There are many questions that you may have when renting out your home on Airbnb. A considerable amount of new rentals on the Airbnb market are concerned about safety issues, theft of artifacts, and the logistics of renting. To be a good Airbnb host, you should consider the following tips and information before renting.

Short-term Rental versus Long-term Rental

Before renting out your home on Airbnb, you should consider whether or not you want to make your property available for short-term or long-term rentals. This should be one of the first decisions that you should make.

Renting your property out short-term can have many expenses. For one, you will have to clean up your property frequently if the renters believe that your property is a good place for a short-term rental. You will have to consider this in your overall assessment of whether or not you can handle frequently cleaning up your property. Short-term rentals also have the possibility of communicating with new people every week that you do not know.

Renting your property long-term can have many financial benefits. However, renting out your property long-term could have its drawbacks, as well. Long-term renters tend to contact the owner of the property frequently, and missing possessions could be an issue. Before renting your property long-term, you should review or take pictures of your assets within the home. This is so that if there is ever a damage issue, you can present your case to the insurance.

Acceptance Rate That is in Line With Your Calendar

The acceptance rate that you have with Airbnb is based on how many times you accept bookings. Generally, you want to keep your Airbnb metrics positive so that you can continue to rank higher than other properties within the area. You should accept bookings that have openings on your calendar. Most importantly, you should accept bookings when you are available, as well. A host who frequently declines bookings tends to rank lower than those who accept bookings.

High Response Rate

Communication is a significant key to success when renting out your property on Airbnb. The response rate, according to Airbnb, is how frequently and quickly you respond to messages. Airbnb rewards host that promptly responds to messages from guests. And with technology today there is no reason not to respond almost immediately when you receive a notification on your phone or e-mail.

Emergency Contact Information

The best Airbnb hosts provide contact information, including emergency contact information, if the host is not available. Problems do arise very rarely, but resolving them is necessary. Clogged sinks, leaking water, accidents, and even broken windows do happen. You should always keep communication open in case of emergencies.

Have a Business Attitude

Having a business attitude does not include telling the guest that the rent is due or studying the gross profit. Instead, it is about creating an experience that the guest appreciates. Consider providing access to free coffee, discounts on future bookings, and even a guided walk-through of your property. You should consider providing guests with information on local attractions with transportation tips, coupons, and maps that could be helpful to them. Try to fit these items in a pouch on the fridge. Stuffing the refrigerator full of free drinks and appetizers is also an excellent way to get a five-star rating.

Final Thoughts

Renting out your property on Airbnb is a business that could help you gain more income and get to know more people at the same time. You will get to know more people through interpersonal interactions when dealing with a short-term rental. Short-term rentals can be quite expensive for the host because they require that you clean up the property frequently. If this is a negative or something you won't be able to do you might want to consider more of a long-term rental instead.

Success with Airbnb revolves around excellent communication skills with a good understanding of property law. However, you do not need to do be an expert at property law to be successful at renting your property out online. Just owning your property you'll already understand a lot of the local laws, property taxes and insurance. Make sure that you take pictures of your property in case there is stolen property or damage to your property. Keep your contact information up-to-date along with emergency contact information for your guests. Always respond to messages daily, if not hourly, to potential guests.

Accept guest bookings that fit your calendar and your review requirements. You do not have to accept all the booking requests. You are just booking applications that meet your needs. Follow this guideline, and you should be a successful host on Airbnb.

Just don't forget there are pros and cons to renting out your home on Airbnb, which you should consider before purchasing an investment property to rent out.

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Additional Resources About Vacation Rentals

• Are vacation rentals a good investment? This has become an extremely popular question especially when renting your property is only a click away on apps like Airbnb and VRBO. However, sometimes being a landlord to vacationers isn't always as profitable as some may think. This is why homeowners need to consider the pros and cons of investing in a rental property and really crunch the numbers and think about the "what ifs."
• Wondering if you should rent out your vacation property on a short term or long term basis? There are many things to consider when looking at long term vs short term rentals. First and foremost, what is going to put more money in your pocket? There is no way to determine your vacancy rate with a short term rental, so you'll have to guesstimate and plan on the worst-case scenario. Calculating income on a long term rental should be a little easier, but once again plan on the worst-case scenario. If you think your property will rent for $2,500 a month you may want to count on $2,300 a month. When crunching the numbers you'll also want to determine the cost of turnover; how much will it cost to clean the property? Will you need more furnishings for larger groups of vacation renters?
• Leaning towards buying a beach condo as an investment instead of a home? There are many benefits to going this route, but there are also many things to consider. First and foremost, you'll want to crunch the numbers and make sure it will work. Condos tend to have high maintenance fees, but they tend to cover a lot of items. Items like insurance, cable, water, access to amenities and more.  You'll also want to carefully read through the condo documents and make sure there you can live with all of the restrictions.
• Investing in real estate isn't for everyone. In fact, there are people who should not invest in real estate at all, for themselves or as an investment. If you expect to get rich quick investing isn't for you. Sometimes it can take years to make a profit and that's only after investing a good chunk of money to renovate the property. In addition to all of the money out of pocket upfront you'll have to spend money along the way, so if you can't afford to put out more money or have your funds tied up investing probably isn't for you.

About the Author

Top Wellington Realtor, Michelle Gibson, wrote: “5 Tips for Renting Out your Home on Airbnb”

Michelle has been specializing in residential real estate since 2001 throughout Wellington Florida and the surrounding area. Whether you’re looking to buy, sell or rent she will guide you through the entire real estate transaction. If you’re ready to put Michelle’s knowledge and expertise to work for you call or e-mail her today.

Areas of service include Wellington, Lake Worth, Royal Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, Greenacres and more.