A Host's guide to Airbnb: 60 tips

[Harry22]

Hey Airbnb hosts, started this list as an answer to a question but it turned up pretty big so I shared it as a separate post that I believe helped a lot of people.

Almost a year older in my Airbnb host age, I decided to update the list and add some stuff I gathered, plus some tips to new guests, who are scared or skeptical to start hosting. I gathered a total of 60 tips for you, the TL:DR (short) version with 25 is here: 25 tips to get booked

Hope it’s helpful to some people and please upvote it if you liked it.

A note to new Hosts:

You might skeptical to join the “dance” of Airbnb hosting. It is indeed a big decision, we all went through it.

Start by making a listing and not publishing it yet. Just create an account, add the photos you shot from your phone, spend an afternoon with a glass of wine and add nice descriptions and information in your listing.

Take your time, and when you feel like it just publish it and go live. Experiment with prices, photos and texts, start talking with potential guests.

Remember, you are not obliged to accept anyone unless you want to (don’t enable instant- booking). See how it goes, get a feeling of it, and when you feel ready, accept your first guest.

Now you are officially a member of the Airbnb hosts family, now keep reading:

Preparation

1. Build a complete listing, fill in all the available information and be honest, you will probably hurt your future reviews if you lie. My experience shows that most guests won’t bother to read all the stuff you included in the listing description. It doesn’t matter, it is certain that at some point you will have some dispute with a guest. A complete and truthful listing will help you out and remember, Airbnb takes care if its hosts, they will take your side if you are honest, polite and mean business.
2. Get verified. If you are into serious business, provide as many verifications as you can (Facebook, LinkedIN, Google, passports etc). I think you can have as many as 7. Show your guests that you are a real person and not a scam.
3. Fill in your profile, have a friendly picture (not one after a metal concert) and write a couple of nice and true things about yourself. A lot of people chose pictures where they are with their significant other, I guess it makes them look friendlier? – that could work too.
4. Underpromise and overperform (warn guest about flaws/quirks of your space, then let them be happy with how awesome it is)

Giving your listing a name

1. Have a competitive and descriptive title mention other selling facts, ie. “close to Subway station”.
2. Mention upcoming events in title, OR NOT? The title of your listing will appear to your potential guests who are searching accommodation with criteria that fit your house. This will make your listing distinguish between the 3-4 other listings that fit the search results.
3. Keep in mind that within Airbnb website you cannot search keywords, only location. On the other hand, Airbnb website is monitored by Google (and other similar search engines) and your listing’s title is now a new page in their search results. I believe – with my limited SEO knowledge – that a static title, which would be search friendly, with keywords such as “Downtown Paris Apartment” will at some point make you appear in the search results in the main search engines and will give you more bookings than a seasonal title, which in most cases will not have enough time to be indexed and give you google hits for the upcoming concert in the area. [this point is up to debate, I’d love to hear some comments on this]

