Closing Airbnb?

[Sara815]

We have been doing airbnb for 2.5 years.

- we've met amazing people from all over the world 

- we have had dinner with guests, taken trips with them and played board games 

- we had 1.5 children in that time (lol the second one is on it's way) 

- we didn't get rich 

Now with all the changes in review systems and constant "pressure" to lower our already super low rates plus accept every guest into our home with our little daughter we are seriously considering to throw the towel. 

To rent our apartment the usual way you would likely pay around 3000 - 3500 CHF each months. By renting one of our rooms with the second bathroom and use of all shared spaces we earn between 500 to 1000 CHF a month (this includes cleaning fees). So it's really not that much. We have so far done it because we really enjoy meeting people and providing them an inexpensive good quality option for staying in a super expensive country.

Now guests are becoming increasingly demanding, Airbnb seems to really not care about guests  reviews are getting more critical and so on. It just isn't as fun anymore as it initially was. From a financial point of view it's a nice extra bit of pocket money, but not like we could quit our jobs anytime soon :P. 

What are your thoughts? 

[Linda108]

There is a time for this business in one's life and a time for it to go, @Sara815.  Perhaps a way to consider adapting your listing to the changes in both your life and in the make up of the guests, is to increase your rate a bit and be more selective about who you accept.  Maybe you will have less income but you will also have less trouble and when baby number 2 comes along that might be a good thing.

I think the evolution of this home sharing experience is somewhat predictable and probably has an end point for most host involved.  I read about people making it a financial focal point of their income and question if that is a sound way to proceed.  Now if you are moving from shared home to professional manager, that is a different conversation.

Good for you to think about your quality of life over the extra income 😄

[Sara815]

Thank you for this answer 🙂