AirBnB Property Management Guide
Introduction (Welcome)
Section Read Time: 1 Minute
AirBnB is one of the most influencial and well known companies globally. The network includes millions of hosts who have either dedicated properties or spare rooms that are available for tourists at the press of a button.
The introduction of the platform enables everyone with a property to create an additional income stream and get more out of their investment. As you would expect with running a small hotel however there is a number of hurdles that are hard to overcome without help. This guide is designed to prepare you to jump into the exciting opportunity that is AirBnB property management with the knowledge needed to succeed.
10 – 40%
Increased ROI
With Short Term Rentals
Flexibility
Allowing Owners
To Visit When Desired
Strategy
Property Specific
Strategies & Pricing
Location
Section Read Time: 3 Minutes
Location, location, location. You might have heard of the common phrase that emphasises the significance of where your property is placed. AirBnB properties have two common functions.
1: Holidays
2: Work Travel
Both of which are highly depended on where the property is placed. If a business person is travelling from Brisbane to Sydney for an event they will be looking at the proximity as the first factor to make a decision. Understanding exactly who would be searching for your property and why starts with determining your local area.
What’s Great About Your Properties Location?
Lets say there are two stories about your property. The first reads “A three bedroom, two bathroom, single car garage property located in the Sunshine Coast”. The second story reads “Wakeup and step onto the sandy white beaches of the Sunshine Coast, experience the vibrant local cafes, restaurants and markets all within walking distance of our beachfront AirBnB property”. Which story do you think is more compelling? Normally with property you look to buy in proximity to schools, shops, restaurants and public transport. These things are more important than ever with Airbnb property management but there is another layer of thinking needed.
What Attractions Are Nearby?
Is your area known for something? Sandy beaches, great food, coffee or easy access to hikes? To really succeed in property management you need to think like a hotel. Each person is a guest and is coming to your property for what you are offering specifically. Lets build an example.
Location: Gold Coast, QLD
Property Information:
3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
1 Car Garage
Balcony
Air Conditioning
Swimming Pool
Included Wifi
$289 Per Night
Who Will Stay In The Property?
In this example we are looking at a high value property located across the road from the spectacular beaches of the Gold Coast. We can also see that the apartment has multiple bedrooms and bathrooms and only one garage space. Most families looking to go away for a weekend are only going to be driving one car up or down to the coast. Additionally, they would likely require multiple rooms like our property has in this example. Tourists and locals regularly flock to the Gold Coast to get away for short periods of time so with all these factors considered you can start to paint a picture of who is going to likely stay in our example property.
What Is Important To Them?
Now we know who is likely to stay here we can build a plan as to how we can manage and market this property to suit what they are looking for. The first thing you will likely think is “The Beach”. Properties this close to the beach are very likely booked for exactly that reason yes but what else would be important to parents taking their kids to the beach. Compare the two options.
“Seconds away from the Gold Coast’s amazing surf”
“Seconds away from the Gold Coast’s amazing family friendly beaches”
It is incredibly likely that the parents in this situation are wanting to enjoy their stay as well, a big part of that will be knowing that their kids can safely enjoy themselves. When you develop your properties marketing plan keep this example in mind with every aspect of service to make sure you are always portraying the best message to your guests.
What Are Your Competitors Doing?
You are now an Airbnb property manager, congratulations! So is Timmy, Tammy and Samantha. How can you ensure that your property is doing the best it possibly can in a competitive market? The answer is simple, look at what your competitors are doing and do it better. Each property could be highlighting a different feature. It could be the pool, Wifi, cafes or the restaurants in the area. As we just learned above what should be highlighted is what is important to your AirBnB guests. Are your competitors doing that? Are you? Other important factors to consider are pricing, photography, reviews and account status. The BnB Dream understands all of that sounds time consuming so as a thankyou for getting this far into our Airbnb property management guide we will do it for you for free.
Free Competitor Analysis
Common Management Problems
Section Read Time: 5 Minutes
Your could already have run into a number of hurdles that are time consuming and mentally draining in your Airbnb property management journey. The BnB Dream is to be able to increase your rental yield and use your property when you want to with as little to no hassle as possible.
Numerous hurdles however come up and prevent the stress free experience from occurring for most property owners. Proper planning and management procedures can solve this problem.
Guest Screening
“I’m just booking for me and my Mrs” said Jack on New Years Eve. The booking is now over, the guests have left and you get a call from your cleaner. There is a hole in the wall? Stains on the bench? It looks like Jack had a great time but now you have to deal with the damage left in the aftermath. This happens with all forms of property management but because of the nature of short term rentals there are multiple guests always coming in and out. Due to the higher number of guests this is bound to happen at least one in a hundred times. Guest screening and management is crucial when running a successful property as you need to keep repair costs as low as possible and interactions between guests as pleasant as can to keep your properties ratings high.
