Musings of an Airbnb Host

November and December 2015

Highlight: Attained Superhost Badge

Average Nightly Stay $109.50

Host 10 trips in last 12 months:

This is easy for anyone who begins hosting early in the year. It’s far tougher for somebody who starts in November like I did. I didn’t even think I’d have a chance of hitting 10 completed trips in 1.5 months. My 10th stay ended up being December 30th for one night. I was able to rack up completed trips early on by making my listing as guest friendly as possibly. I had flexible check-in/check-out times, no minimum stay requirements, minimal house rules, and lots of amenities. I had to do everything in my power to give potential guests reason to take a chance on my listing with no reviews.

High Response Rate: >90%

This is easiest to hit and 100% controlled by you. All you have to do is respond to every inquiry within 24 hours. It’s not hard, you get a notification anytime somebody sends you a message. Simply reply.

5-Star reviews: > 80%

This was going to be the hardest goal to hit outside of completing 10 trips before year end. You’ll come across people that believe there’s no such thing as perfection. Even after doing everything to your best ability you’ll end up with a rave review but only 4-stars. That’s what happened with one of my guests. I personally drove them to the airport to make their flight, and was on top of absolutely everything. They loved every aspect of their stay and gave me 5 stars in each individual category, yet a 4-star overall. Other than that one 4-star review, I’ve received a 5-stars from everyone else. The downside is regardless of a rave 4-star review or a scathing 1-star review, they are equal in the eyes of the “Superhost” standards. 80% of your guests must give you 5-stars.

Commitment: Don’t cancel on anyone.

Also fairly easy to maintain as long as nothing unexpected happens. Airbnb will forgive you in those times, depending on the situation.

Why does being a Superhost matter?

Think of yourself shopping on Amazon. My guess is you weigh a hefty part of your decision on how past buyers reviewed the item. I know I do.

This is the same way with Airbnb. Many guests search listings of only Superhosts.

Airbnb is incentivized to make it valuable for me to maintain my superhost status as well. So they’ll show my listing over a nearby listing if I am a Superhost and they are not, all else equal.

Toughest part so far:

Cleaning and managing the turnover. Usually my day goes something like this,

7–8: Respond to any overnight inquiries (1–2 on average) & get ready for workday
8–9: Drive to Work
9–5: Day Job, answer any questions that come in from potential guests. Make sure everything went well with key drop off at local cafe with current guests. Finalize travel plans for next guest. 
5–6:30: Drive Home & Change Clothes
7–10: Clean and complete laundry. Restock anything that is running low (Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Soap, Kleenex, etc.)
10–10:30: Head home

Makes for long days. Often times I’ll wake up early to meet a guest, or finish up cleaning I wasn’t able to complete the night before. If not I’ll stay up late doing the same.

I could outsource all the tedious tasks for managing the listing. My fear is I’ll lose the personal touch I believe led me to becoming a Superhost. I made sure to handle each aspect of the booking process so I could be certain nothing was overlooked. If I get another place, it’s possible I’ll need to look into using those resources.

I have an account with Guesty who charges 3% of bookings to manage all the communications with guests. They’ll even schedule cleanings. I haven’t officially allowed them to take over yet but it’s definitely a possibility.

Currently, It’s manageable on my own. It keeps me busy and may not be the best use of my time, but I place a huge premium on the long term benefit of many 5-star reviews over short-term convenience.