Pictures

1. (Beginners) Take pictures with your cellphone today. Don’t wait for the perfect ones to launch your listing. You will have plenty of time to redo the photographs but don’t lose that extra week of potential income waiting on the perfect shots.
2. Upload many and nice pictures I have an average of 20 per listing, and they were all shot with a good camera and underwent some light editing. Current mobile phones also get great pictures but well, I went all the way.
3. Always consider Airbnb's Photography service (fee applies) which gets the job done and provides of an extra verification for your profile.
4. Photoshoot tips:
   • Light: make sure your photos are well lit; put lights on and open curtains; don't aim the camera at the window.  Dark photos won't do your rooms justice.
   • Probably the best time to shoot is before noon and early in the afternoon (depending on where you are on earth) but too much outside light will make your inside look dark. Keep the strongest light-source behind you when shooting and experiment away!
   • Beds and sofas: smooth and tidy.  If the bed doesn't look tidy, I don't book a property as I don't have faith in hosts to take care of other aspects of their listing.
   • WC: put the seats and lids down!
   • Tidy: and remove personal possessions from guests' spaces to make your rooms look welcoming.
   • Extras: only put flowers and fruit etc. in photos if they're going to be there for every guest.
   • Outside: include a photo of the outside of your building, unless you feel it compromises your security.
   • General view: include a pic of your street or surroundings.  Chose a time of day when the sun is shining on the scene, and your house isn't in the shade, and chose a time of year when the countryside looks green, if this applies. 
   • Views: I love to see what the view is from my room; label the photo to say which part of the property you get the view from.
   • Local attractions: say in your listing how far away this is. If you show a beach photo, for example, is this the beach that your listing says is 2 minutes away?
   • Accuracy: obviously make sure your photos give an accurate picture of your listing, and update them as and when you make changes. Remove duplicates.
   • Access: only include photos of spaces that guests have access to. It just leads to misunderstandings if you show a kitchen or sitting room to which they don't have access.
   • Grouping: I like to see the interior shots first, then outside, then neighbourhood and attractions.
   • The choice of the number one photo is personal and depends on what you think the wow factor of your listing is. I always fall for a good view from the veranda as the primary picture
5. After lightly editing your pictures, you can go ahead and edit them heavily – or not? Everyone does it, you could too.
6. A wide-angle lens and HDR effects will help.
7. Fill in the pictures titles - have the potential guests spend more time on your listing. Check your main (first) picture, how it appears on multiple devices. It might be a great picture by its self but when cropped by the Airbnb layout it may appear worse. Manually crop it or change it. Also, I think 3:4 landscape ratio is the best for Airbnb, it appears well in most devices (except android app that allows portrait view 4:3) Label your photos: this is a chance to tell your guests a little more about your listing. Does the balcony belong to the Private Room? - Enough photos:   Guests will want to see fewer photos if they are just staying the night, but more photos if they are planning to stay longer, or if they are coming out of their way to visit you, or if they are paying a lot of money for an up-market property.  I've seen a post that suggests that you don't usually need more than about 20 photos.
8. Add a picture of a map of the area and one with subway/train/public transportation instructions – I fount it’s very helpful for the guests

Pricing

1. When starting, have a competitive price, easy and simple, check what is offered in your neighborhood and, if possible, beat the price of the similar listings that are your competition.
2. Use the extra charge per person option, have a lower price for 1 person then gradually increase for added guests. Will make your pricing fairer.
3. Opposite to the previous point, at some point you will figure out the perfect price for your listing. Try to keep high, to attract better guests and at the same time be competitive. There’s an old Greek saying that roughly translates as: “Low prices attract the towel thieves”
4. Start low. The lower (but fair) the price, the more bookings, the faster you register more trips, the faster you get reviews, the faster you look like a cool host on search results.
5. Get your first 3 5-star reviews as fast as possible. Stars will appear in your listing after the first 3 trips. And it’s nice to have 5 shiny starts next to your title. Start with reasonable standards. Cheap cleaning fee, friendly cancelation policy, loose house rules etc. Increase accordingly.
6. Find a way to afford 1-night stays. Probably are not worth it as much as long stays but having your place available for one night will increase your impressions on search results, your reviews and your income
7. DON’T rely on Airbnb’s price and discount recommendations. Check them but don’t always follow them. I don’t know what their criteria are but I’ve seen people whining that the suggestion is too low. It’s a suggestion, ignore it and go on with your favorite price.

Amenities

1. Make sure you offer the basic amenities (I found that spending 30$ on a steam iron and a hair blower was worth it)
2. Get as many "tickable amenities" as possible, available (ie. a CO detector might cost $6, its probably worth ticking). Get fire extinguishers and always tell the guests where they are during check ins – better safe than sorry. Ok, maybe don’t overdo it on the tickable amenities, or at least don’t hold back your listing’s launch because of them. Place an order on a reasonable priced on Amazon or Ebay, and install it as soon as it’s there.
3. Probably worth getting the business ready title if you are in a city center or business busy area (recently got it on one of my listing, can’t say how much it was worth it yet).
4. Sleep in the room that you will be offering. You’ll notice things when you try to experience the house like a guest would

