New to hosting - When does the summer start to book up?

[Carissa58]

Hi everyone!

I am a new host with a property in Nova Scotia, Canada. 

I currently have a long term renter in the space until the end of April (which I am seeing a lot of folks NOT advising for the first few rentals, but its been pretty good so far) This timeline works out well as she is leaving the same day I leave my current location (Toronto) to move back home.

I am anxious to book for the summer and am wondering when folks start seeing bookings?

I know a lot of us are living in places where Covid is surging again, so maybe no one really knows. But maybe last year, when did everyone's calendar's start booking up? Wanting to hear from folks in cooler climate's whose summers don't really start until June! Are you seeing longer rentals like 1-2 weeks?

I am seeing folks ask about summer cottages in a local travel group, and getting a number of views on my listing because of my activity there, but nothing solid yet (did have one booking for July but she had to cancel for family/emergency reasons)

Thank you all in advance for your responses! 

Carissa

[Ilir13]

Hello @Carissa58 ,

Happy new year, and I hope you are doing fine :).

I have been doing Airbnb for about six months now, and I can tell you about my experience in 2 busy seasons, summer and winter, what my mistakes were, and what I learned for the upcoming seasons.

PRICING IS EVERYTHING
Not changing the prices before seasons, for example, I did not know that I needed to change the prices before the winter season in my area; the winter season starts in November.

For example, they booked in August/September for November/December, and they got a super low price as in August/September I had low prices. When the season started in November/December and the Demand was super high, I was fully booked :(.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN TO CHANGE THE PRICES?
The first thing that I did was a check from where are my guests mostly; my guest were mainly from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden & Holland. And also concluded that my guests were mainly family people with children.

Then I did a little research on when do these countries have their winter/summer holidays. As I live in the same city, I also know from my circle and my experience when the city is full of tourists.

I also checked the official country holidays from government websites, so I know more and highlight the dates.

I KNOW THE DATES, BUT HOW DO I MANAGE TO CHANGE THEM AT THE RIGHT TIMING?
I had a meeting with a successful Airbnb entrepreneur, and he suggested to me a pricing management tool; he said that the Airbnb business is like an Airline when it comes to pricing; not everyone gets the same price.

I then searched for a management tool and tried many of them until I found Pricelabs https://pricelabs.co/users/sign_up?referral=YSEVoE (It's a referral link you can get 10$ discount); I can say until now I am very, very happy and changed the game for me.

I am using the tool for one month. I am very curious to check it for the next season what will happen, but until now I have started to get more bookings. I can explain to you in a summary what they do; otherwise, they have an excellent support page where you can learn everything yourself.

EXPLAINING THE PHOTO

1. 1 You can configure the Min and Max price; they give you a hint with the data from the same listing in your area.
2. 2/3 Calendar & Demand
   You will then have a calendar, and you can check when you will have a high Demand in your area, and price labs can automatically adjust your pricing.
3. 4 Neighborhood Data
   You can also check your competitor's data for how much they are charging on what days.
4. 5 Listings Health
   Based on a similar listing, you will know 7/30 & 60 days how you are performing compared to the market.

Thank you very much, and have a great year ahead :).

Best,
Ilir

[Carissa58]

Amazing!!! Thank you Ilir!! Wishing you an amazing 2022!

[Shannon692]

Hi 

I have been fumbling through Airbnb on and off for 1 year. I would love to ask other hostd questions about claiming income/ expeneses???  Do people register as a business???  I hope these aren't considered too personal.