Learning how to start an Airbnb as a beginner can be a bit of a daunting task. However, the good news is that you can quickly learn all the basic details and Airbnb tools involved in how to manage vacation rentals on your own with a minimal learning curve. On this page, we will break down everything you need to know about how to manage a vacation rental property.
Remember that Rental Management Isn’t Easy
Before you start to consider all the many factors involved in learning how to manage a vacation property on your own, be sure to consider hiring help. Airbnb management services such as what we find in a company like Whome will take away all the time and stress of managing the property on your own with a very minimal commission.
10 Factors in Managing a Vacation Property
You won’t be able to manage a vacation rental property on your own without a little bit of background knowledge. Although it may seem easy to collect some money, hand over keys, and so on, this is not an industry of work that will be easy for you to master. Here are 10 factors that you need to master before you will know how to manage a vacation property efficiently.
1. Knowing Your Budget & Income Needs
Before you even start to think about renting out your vacation property it’s important that you have a plan for the finances. You need to start by knowing how much income you need each month at a bare minimum. Then, factor in what you need to invest each month.
2. Choosing a Marketing Platform
With your financial planning out of the way, you are ready to start marketing your vacation property. Many people will use a popular platform like Airbnb for renting out their vacation rental. This is due to the massive amount of popularity and trust that they have. However, keep in mind that there are also countless other platforms to consider for marketing your rental.
3. Having Professional Photos
You simply shouldn’t think about having a vacation rental if you don’t have the professional photos. Take the time to fully clean and make your rental presentable. Then, hire a professional photographer or use a professional camera and get your photos done right.
4. Getting Good Reviews
Reviews are what give the customers the ability to speak on their experiences at your hotel without a chance of the property owner intervening in the process. As a vacation rental owner, you need to keep this in the back of your mind at all times. One bad review can ruin your business. Find ways to ensure each of your guests has a great experience.
5. Establishing a Booking Calendar System
Once you start to get bookings, you will need to be organized. The last thing you need is to constantly overbook yourself. With an organized calendar system, this won’t happen. Make sure you always know what dates are open. If you use an online platform like Airbnb, this can be a lot easier.
6. Pricing to Balance Supply & Demand
The price of your property is something that you will constantly change throughout your career as a vacation rental owner. This is because you will always need to find a balance between the supply and demand of the market. Most importantly, the quality of your hotel needs to be kept in the back of your mind when deciding what your prices are.
7. Cleaning the House After Each Check-Out
Just as you would expect a hotel room to be clean on arrival, your guests will expect your property to be spotless. If you haven’t already planned for this, it’s time to start thinking about how you will efficiently clean the property after each guest check-out.
8. Being Able to Manage Last-Minute Maintenance
Imagine the scenario: you have a guest who just checked-in to your vacation rental. Within an hour, the kitchen stove breaks down. What are you going to do? This is a great example of endless possible scenarios that happen to you as a vacation rental owner. Start to think about how you will face this situation. You need to have somebody who can fix things like this at the last minute.
9. Key Service
Airbnb key service is one of the most important factors to plan for if you want to minimize your time investment as a vacation property owner. You might not be able to be at the property to deal with random and unpredictable check-in times. Plan a system for guests to both get and return their keys without making a big hassle for you as the owner.
10. Concierge & Shuttle Service
Airbnb concierge service and shuttle service are not necessarily required if you are just starting out. However, think about how high-quality a service you want to provide your guests. Something like concierge and shuttle services will be a large factor to help you be able to push your prices up.
Need Some Help Managing Your Vacation Property?
As we can see, anybody can learn how to manage a vacation rental property like a professional. However, the biggest problems people are time-related, and meeting their income needs. Need some help doing this? Then you should consider hiring the services of an Airbnb property management company.