Hosting

1. Be aware that you are running a business. Educate yourself on all necessary permits and implement them.
2. Study in depth all the Airbnb rules and regulations, particularly about cancellations. Have their phone number handy in case you need help beyond what's available in the help section. They are extremely helpful and have helped me out every time I needed something.
3. (Beginners) Ask for references. Connect your Facebook account, see which ones of your friends have Airbnb accounts and ask them to write a couple of nice things about you. They will fill in the spot until you get some solid reviews, a nice way to show that you have a good and reliable personality and at the same time shows that you mean business.
4. Be a good host! Airbnb works with ratings, the more 5star ratings you get the more Airbnb algorithm will like you. Good and many reviews will also attract a potential guest.
5. Don’t cancel confirmed reservations. It does hurt your host rating heavily.
6. Maybe you missed it so ill stress it out: DON’T CANCEL CONFIRMED RESERVATIONS!!! If for some reason you have to, talk to the guest, explain the situation, ask them to cancel on their end. Beg them or bribe them. Offer free stay on their next booking. DON’T CANCEL. If it all fails, call Airbnb, explain them why you cannot accept the guest and hope that they will understand and cancel the reservation – penalty free.
7. Reply ASAP. Counts greatly towards your appearance in search results as you are convincing Airbnb that you are an active host. Besides that, I have found that replying within 4-5 minutes to a message surprises the guest and increases their liking towards you as well. Even if you don’t have something to say to your guest, write a quick “Thank you for your interest, I am driving at the moment, I will come back to you with more info ASAP” within less than an hour of the original message.
8. THEY NEVER READ THE DESCRIPTIONS!!! Ok, I am exaggerating but be prepared for a big percentage of people just ignoring everything you wrote and either ask you, or just book and come expecting different things. Keep the important info high in your description texts and hope for the best.
9. SPAM: You might get some fake messages from people advertising their business or other crap – ie. Use our concierge service, use our taxi service etc – although you might not be interested in those offers, do answer fast with a “thank you”, Airbnb will consider them as unanswered guest messages if you don’t answer
10. Get wish-listed. Not really under your control, but ask friends and guests to add you to their wish-lists.
11. Reach Superhost status, it is supposed to place you under better order on search results, plus gives you a nice badge on your picture, guest have the option to search only Superhost listings. There is a special page on your profile (Stats on desktop and Performance on mobile) that tells you how close you are to being a Superhost.
12. Allow Instant-Book. It is supposed to increase your search result rankings. I also believe it makes you stand out in the map view with a nice thunder icon, attracting clicks from guests.
13. Make friends with other hosts in the area. If you are booked or have an emergency, recommend their space. It is short-sighted to view every host as your competition, and bonding with other hosts is good for the whole community. Hosts will return the favor, and your guests will be impressed that you are willing to help when you have no financial incentive to help.

Some geek stuff here if you want to overdo it, if not, skip the next section below

