Airbnb is a service that allows hosts to rent out homes or rooms on a short-term by travelers through a website booking similar to a standard hotel booking process.
As an owner of a property investment, you can rent out a vacant room or an entire condo unit to Airbnb members who underwent verification process by providing a government issued ID and endorsed for good behavior by other hosts, if available.
The Airbnb revenue model a great option when it comes to listing your property up for rent, whether it is a single spare room or a fully furnished apartment. If you are considering getting your property listed on Airbnb then here are some things that you need to know before you do that. So if you just purchased your apartment or condominium unit and have space to accommodate visitors, this model may be applicable means to earn income.
- Renting property on Airbnb
- To rent your property on Airbnb, here is what you need to do:
- Create an account on the website.
- Click on “List Your Space” icon at the top of Airbnb page.
- Specify the “home type”, “room type” which includes telling what you are putting up for rent- the entire house, a private room or a shared accommodation.
- Choose whether you want to allow potential guests to make a booking instantaneously, or whether you would prefer to receive a booking request before you decide whether you would like to host them.
- Upload pictures of the property to attract interested people.
- Specify the dates on which the property is available.
- Wait for the listing to go live and once it does wait for queries and responses.
- Payment
In order to receive payment you need to:
- Provide Airbnb with payment details after creating your listing.
- On receiving your conformation of holding a guest, Airbnb will collect the payment from them.
- The payment is released to you 24 hours after check-in.
- Refund
As the host, it is your call when choosing how much refund you want to provide. There are five cancellation policies that you can choose from.
- “Flexible” means that you are willing to offer a full refund one day prior to arrival, except fees
- “Moderate” means that you are willing to offer a full refund five days prior to arrival, except fees
- “Strict” means you will give a 50 per cent refund up until one week prior to arrival, except fees
- “Super strict” policy is by invitation only and means you will offer a 50 per cent refund up until 30 days prior to arrival, except fees.
- There is also a policy for long-term lets of 28 nights or more.
- Review from the guests
Airbnb provides a user friendly platform on which you can review your stays. The reviews are released simultaneously to both the host and the guest so that they remain realistic in case they are negative.
The quality and quantity of reviews you receive will impact on your position in search results listings.
You are also rewarded by Airbnb if you are a host that provides a good service.
- Legality of Airbnb stays
All users have to use their own discretion to make sure that their use of the site does not contravene any city, state, district or country laws.
For hosts who rent their property, this will likely mean that you must ensure there are no clauses against subletting in your rental agreement; you may well need to get permission from your landlord before listing your space.
- Inspection of property
It is not possible to inspect every property listed on Airbnb. There is however, a rule that if you sublet your property you must comply with the same regulations regarding fire risk assessments.
- Protection against potential vandals.
There are cases when the guests become intruders and vandalize apartments. For any kind of theft or potential breach of privacy Airbnb has set up a 24-hour customer hotline and introducing damage cover for loss due to theft or vandalism.
But this does not cover everything and Airbnb recommends that hosts obtain appropriate home insurance on top of this.