Interior Design For The Long Term
Lets talk durability. When you look to an interior designer or property manager for style tips to enhance your nightly fee all parties often forget something simple. Will it break? Guests will be using the property and everything inside all the time so you need to ensure it will last. Should you put a glass vase on the coffee table or maybe something less fragile? Waterbeds would be interesting yes but would you be better off with a solid mattress with no risk associated to it being punctured? You will see greater returns and happier clients overall when you ask yourself questions like that.
When managing a property you should be looking to create an experience that is as close to as perfect as possible while still ensuring your bottom line isn’t compromised. A beachfront property in Bondi might be a perfect fit for a beautiful decorative mirror from Coco Republic but will all properties be the same? When designing your property look to not only make it look fantastic but make sure it fits its location and price point.
Lock Boxes & Access To The Property
Imagine you are fast asleep and dreaming of your now greater property returns when your phone buzzes. Your eyes open wide and you wonder who would call you at 2am? Its Sam from your Sydney Airbnb property. He is locked out and you are the only one with the spare key. You drag yourself to the edge of the bed painfully wiping the sleep out of your eyes, put on your closest pair of pants and shirt and drive 20 minutes to find Sam sitting in front of the property annoyed at the wait. As a good host you apologise for the wait and let Sam into the property where he realises the keys were in his back pocket. Have a great night Sam!
I’m sure you don’t want to go through that owners pain so here is how The BnB Dream fixed that problem for ourselves and our clients. Any property that we take under management will have two lock boxes installed within a week. One for our professional cleaners and one specifically for the guests. Our lock boxes have a simple code that is created for each guest automatically and sent to them at the time of their booking. This enables the guests to easily get access to the keys to enter the property while enabling the cleaners easy access also. If a guest looses their key or is unable to enter the property with their key for whatever reason our 24/7 guest communication team will remotely change the access code to the cleaners key box enabling the guest quick access without a call out fee. Setting up smart systems on your properties and investing into good quality lock boxes will pay you back in spades.
AirBnB Property Cleaning
If you’ve ever been to a hotel you know how amazing it feels to jump into a crisp freshly washed and ironed bed and find a refreshing mint next to your swan towel. That feeling of pure joy should be what your guests experience every time they enter the property. The smell, towels, carpet, dishwasher and even a finishing touch of a bottle of wine. It all matters and needs to be done at a consistently high standard. If you are hiring professional property cleaners make sure to interview them first. Get to know about them personally, how they work, their team size, reviews, reputation and how they hold them selves accountable. Per clean our team is always required to send an exit condition report showing the excellent work they just completed. You can also do it your self but make sure you have a property cleaning checklist that you go through after each stay and invest in the proper cleaning equipement.
Want It Done For You?
AirBnB Listing Creation
Section Read Time: 5 Minutes
Now you understand more about the key problems in Airbnb property management and the core benefits of your property we can jump straight into getting your property listed. The BnB Dream also uses Homeaway and Booking.com but for the purposes of this guide we will focus on AirBnB alone. Click the button below to take you to AirBnB’s website.
Become A Host
Click on become a host in the top right hand corner. Immediately after it will take you to the screen shown here. Proceed to click on the “Get Started” button.
Sign Up Form
After hitting the button a popup will appear prompting you to fill out your details. Remember AirBnB is a trustworthy source and it is okay to fill out your details here. Finish filling out the form.
Property Information
Go through all the forms and fill out everything accurately make sure you think about how many people the property will actually sleep not just how many bedrooms it has. As you go through the process make sure to think about what your guests will want strategically. The form will prompt you for photos of your property and further information about facilities and services also.
Verification
After going through all of the forms and property information you will be asked to verify your ID. This can be done quickly by uploading your drivers licence through the portal.
Congratulations!
Management Tips & Tricks
Section Read Time: 2 Minutes
We have gone over location, common problems and listing creation. Finally we can look at some of the tips, tricks and recommendations to help you become as successful as possible. Most owners think that when the property is listed online the only work needing to be done is dealing with guests, sadly that is not the case. Becoming a successful Airbnb property manager requires constant improvement and attention to detail as well as several systems put into place to make sure everything runs smoothly.
This section will focus on two things. Accounting and systems.
Accounting
Your property is your business. In any business there is a need to keep good quality books that track your income and expenses. The goal should be to simplify everything for your accountant at the end of the financial year so he or she can create the most accurate statement for lodgement with the ATO. The BnB Dream personally uses Xero to keep track of our accounts but depending on how many properties you have and the complexity of your setup you might need to get an accountant to manage everything for you from the get go.
Systems
Allowing yourself to relax lies with having systems setup for your Airbnb property. When we went through some of the common problems property managers face you might have been thinking, “how can I actually solve that?”. Creating rules for yourself and your team to follow for each scenario that might come up will allow you to get the most enjoyment and profit out of your property. You should start by thinking about the following topics and all the problems associated with that item.
Guest Communication, Guest Screening, Managing Bookings, Cleaning & Property Resetting, Damage By Guests, Guest Lockout, Pricing Strategies, Payments, Insurance Claims.