1. Keep in mind that mobile apps and desktop clients have different features and you won’t find identical functionality on both. You’ll have to work on both of them to fully access the features.
2. Don’t pay too much attention to Airbnb’s statistics like Views, booking percentages etc. I have found that they are wrong (if not impossible) in many cases. They show different numbers in mobile and desktop clients by the way. Superhost’s stats, on the other hand are accurate, they are your definite criteria to become and remain a Superhost.
3. According to several posts/blogs around the web, regularly (daily) updating your calendar will make the Airbnb algorithm believe you are an active host and award you a better position (select a random date, block it, then re-enable it). Same thing is rumoredto happen if you log in every day and if you daily update the texts of your listings. I don’t know if there’s an official Airbnb confirmation on this but, well, it’s probably worth a couple of minutes of your day.
4. Be active on the community forums. Again, getting thumbs-ups is supposed to increase how much the Airbnb algorithm likes you.
5. Look for your listings on the map regularly. I have found out that people sometimes cannot find my listings even in areas/searches when no other listing is available. I try to produce specific searches that would force Airbnb to find my listings and after a couple of times they usually appear to my friends too. That probably is my own idea/conspiracy theory but I’m just adding it here towards the end of the list.
6. Have people regularly visiting your listings by sharing them your direct links (like mines at the end of the post, under my signature) just to let Airbnb know that we are regularly checking. You can get the links by clicking the preview button on your listing management page.
7. Promote your listing through Google or Facebook. A cheap, well targeted google or Facebook campaign might get you some fast customers. The return of the investment will be immediate. You can also use more SEO tools, set up a website with unique links to your listings, spam your friends on FB, pay for some clicks probably, I don’t know if it’s worth it and I won’t and get into more detail. An update here: I wouldn’t go for Facebook ads, they look like spam to me, I’m going to go for straightforward google AdWords from now on, promoting my listings when someone searchers for “apartment in XXXX city center”.
8. You can also register with other similar sites competitive to Airbnb. The tools are provided to you in order to migrate listings and sync calendars but I have found that Airbnb is the easiest to use and probably attracts the coolest and politest guests of all.
9. Reach out to companies that will do the work for you. You can always outsource part of the business. Have a company run the online listings, have them do the cleaning or the check-ins/check-outs or have them manage the property altogether. Will lower your income but will save you the hustle.
10. Get Insured. Especially if your place has a pool, or accident prone facilities. Get in touch with an insurance agent and ask them for a plan to insure potential accidents for guests in your house. Might save you -literally- a fortune.

Check in & beyond

1. Try to be present during check ins, a friendly face and warm welcome works great towards getting those stars.
2. Don't let guests in early if your home is not yet clean--no matter how much they beg or say they don't care, they DO care. You only get that first chance to make a good impression.
3. Find a way to offer 24h self-check-in (if possible). Combination key-safes go for $15-30 online. This will increase your income as many people might be arriving after midnight. This also relieves the guests from the anxiety to be on time to meet you. Some people prefer it anyway, they don’t want close contact with the host. Give them the option but don’t overdo it and be lazy about welcoming them. (see below)
4. It’s recommended to send a quick message to the guests during their first days of their stay and ask them if everything is ok and up to their standards. It makes them know you are thinking of them and might give you the heads-up to repair something that isn’t working during their stay and that they wouldn’t bother you about it unless you asked (i.e. the sink is leaking). Repairing something during their stay might be the extra star in your review. You will fix it anyway later.
5. If you need to enter the space while it’s occupied and they are absent, ALWAYS ASK for their permission. (i.e. I’ll get you the blankets you asked me, is it ok if I open the door and leave them inside? Or do you want me to leave them outside?)
6. Always ask every guest at the end of their trip how your house/room and the experience could be improved for the next guest. Then do whatever they suggest if it is within your power.
7. If you feel like it and you think that the guest will react nice to it, politely ask for a good, 5star review.

Bad experiences

1. You will at some point rent out to a guest that won’t be perfect. Keep in mind that it is YOUR house and YOUR rules.
2. Always be polite and try to resolve any issue with the guest first but if you can’t handle it you can always call Airbnb. I have found that they would take the host’s side most of the time. (provided that your request is reasonable)
3. Keep in mind that there are some refund-hunters out there. They will use the slightest opportunity to whine about something that was not as described and ask for a discount or a refund. Depending on the situation, see what is your best way out, either refund them, or stand on your initial position. If you think you are in the right side of the argument, try to keep your communication within the Airbnb chat and as a last resort call them.
4. Listen to feedback, but don't try to be all things to all people. Keep the experience fun.

In every occasion that you feel like you need to pick up the phone and talk to someone in charge, the bible to contacting airbnb is here: Dave & Deb's Community Guide.

