local market demand

[Rocky3]

Hello, I am in South Bend, Indiana ans am new to Air bnb. I have a peek rental season from about September to December, Notre Dame Football season, and a few other events throughout the year. I was wondering how I can find out if there is a demand the rest of the year and prices that people are renting for. I have 2 homes that are only used for airbnb and Homeaway, and I want to rent as much as I can through the year, and stay competitive with pricing.

Thanks!

[Chris159]

When you set your price you have a choice of fixed or smart pricing.  If you click on smart pricing for your listing, prices will be suggested but you can change them. It's a little tricky but it helps.  Another option is to go in as a guest and put in your dates of interest and your location and see if it says things like "only 4 bookings left". That is a sign of either high demand or few options for visitors

[Rocky3]

Thank you Chris!

My issue with the price setting was I tried it for both of my homes. They both sleep 10 with same ammenities and bathrooms, and both about 1 mile from each other and the same distance to the main area of visitors. I checked the price setting for one of the 2 homes for the month of december just to test it, and it showed prices between 200 and 300. I did the same month for my second home and it was showing me prices between 600 - 1000. I was told on the phone with airbnb that one reason the one house was a higher price setting was because of the higher amount of views it got before. Well, if I had alot of views, but most people didnt book, maybe due to my set price of 500/night being too much for them, then how does that beneift me or help me?

[Victoria57]

@Rocky3 forget smart pricing, it's rubbish and just drives prices down.  Do your own research to see what others in your area are charging. You know what you offer compared to the competition in your area and what festivals, sporting events etc might affect your prices so set your own prices and ignore what Airbnb smart pricing says as they haven't a clue.

[Catherine310]

Have you got an idea of the best way to see what local hosts are charging?

[Helen3]

Just do a search for listings with a similar profile to yours and you can see what they charge.

[Richard921]

i have found smart priceing to make no sence