Sell property with many bookings

[Pierre3308]

I am looking to buy a property that is on Airbnb. When looking at future bookings of that property it is booked a lot .

It has a much higher price range then many others with less bookings in th eneigbourhood.

I am wondering if the owner can have al those bookings because of a lower price and "knowing" of the sale afterwards raise price to make it look more interesting to buy from them ? Curious if somebody can make it clear for me > 🙂 

[Shelley159 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Pierre3308 

If I understand correctly, you're worried that the actual bookings were obtained at lower rates and that the present host may have been able to increase the rate of unbooked nights to make it look like the property is getting booked at very high rates. It's good that you're taking a critical look at the deal to see whether you're basing your decision on realiable information.

It's certainly possible for a host to change the price of unbooked nights at any time, and by as much as they want to, so in theory what you're worried about is possible.

You'll need to ask the host for details of the bookings so you can see what the actual host payouts are. The host can access payouts (past and future) in the "Earnings" tab of their account and send you a copy.

If you've simply been looking at the Airbnb calendar and seeing many future nights unavailable there, keep in mind that some of these nights could have been blocked for maintenance or whatever reason (they don't necessarily represent actual bookings). This is another reason to ask for the earnings report so you can verify actual bookings.

Keep in mind:

- Many hosts also take bookings from other platforms and direct bookings, so you may need further information if some of the future blocked dates relate to such bookings.

- When the host provides you with Airbnb's earnings report and you study the payout details, keep in mind that rates do vary. For example, if the rate seems low on some of the bookings, the dates may fall in low season. If the host has dynamic pricing turned on, rates may vary from one booking to the next. You'll need to look at the payment details over time to see what the host has been earning.  

[Pierre3308]

Thankyou for your clear reply.  Basicly we were are searching a house in the city ( touristic place ) where my wife was born.  The seller showed pictures but not ones where you see the location. Luckely we have google maps en this houw a swimmingpool 🙂 . Revers image search showed pictures of Airbnb so that combination was made. Wonder how they did it in the before google era 🙂 . In this case it triggered me that in all the neigbourhood the houses are rented in the same period for less then 50 % then the one which is for sale... Ok that one has a little swimming pool  ( bigger bathtub ) so i would understand that the price is a bit higher but not % that much....  I will use your advice to double check it all.

Thank you very much or in Afrikaans, Dankie 😉 

[Shelley159]

😃🤣Groot plesier!