That pretty much sums up what information I have gathered and tried during the past few months. Between my tips are other hosts’ tips that I found browsing through these forums and thought that were worth mentioning. I would love to mention their names as source but I realized rather late that I was just pasting them in a word document so I don’t have the names anymore. A big thanks to the community for their contribution and my sincere apologies for not quoting your names. I should also state here that those are a group of tips to help you out and to act as a reference, I wouldn’t carry any responsibility if your experience is different or if you screw something up 🙂 (Mods: i x-posted this to the help, hosts and new hosts forums, feel free to moderate the x-posts if you feel like it)

Anyway, a set of tips to help you through your hosting experience, I hope it’s not very overwhelming and that it is helpful for new hosts that want to get in the game!

I’d also love to hear the opinion of some more experienced hosts. 

Do offer your thumbs-ups if you found this helpful, dear sirs and madams.

Regards,

Harry K.

---------

Live your myth in Greece:

***[To view listings, hover over profile image and click, 'View profile']

[Annette33]

Thanks @Clare0 , for the link to the nomads - I think I'll get that book and enjoy it 🙂

I was wondering about the reasoning behind avoiding outdoor shots of a listed home/house. For sure, I agree with not showing the house number. But  I personally  put great value into outside shots: as a guest it gives me a much better feel for the property, if it is crowded in any which way, the curb appeal, etc..and often enough a large part of my decision is based on that. as a guest,I actually avoid  Airbnb listings that gives me no clues to the outside.

As host, I understand it makes some hosts feel vulnerable, but why exactly? What are the extra dangers in showing a few outside shots - as I do for my listing? I believe my outside shots are part of the appeal of my listing.

[Clare0]

@Annette33 Outdoor shots are fine so long as the property isn't too identifiable.  For example, I've seen Entire Home listings (not apartments) showing their house number.  That's potentially a security issue. 

As the authors of the book I mentioned say, too many photos of the surrounding areas, landmarks, etc. makes a guest feel that the host is over compensating for a less than par listing.  What they are trying to say is that if there are 3 photos of the listing and 10 of the surrounding area (Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, cafes, street scenes, etc.) it makes them wonder about the listing.  I have about 30 photos of the interior of my listing with 14 of the surrounding area...wineries, wildlife, and so forth.  Promoting everything but the listing can backfire. 

Yes, get the book....it is very interesting to get these guy's guest point of view on many subjects.  I have it in my listing for my guests to read!

[Annette33]

@Clare0 , a yes.. I was strictly thinking of ouside shots of the property, not landmarks in the vicinity. yes, if those take over, instead of highlighting the listing, that's not so good.

But going back to being identifiable as a property by an outside shot - which mine probably is for anybody who really wants to find out about it - what do you see as the specific, Airbnb related risk, in that? I mean, anybody can drive by my neighbourhood and decide to target my house for a robbery, or for whatever. How do photos on Airbnb make it more vulnerable? Thanks!

[Clare0]

@Annette33 Looking at your listing, I don't think you have anything to worry about since you don't have your house number in the photo. 

But for those that have a photo with a house number, it wouldn't take too much investigation using the map to find the place. Couple that with the fact that anyone can look at a listing calendar and figure out when it is unoccupied, it could lead to trouble.  Maybe not in Prescott, but keep in mind that people in this community are from all over the place and in different types of communities where safety might be more of an issue.  

I have an exterior shot of my listing (photo by Airbnb!) but you can't see the front of the house from the street.  

[Clara116]

@Annette33 how correct Annette, your outside shots are critical for your listing and make me wanna go there. My cover shot is outside showing the private patio and front of cottage and I think it is what works best for my place. It doesn't show any identifiers so I am very comfortable with it. My guest are telling me that my pics are true and accurate and they love that. I think and have seen folks locally showing outside shots with numbers and I pointed out one to my husband the other day - the place is on an obvious street and even some other shots show the name of the complex - that's like publishing the address to me. I take the security issue seriouly and don't do IB because of it. I guess different strokes - I think part of the appeal for some is the expectation and excitement of arriving at this special place that they have booked. But with technology if they know exactly before booking they can google earth and look at place, neighborhood, etc....................I don't know am I off base here??

