long-distance hosting

[Marni7]

Hello, AirBNB community. My husband and I have 2 bedrooms in our 3-BR home that we list on AirBNB and we've had success with it for nearly 2 years. A few months ago my husband took a job in a city 100 miles away and he's been commuting. We'd like to sell the house and relocate, but unfortunately, due to the real estate market crash of 2008, we're upside-down on the mortgage. And (unless home values spike) it will be a year before we break even. So I've been toying with the idea of putting the whole house on AirBNB so we can move. I'd like to hear from hosts who have experience with long-distance hosting. How does it work for you? I am my own cleaning lady right now, and my husband is the handyman. If we move 100 miles away, I expect I'd have to hire out those types of services, because it is not going to be feasible for us to come to the house between every booking. How do you handle that? How often do you visit the property? What extra fees do you charge? Any advice is welcome.

[Diana320]

Hi Marni,

i think Airbnb has a service that helps you connect with property managers who will help you with managing your Airbnb for 15% of the rental income.

That might be a good way to go. 

Good luck!

[Jim554]

https://youtu.be/sp2GzJzjykw

[Roxanne77]

Our rental property is almost 200 miles away. It's a 3-hour drive through the mountains if we ever need to go over there for any reason. It would only be about half that for you if you needed to get to your place. We have a cleaning company that resets it in between stays for us. We also have folks we can call on in case of emergency (a plumbing company, a handyman, etc). After we initially set up the house for renting, we took photos of how we want it to look and made a printable document for the cleaning service of how we want it cleaned. We charge the renters what the cleaning service charges us. It's been wonderful. All I do is schedule the bookings and cleanings and occasionally answer some messages. We did decide to install exterior security cameras (which we tell our guests about) to make sure no one sneaks in extra guests or animals or throws a party. So far, so good.

[Mike1034]

@Marni7 There are some posts in the forum available and hosts have some discussion about it. Here is one link

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Remote-Hosting/m-p/714112#M169118

You may do a search with key word in the forum to find more. It will help. Ideas like below

(1) PM

(2) Co-host 

(3) Remote devices (smart lock/keyless entry, video doorbell/camera) + hire local cleaners

If you choose option 3, it is suggested to have a minimum nights of stay set. Otherwise, it is too much hustle.