Not earning enough

[Lisa7505]

Are there any suggestions to increase my earnings?

I am still paying a portion of tge lease and expenses out if pocket?

[Pat271 · Accepted solution]

I can’t speak for your particular area, but overall I would think that the entire arbitrage business (leasing a property and then putting it on Airbnb) is suffering right now and may not be sustainable. Even people who own their properties outright or have small mortgages are struggling right now to get enough bookings to pay taxes, utilities, etc. I can’t imagine making money in this business right now while paying today’s market rents.

Having said that, you might be able to be an exception and get sufficient bookings by distinguishing yourself in some way to make your property different from your competition. Having some kind of a theme, offering additional perks that are thoughtful but not too costly, increasing occupancy by making sure you are competitive with your rates by checking other listings in your area, etc. may help in your quest to increase your earnings. 

[Helen3]

Surely before you decided to do arbitrage you ran the figures to make sure you would be able to price it at a level that would be profitable based on the number of days a month you estimated you would let it out for @Lisa7505 

[Sudsrung0]

@Lisa7505 

I think you need to seriously look at your listing details or lack of,

Dont forget when a guest is window shopping on airbnb these are things that make them move on to the next listing, 

You have to make it look more inviting 

[Huma0]

@Lisa7505 

I am assuming that if you do not own the property you have permission to rent it out on Airbnb or other STR. I am also assuming you have done your research and priced it accordingly and that it's a lack of bookings that is the problem?

If so, well you have very nice reviews so far, so it's not necessarily that you are not offering a good accommodation and a good service. That leads me to believe it is one or both of these problems:

- Your listing is not appealing enough.

- Now is not exactly the best time to start out with Airbnb. In many areas of the world, it is a slow period anyway. Combine that with the current economic crisis and it's going to be tough. On the other hand, Airbnb changed its search algorithms last year and many hosts who were previously doing very well have suffered. A lot have gone from full occupancy to nothing or almost nothing. Think about listing on other platforms too.