Our first booking arrives in a couple of days

[Amber221]

Hello,

Our first booking arrives in a couple of days. The nerves are kind of high with all the last minute fixes. We believe we have remembered everything but we will see. Then no time to waste as our second guest will follow the next day. We have received more bookings more quickly then we expected. My son says this is due that we have priced it a little on the low side. We were following the recommendations of Airbnb. We are looking forward to an exciting month ahead of us and hopefully meeting some new friends.

The Compassion House

Amber and Ian

[Sarah977]

@Amber221  All the best on your new venture. I hope you get nothing but lovely guests and great experiences.

As for following Airbnb's pricing suggestions, they are almost always absurdly low. Look at your competition, what you offer in comaprison, and price accordingly. Almost no experienced hosts follow Airbnb's price tips- their only purpose is to get more guests to book as fast and furiously as possible, because the company makes their money on guest fees. It's not about caring that the hosts get bookings. Don't undersell yourself or you will end up feeling that you are doing a lot for little return, and get burnt out, rather than enjoying your hosting journey.

Also, try to spend a little time on this forum on a regular basis. It's a wealth of information and hosts are so helpful to each other.

[Sandra126]

@Amber221  ...and with 500 views this last week you are bound to get plenty more bookings soon. I sometimes look at the price tips but I don't follow them. Better to look at other listings nearby.

Welcome to hosting!

[Ben551]

@Amber221  Wonderful news!  I wish you all the best with hosting and the best of guests as you learn the ropes.  I find guests are completely understanding with new hosts and it's actually a good ice breaker to say with a smile "we just started and have no idea what we are doing".  It usually results in a laugh or two, and breaks the ice nicely 🙂

Remember!  Those first 5 reviews are your most critical, because it earns you an overall rating.  You want it to be 5 stars, so it's worth putting some extras into the listing for those first 5 guests.  Call it the cost of ensuring you launch your Airbnb with a bang!  My wife and I put a complimentary bottle of bubbly into the fridge for the first 5 guests we hosted.  We adjusted our usual printed welcome note saying something like "as an added thank you for being some of our first ever guests, please enjoy a complimentary bottle of bubbly in the fridge". We got immediate thank you messages on arrival and... oddly it gave us a little piece of mind that we'd done something to ensure our own success.

Also, make sure you keep a bottle of bubbly in the fridge to open and celebrate for yourselves after you get your first guests all checked in!  That's the point where you can let that nervous breath out 🙂

[Rubén16]

@Amber221  Hooray!! Amber and Ian's first guests are arriving soon!!,  

Thanks for joining Airbnb and the community forum, it is great to hear that your first guests will be arriving soon, the suggestions that @Sarah977 @Sandra126 and @Ben551 gave are very useful.

It would be nice to know how your first booking went?

Community hint:

You can use the @ and then select the people from that list whom you want to follow the thread/message. 

[Michelle-And-Michael0]

@Amber221 Congratulations on your first bookings and Welcome to hosting! I hope you learn to love it just as much as many of us do here, on the Community forum.

You've already been given some great advice by the others.... all of which I agree with. 

The best way to judge your price point is by looking at similar listings in your area.... Airbnb will always suggest a lower price than is appropriate. However, I do admit it is a good idea to start a little lower until you get a few reviews behind you. Then you can gradually raise your price after that.

Also, Airbnb usually put new hosts in the front of the search format for a few weeks to get them started. You may find that your views, and therefore bookings might slow down a bit if they move you down the list again.... but don't get too worried, It happens to all of us. 

Enjoy the journey!

Michelle 🙂

[Daniel1598]

@Amber221 Congratulations! You're going to love it. Don't worry about your low starting price (I agree with all previous comments). If you are looking for slightly longer term guests, the lower price will draw in that crowd. And of course you can also set a discount percentage for weekly and monthly stays.

Cheers,

Daniel

[Michele835]

@Amber221  Congratulations on your new hosting venture.  I hope you enjoy your first guest.  Please let us know how you made out.

[Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0]

Welcome to the club! We bought our second property less than a year ago in the White Mountains on NH as a second home/vacation property and to rent on Airbnb. Although we already had Superhost status in our townhome, we priced it fairly low to gauge the market (after looking at what else was available in the area) and to start getting reviews. Whew boy, did it work! We quickly realized that, since the property was 85 miles from us, we needed to determine a minimum number of nights stay, and give us time (as people employed elsewhere full-time) to come up and clean in between. We also have extras of the linens and towels beyond what we thought we'd need. By the end of a hectic summer, we had only spent one weekend there ourselves--doing touch-up painting and other tasks. But we had made vacations possible for many couples and families at a great rate, gotten 5-star reviews, and some money to begin paying off the condo and the new bathroom. Now we're booked for skiing. We've raised the rates but are still competitive. And we've enjoyed it! Best of luck and have fun. 

[Yadira22]

Hello @Amber221 

Yadira here, from London, Uk.

Congrats on your new listing it looks awesome.

My best advice is to stay there for one night or have a friend over to test drive it- this will allow you to pick up any potential small things you have missed, eg door hangers, hangers in wardrobe, check all appliance work or have easy clear instructions of use, key box opens easily as such. It allows you to enjoy the space and really see and really see it from a guest’s side.

Also find great locals, professional dry cleaners, florists, supermarkets, organic produce places, cafes, diners- it’s super easy and you probably already know but sometimes it’s nice for a guest to get these recommended. 

Prepare to over stock in linens and towels as to ensure you are covered in the case of needing to provide quick turnovers and travel adopters.

Finally, something we do for all our guests is we provide clear check in email maximum the day before their arrival with key box code, google map, contacts, full address, check out instructions, local transport services(eg in London you can only pay using contactless or an Oyster card)- it’s all in the finer detail. Also acknowledge that a lot of international travellers are coming and may not have 3G so we mention something like there is free WiFi at all london underground’s stations, available upon registering for their use.

When I travel I hate it when I have been at the bus stop for some time, my ride arrives and I get turned down due to a metro card.

i suggest you template this email to cover this information and any other key points you want to drive into their mind. 

The day after check in as it’s self check in maybe send a quick email- saying hello and thanking them for their stay, ensuring they have been able to get in and have gotten into wifi... it’s reassuring. 

Good luck and take the first three months as a learning curve. 

You got this! 👍🏼

Yadi 🙂