Adding my first property to Airbnb

Lucas641
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

Adding my first property to Airbnb

Hello everyone, how are you?!

I've been using Airbnb as a traveller for a while, but now we are planning of adding our property to the website so other people can book and enjoy it. But reading the Airbnb docs doesn't say clearly about the process of going live with the ad. I wanted to be able to add all the info and just when I feel that is good enough switch the button to send it to live. 

Is that possible? How does Airbnb handle this process of adding a property? As soon I fill up some fields it will go direct to the live website ?

I've also tried to find a post around that in the community and couldn't find it. If someone knows about something similar already being discussed please let me know.

Thank you very much, be safe and take care 🙂 

5 Replies 5
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Lucas641 The listing won't go live until you publish it so don't worry.

Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Lucas641 

You will be clearly notified at which point the listing will go live (which process will also take a few hours before listing is really live).

 

If you temporary want to protect yourself 100% from bookings:

- set the "booking window" option to "all dates unavailable by default"

- disable Instant Book

 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Lucas641  I've read here from other hosts that there are some settings that you can't set or change until after the listing goes live, then you can go back and edit those things. I couldn't tell you exactly what those settings might be, though.

 

So as advised, block the calendar to bookings for few days to a week after submitting to make sure all is as you want it.

 

You need to be aware that some things on a new listing will be set as default, so check out all those. Instant Book and new listing discount of 20%, for instance. If you don't want to use those, turn them off. (I wouldn't advise new hosts to use Instant Book until you know your way around everything and become somewhat adept at vetting guests) 

 

If you keep that 20%discount on, be aware that any weekly or monthly discounts will be cumulative, not exclusive. So a 10% weekly discount will end up being a 30% discount.

 

Don't accept long term bookings. A guest who stays for a month will end up falling under landlord/tenant laws in most jurisdictions and you can have a terrible time evicting them if they don't pay or their behavior is objectionable. Do not accept bookings from locals. They are usually looking to party, do drug deals or prostitution, or they are homeless. There can be legitimate reasons for locals to book, but hard to know if they are telling you the truth.

 

Also pay no attention to Airbnb price tips, which are absurdly and insultingly low, nor let yourself be intimidated into using Instant Book, discounts, flexible cancellation policies or anything else just because Airbnb suggests you should.

 

And read this forum a lot, so you get the benefit of other hosts' experiences and trials and tribulations and don't end up being one of those naive newbie hosts who think Airbnb will have their back, cover damages, etc. They won't- you are pretty much on your own to have systems in place to protect yourself and deal with any issues that come up.

 

Lucas641
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

Thanks for all the replies people, that was really helpful. Thank you very much \o/ 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Lucas641 

 

Did you check what demand for STRs of the type you're listing   are like in London before deciding to list ? Many hosts are reporting that demand has fallen massively because of Covid and our restrictions on visitors from abroad .

 

Don't forget there is a 90 day limit in London.