[Suzanne169]

Thanks for the Nomad link! I just found this forum and have learned more in ten minutes than the last two years! Thanks to all for sharing and making Airbnb the best "hotel chain" on the planet! 

[Clare0]

@Suzanne169 Yay!  Lots of good information here....and, straight from the horses' mouths!

[Harry22]

Hey @Clare0

Thank you for your kind words!

Also thank you for the input on the details about cancelation, i did not have such insight on that matter.

In any case, (in my experience) calling airbnb and explaining what's wrong, will usually get you out of the hard situation unharmed.

Your exterior shot point is also very correct. Avoiding to pinpoint the exact location of your listing is very important, but at the same time giving the guest an idea of the general neighborhood is nice too 🙂

I wish airbnb organizes an Open event in Greece, would love to meet with fellow hosts around the world!

Thanks again, 

Harry

[Ryan-And-Stacy0]

Thank you for the information. It was helpful and many things sound familiar.

The one thing that you referred to about calling airB&B I find interesting. I see no phone number. I really don't see anyway that you can get in touch with them.

I also own two bedroom, Kitchen living room and very large Porch right over the ocean. The house is very artfully decorated. It has no mosquitoes but hammock's and outdoor furniture, lovey breezes to keep you cool Beautiful sunsets and in any hotel this room would cost you $250. But airbnb has driven me down to $89 per night and they keep sending me notices that I can come down from $18-$45 if I wanted to book more regularly as places around me are doing so. Places around me are not my stunning home.

Then they want me to except for one night minimum. This is a two bedroom house. I pay my cleaner $75 to get it back in shape at this point I would be giving it away or losing money. If someone stays for a week they give them a 10% discount so it's only $80 per night.

I live right next store and offer people is much privacy As they would like or as much information how About the local area boat excursions diving and surfing and anything you could possibly want.

I have gotten the best reviews from everybody who stays there but I make the effort.

I just feel like air B&B expect so much. Like a woman made an offer to me to stay for two weeks and take photographs for me and only pay me $40 dollars a night. I didn't want photographs and I didn't want $40 dollars a night and I very politely told her so I declined her offer. Air B and B gave me the third degree on why declined her so I see what you mean about declining people but it seems people could ask for anything if they know you will get penalized for turning them down. Another woman want my house for a month for $600 because that was all she could afford and again I had to decline and got the third degree from air B and B.

So how do you get them on the phone where did you find your phone number? Anybody else out there making phone calls and getting through.

The Best Guys,

Ginger-Ginger's on the sea,Isla Bastimentos,Bocas del toro,Panama

[Harry22]

Hey @Ryan-And-Stacy0, 

Thank you for your constructive input!

Summing up, 3 things:

1. lots of people find it hard to contact airbnb, i have updated my main post with another host's "bible to contact airbnb" link, so you can solve that here: Dave & Deb's Community Guide.

2. IGNORE airbnb's suggestions about low and max prices.  Do see what airbnb suggests but in no-case take it as the correct one. Price your own house at the price you want to rent it out. Check the competition's prices and adjust accordingly.

3. "Low prices attract the towel thiefs". When you feel confident and like it, adjust the price on what you believe your listing is worth. Guests insisting on an UNREASONABLE discount will be the worst guests ever. You will probably regret hosting them at all.

[Ryan-And-Stacy0]

Thanks Harry for Dave and Debs and the positive imput.

[Suzanne169]

Awesome tips!!! Many many thanks! Hope to visit you in Greece soon!

[Harry22]

Thank you, Looking forward to meeting fellow hosts! 🙂

[Lynette36]

Thanks for your tip. Very imformative. I have had guest bring relatives or friends to stay over night. I have policy on listing that says addational guest $25. a night per person. I dont want to sour their stay. But I want to remind them that that is not acceptable.

How would you approach this.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Lynette36,

It is great to see you have found this post so helpful. 🙂

This is a good question, to make it easier to answer I would suggest starting a new topic in the Help board. This way it won't get lost in this discussion and it will make it easier to follow. 

Thanks,

Lizzie