Hi Helen,
Thank you for reaching out. As I understand it co-hosts take a cut of profits. In the winter, I am down to making $2-3 per night after outgoings. Summer is better, so I average out profits to get through the year with a profit about 8-9% after costs but before tax. Hwever, this does not account for damage by guests, theft of towels and routine replacement and upkeep or compensation for my time at all. And rates in my apartments are mid-market.
In New Zealand we have A LOT of senior citizens awash with money, who purchase properties with cash (no mortgage to pay!), dont do their numbers and end up renting out entire apartments/houses for as low as US$55 per night. I could not event afford to supply electrcity, internet and consumables (minus the apartment) for that price.
As a host of 4 years, I am seriously considering locking the doors and not renting out at all, until some sort of standards are developed to ensure that not only are we as hosts providing the very best spaces possible, but also that guests coming in are legitimate, genuine and honest. AirBnB should be positioning itself for what it is - an agent of cost effective, premium quality living spaces far superior in quality but similarly priced to local hotels. Only then will hosts profits increase, quality of guests increase, and guests using AirBnB understand that as lucky as we are that they found us, they are lucky that we open our homes and investment properties to them on a high risk short stay basis. AirBnB in NZ is often seen by locals as the "option of last resort" when leases end and before new leases start, or when all hotels are full, or a specific AirBnB is considerably cheaper than local hotels.
As one of the very first hosts in NZ, I have seen the early beginnings of excitingly high profits (which luckily I used to improve the apartments) and since then seen margins rapidly squeezed, where decisions are having to be made as to if the extra few percent additional profit generated as a host are worth the head aches, especially when, such as in this case it is clear that safety and security may not always be as "locked down" as we would like. Sadly having a co-host eat into my flatlining profits isn't something I can afford right now.
I shall call AirBnB in the morning and raise a case on this issue, in hope that whatever loophole has been taken advantage of in this case is closed.