Co-hosting

[Lois32]

Hi

I am preparing to Airbnb my house out in Sussex. However, I live over 150 miles away. 

I have two good friends both of whom are helping me out with prepping the house to let it out. They have both offered to help manage the property for me. Both friends work part time and have busy lives. I am concerned that if I only appoint one friend that all the responsibilities of co-hosting will prove tricky for them with their own job and lives hence my idea is to appoint both friends to share the co-hosting and they can work as a team. 

My question then is: is this practical? I am thinking it would be easier to appoint my friends as co-hosts "off the book" of Airbnb? or is it possible to appoint both within Airbnb? if so, my other big question is: what percentage would you give both of them??

Many thanks for your help and advice with this x

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Lois32

If it was a. Arrangements with a friend I would do it off the platform- treating them as an extended family member. However they will need to know arrival/departure details/number in party etc - but you may not wish them to see all of your revenue. I would set up a shared calendar (google for example - or if you all have iPhones then shared calendars are really useful and easy). As for how much - difficult, but here are some things to think about. How many hours cleaning is required and how much would you pay a cleaner per hour. Are you asking them to do laundry and ironing too? Are they responsible for check in and check out - and what about restocking any basics (shower gel etc). 

[Lois32]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0 Hi guys

Thanks so much for your reply, much appreciated. Well as I’m far away they’ll be re-stocking, cleaning, dealing with lock-outs or faults within House, meeting & greeting if necessary (although with a key safe I envisage this meet/greet to not be necessary), laundry changes. I’ll be in control of communication with guests & be first point of contact for problems in House as I have a book of trusted tradesmen, I’ll then appoint one of my friends who are local to oversee / finalise the issues etc but I intend to share calendars so they’ll know exactly what’s going on at all times. Does this sound ok??

As far as payment goes, that’s a fair amount of work to do so I was thinking 20% of total rent but if two of my friends do the work that’s not much each especially if guests only stay 2 days & not a week long stay. The more I think about it my philosophy is “just keep life simple” so likely I’ll only appoint 1 friend to manage or it could just get messy! 

Thoughts? X

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Lois32

i would tend to agree that two makes it problematic- let’s one person be the lead and the other can step in in their absence. You mention a lock box. But if you can manage it, having someone there to let them in, show them around is much more welcoming. Think about whether you want a flat fee - a percentage will mean a high payout for a week but will it be worth their while for 2 nights off peak?  

[Lois32]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0 well quite Re: the percentage - just don’t think it will be worth their time if only a short stay. Thankyou for advice on welcoming - personally I prefer a face to face human interaction too when I travel. Thankyou so much! X