The Pros and Cons of Hosting on Airbnb (or VRBO, booking.com etc)
In November of 2021 I decided to convert our long term rentals into medium and short term rentals and MAN do I love it. Since I do a combination of short and medium term rentals, I gear my listings towards people who need housing for 28+ days at a time and I fill with short term stays in between. However, with the temperatures warming up and summer coming, it seems like I’m getting more and more short term stays, mainly from Airbnb.
So for those of you debating on whether or not to give short term rentals a try, in this post I’m gonna share my thoughts on why I do and don’t like the Airbnb model. Believe me, there’s a ton more to consider than just what I list below, but I hope this will be a good starting point for you.
And if you’re thinking about joining Airbnb, if you sign up through my link you’ll get $40 for joining! (I also receive a small commission as well so it’s a win win!)
Why I like Airbnb
Making more money
There’s the first and most obvious reason for hosting on Airbnb and that’s making more moola! The number one reason to host on Airbnb and do short term rentals is the monthly payout is much more than you’d get renting the unit to a long term tenant. The headaches and hassles can also be much more as well but it’s a tradeoff!
Instead of renting the unit monthly, you’re renting the unit nightly which provides a lot more potential for income. For example, in my area, you can rent a 1 bedroom for $1,000 a month or you can rent that same unit for $100 night, for a potential monthly profit of $3,000 if 100% occupied!
LESS wear and tear!
Less wear and tear on the units sounds counterintuitive… how can there be LESS wear and tear when you have MORE people coming through the unit? But over the past 6 months I’ve found the units to have less wear and tear than when we were renting to long term tenants. This is probably due to a number of reasons. For example, when talking about less wear and tear on say, an oven, people staying only a short amount of time are less likely to use the appliances. No one coming in for the weekend is going to bake a cake.
The apartments get cleaned often
The apartments also gets cleaned All. The. Time. In one of our units, we have really hard water and glass shower doors – and those two things don’t mix well. When our tenant of 4 years moved out, we spent 2 full hours cleaning the shower doors trying to remove the hard water spots that were EVERYWHERE. (As a side note, I am still cleaning the units between tenants and I’ll keep doing it until I no longer have the time to fit it into my schedule. And a small part of me actually enjoys the time I spend cleaning because I get to listen to my audiobooks or just zone out to some good tunes.) So now, every time the unit is turned, the shower doors get cleaned with minimal effort. Easy peasy. And while I highly doubt guests are actually doing it, I have a rule in my house manual that guests are responsible for wiping down the shower doors after each use with a provided squeegee.
Repairs get taken care of immediately
Repairs, both big and small, are immediately done to the units. With the Airbnb model, everything in the unit has to be pristine and up to the highest of standards. While it might be okay to have a long term tenant deal with a cabinet you have to jiggle to open, this isn’t okay for an Airbnb – so these minor things should (and definitely do in our units) get fixed immediately.
No leases to deal with
Not having leases could be a pro or a con but I personally like not having to deal with leases. If the guest stays less than 28 days I don’t make them sign a lease, anything over 28 days and they do have to sign a lease, simple as that. Even though we use electronic leases, it’s still a time suck to do the back and forth with the signing, marking where to sign and initial and collecting the security deposit, first month rent, etc. With Airbnb, the guest books and pays right on the platform without the host (you) having to do anything! It’s amazeballs.
Other Pros
- Pick and choose when you want to host – this is especially useful when renting a unit on your own property!
- With instant booking turned OFF, you can review guests before they book and even have a conversation with them as to why they want to book your specific unit
- You can be as hands on as much or as little as you want (like greeting guests in person, etc.)
Why I don’t like hosting short term stays on Airbnb
Guests can be a drag
I’m not gonna lie, the guests can be a real drag sometimes – especially the needy ones who seem to ask the dumbest of dumb questions… like seriously WHY do you need to know that?!? And don’t get me started on when guests ask questions that are specifically answered in the house manual or directly in the listing – it takes all my willpower not to react with a sarcastic “can you read?!?”
Constant turnover is monotonous
The constant turnover can get monotonous, especially when you’re cleaning the same unit over and over again in a single month (if you aren’t outsourcing the cleaning) and answering the same questions day in and day out (again, even if the answers are in the listing.) It truly can feel like groundhog’s day.
Income isn’t guaranteed
Bookings on Airbnb or similar sites like VRBO and booking.com aren’t guaranteed so therefore your income isn’t either. Depending on your area, your bookings could also depend on the season, time of year and/or events happening in and around the area.
Time and energy commitment
Especially at first, there’s a large time and energy commitment required to host on Airbnb (and it only makes sense to start using automation services once you have a few units up and running.) From getting the unit furnished, to listing the unit and filling out all the information on Airbnb to communicating with guests (if Instant book is turned off – which I highly recommend at first) it can be a time suck!
Not to mention you’re always “on call” to answer any questions or problems that arise during each guests stay – because unfortunately with the Airbnb model guests expect a quick response no matter what day of the week or time it is. Similar to how a hotel always has someone on staff to help, you and your listing are always open for business.
So while there are definitely some downsides to Airbnb and a few things that get under my skin I am loving the short term rental model… you just have to take the good with the bad and weigh them against each other when deciding whether or not to pursue Airbnb for your unit(s). My advice would be to start with one unit and see how you like it. And like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, if you’re thinking of signing up to list your unit(s) on Airbnb, don’t forget to do so through my link and get $40!
I hope this post gave you some insight into the pros and cons of hosting on Airbnb and if you have any other questions don’t be afraid to reach out or ask below in the comments!
