free to accept it!

Have fun with it: I have a relative who rents out a condo, and makes about twice what she used to with a full time tenant. One day, it dawned on her that people always talk about retiring and running a bed and breakfast, and that would be the life. That’s essentially what she was doing! So, this doesn’t have to be a chore. You can have fun with it, meet some great people, and genuinely enjoy hosting eclectic guests from all over the world.

Little things can go a long way: At our place, our guests are paying $300 — $400 / night. The least we can do is go get $20 worth of snacks, drinks, and goodies for their stay. We’ve even purchased Starbucks gift cards, popcorn, and wine.

Above everything, airbnb is built on trust and transparency. Don’t misrepresent something, or hide it in the hopes that your guests won’t notice. For example, we have a both a dog and a baby. When we rent out a single room, we go the extra mile to ensure our guests understand this. That way, if our baby cries in the middle of the night, we don’t get a review that says “These people never told me they had a baby that would keep me up all night!” (Note: this has not actually happened!)

So go clean up your place, take some pictures, and get that sucker listed on airbnb. Here’s $25 to get you started.

Got a host story to share, or another tip? Share with me on Twitter.

Thanks for reading! If you have any task that you’d like someone else to do for you, check out SpareSquare, where you only pay the price you want to pay.