Wealthy Investor founder Ryan Pineda just rolled out a new coaching program called Prohost. Seems like this dude, Ivan Tejeda, is gonna be the one mentoring you though.
Ivan’s made over $1.5 million in Airbnb bookings so far, mostly through rental arbitrage.
Here are his five best tips to crush it with Airbnb, like a Miller Lite can at a frat party.
Tip No. 1 is to have a business plan. Even if you’re just renting out a room in your home, it’s still a business; treat it as such.
So who are you targeting? How much money do you wanna make? How much you gonna charge per night? Will the market support that rate? What are the top competitors offering? How ’bout hotels in the area? How can you differentiate yourself? Have you checked into the rules and regulations for short-term rentals in that city? Are you in compliance?
Better to be a scaredy-cat now than a sorry sap later. Especially if you’re thinking about purchasing a property to list on Airbnb.
What else ya got, Ivan?
Tip No. 2 is to understand the differences between short-term rentals and regular rentals. With STRs, you’re more in the hospitality business than the rental business. You’ll be interacting more with your guests. Waah, the bed’s uncomfortable. There’s not enough towels. Wait, what day does the garbage go out? Do we have to do that?
Like it or not, you’re gonna hear from these people. You have to make their life easy, their stay enjoyable. Your team has to be attentive and empathetic.
Tip No. 3 is to establish a clear and seamless check-in guide. Ivan put together a slideshow his guests can swipe through on the Airbnb app to let themselves in.
Since some of these folks are a few fries short of a Happy Meal, you have to dumb it down so that a three-year-old could understand it; or it’s not gonna work. So put one together and then stress-test it. Have someone go to the property with nothing but your guide and see if they have any issues getting in. If they do, tweak it and try again.
Tip No. 4 is to use professional photography. “If you don’t know how to take pictures,” Ivan says, “if you don’t have a decent enough camera, I encourage you to hire someone to do it for you.”
“Or, take some courses online or watch a couple of YouTube videos and see how you can take effective pictures for your listings. It’s so important because that’s the very first thing people see from your listing. People look at pictures first, everything else second. So first impression is very much key here. Don’t skimp on pictures.”
“On average, hosts who have professional pictures get 24% more bookings than hosts who have non-professional pictures. Basically, you’d be standing out 24% more than the rest of the folks that didn’t put forth the effort into their pictures.”
“Also, since your main competitor is hotels, you have to match that same type of quality, right? Like if it’s an established hotel, you know they’re gonna spend the money to present their rooms and amenities and all that in the best light possible,” he explains.
Tip No. 5 is to communicate with your neighbors. Create strong relationships with ’em. An open door policy.
If they see anything weird, if something gets on their nerves, if it’s too noisy, tell ’em to text or call. Or else it’ll be the city or the HOA or the police they hit up, and you don’t want that smoke.
It goes back to empathy. This is where their family lives. Permanently. You need to respect that and make them comfortable with you running a business right next door.
Check out Prohost coaching by Wealthy Investor for more.