[Poll] Do you manage your listing on your own?

[Jenny]

Hello everyone!  Hope you’ve had a great weekend.

I imagine that over the last couple of days, you’ve spent time looking after your bookings, your rentals, and your guests.  Some of you handle the work yourselves, while others work as part of a team.

My burning question today is “how do you do it?” - you can take part in the poll below - and give us all the details in the comments.

I can’t wait to hear about what works for you!

Jenny

[Laurelle3]

@Jenny yes I manage our Airbnb on my own with husband who strips the beds. We have a routine which took a while for husband to understand the way I  do things with the covid clean. I adopted my nursing terminal clean, windows and doors opened, what can be removed is, and everything is wiped downy8 and aired. Bathroom is cleaned, floors vacuumed and washed. Itg, takes more than five hours to maintain a high level of cleaning. Beds are made and everything is set out in rooms. I  try to have 24hrs vacancy between bookings.  Electronic bookings are managed as they come in send response through automated message with correct name and dates. In the evening I copy bookings into diary my way of communicating with husband. I print bookings for future reference and has telephone number on. 

[Jenny]

Thanks for your reply @Laurelle3 - it's great to hear from you!

What kind of cleaning products do you prefer to use while you're doing your cleans? 

[Laurelle3]

I make up my own mixture with vinegar and eco friendly dishwasher liquid if need to scrub use bicarbonate soda or use gumption. Occasionally I have to use oil of clove mixture on spots of mould because of humidity in the bathroom. Last resort all fails on spots of mould is bleach diluted. The best result is do it between each guests and air for the 24 hrs between guests. 

Oil of clove with water is good for varandahs where there isn't enough sunlight or too much moisture. Information is from our cleaning guru on ABC radio

[Gillian166]

i love oil of clove, smells so good. but sadly, doesn't work in every environment and needs time to work. when i lived in Sydney (northern beaches) the rising damp was worse there than it was in Queensland (the tropics!), shoes would go mouldy in the cupboards. 

[Ted307]

I do the bathroom and kitchen cleaning and laundry, make the bed and dust. My husband does the floors and the patio, yard and BBQ. It takes us a day, we block the calendar. I tried to use a cleaning service, 3 girls came for ~ 45 min and charged $75. We still had to do the laundry, make the bed and the BBQ & patio. There was hair in the shower drain, so I had to clean after the cleaners! We charge $50.00 cleaning fee, + $35 for a dog. We work pretty cheap, and are considering raising it to the $75 charged by the maid service, but most people are only here for the weekend and do not leave much of a mess.

I usually do the work on the computer, like photos and the calendar.

Chris

[Jenny]

Hi Ted and Chris,

Thanks for your reply!

Do you have any tips for new hosts that are just starting out, and who are trying to be as efficient as they can?

Jenny

[M199]

@Jenny 

Absolutely, my husband and I do it all.  For our small, seasonal place, the costs to have a management company would eat up every cent making the business non-viable.

He does the outdoor work, I do all the indoor, plus we both meet and greet all guests. Any other tasks such as banking, tax filings, annual returns  are all done and managed by myself.

Hope this gives you a bit of an idea.

[Jenny]

Thank you so much for replying!

What's your favourite part of the work you do?

Jenny

[Ann72]

I manage my listings remotely @Jenny with the help of an incredible housekeeper and caretaker.  They take care of the houses and I do all the messaging, calendaring, and payments.  We all at different times arrange for repairs and other work.

Vacasa called me a few weeks ago to offer their property management services and I asked if they could get Bobby Gray, the plumber, to come out on a Saturday evening the way my housekeeper can.  They didn't have an answer for that! 

[Jenny]

Thanks for your response, it sounds like you're really well covered!  

Have your housekeeper and caretaker been with you long?  

Jenny

[Алена9]

Hi everyone, and @Jenny !!!
When I began to be host I did everything by myself, all necessary processes: cleaning, repairing, check in guests and communication.

When I realized that I want to devote my life to hospitality and implement many different projects I understood  I need a team. I started to find people who share my desire and intentions. It happened not easy, but I collect right people who want to  make the word off hospitality better.

Today I have team of 15 people because I manage 40 apartments. We have a few departments:

Call centr/booking department, hosting department, one accounter, one master and I manage the whole team. Here I don’t count people/builder who help to build new projects for the  future( co-living and ApartHotel).

Nearest future I plan to make the develop departments and  quality of service department.

We are joined by common goal.
I am sure we will improve the worlds of hospitality !

P.S later I I will tell all processes in details.

[Jenny]

Hello!

It's amazing to hear how you've grown, from doing it yourself, to having a whole team!  

What advice would you give to new hosts who want to be as successful as you?

Jenny

[Алена9]

I think it depends of hosts and their goals. 

I met people who think that Airbnb only for alone host, not for manage company. But when I realise how many great ideas and the accommodations offer Airbnb I want to do all of that. I’ve already had many apartments. But I'm inspired by new projects such as modern co-living or hous in the forest , for example. This way you understand that you can’t do it alone.

The main task is to find people who share the idea with you.  These people you don't need to explain anything.

And I don’t believe in second chance. If a man let you down, he'll do it again.

Judge your member of team accordingly their  actions. And it doesn’t matter find you cleaning lady or top manager.

[John5097]

@Jenny 

When I was planning for short term rental (airbnb) I was working full time so was going to manage it myself and use a cleaner. A co worker's girlfriend had her own cleaning business so was going to use her. They were undocumented workers but I got along with him the best. 

As it turned out the Airbnb exceeded my expectations so was available to also clean it myself as it gave me more flexibility with my schedule. I also thought I would hate cleaning it as I'm not very fond of cleaning my own space, but its actually something I enjoy and find it therapeutic. It reminds me of traveling and having only a small space and things to keep organized, even a back pack, where everything has its little space. 

I could also see myself managing other listings. Mine is just an apartment at the end of a 60s ranch house. It is a good location but still outperforms all the the much nicer areas in the county. The closest beach is 8 miles yet my listing is often on their first page, and apartment and codo complexes are tens of millions. 

Last week I happened to visit one of the county parks beside a gated resort community. That's where I used to work, and one house where we were installing cabinets cost 25 million just to build the house. This is picture of the codos they are building right next to the boardwalk for the county park. So its like this everywhere, so while other host say the host doesn't matter, I find it very rewarding that the off beat unique spaces outperform the much nicer ones. 

Here is a picture of the codos going up. Looks like something in downtown NY with the cranes, yet all of these can't even make the first page in the most popular listings in the county.