6 Questions to Ask Before Making an Airbnb listing

Catering to the needs of your Airbnb guests is critical to success when running an Airbnb business. Therefore, you need to plan out your strategy before you even accept your first guest. Here are 6 questions to ask yourself about your property before you make an Airbnb listing.

1. Who Is My Audience?

Every Airbnb listing is suited to a particular demographic. Whether you’d like to target tourists to your area or business travelers, consider who your property fits the best.

Alone business traveler has very different needs than a family with children. As a result, you’ll also need to make sure that your Airbnb listing offers the needed amenities to attract the types of guests that you’d like to target. Airbnb listing offers the needed amenities to attract the types of guests that you’d like to target.

For business travelers, you might want to make sure that your place offers Wi-Fi, access to dry cleaning, a coffee maker, and a fitness center. For a family with children, you’d probably want to add a crib and make sure that your place is child-proof.

To attract your audience, make sure that you have everything they might want in place. You can even do a bit of research by looking at travel sites to see what kind of questions guests in your target audience commonly have about rental properties when they travel.

2. What Are the USPs of My Airbnb listing?

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a term that is used in business to refer to the unique attributes of a product or service that makes it stand out from the competition in the marketplace. As a host, you also need to consider the USPs of your Airbnb listing.

Why will guests love it? What is so special about it? Maybe you have a beautiful view of the city center right from a bedroom window or a Jacuzzi in your bathroom. Even if you do not have obvious extra benefits, you can make one. For instance, offer an extra hour or two before the checkout. With tons of properties to choose from on Airbnb, make sure to emphasize it in your listing if you offer something extra in comparison to other properties in your area.

3. What Should I Charge?

The price that you can charge for your Airbnb listing is totally up to you but if you want to ensure that you receive a steady stream of guests, it needs to be reasonable.

To get an idea of what you should charge for your Airbnb listing, look for other properties that offer similar amenities to yours in your area on Airbnb. You can also check out your local monthly rental property listings from a real estate agency to get a better idea of how much rent landlords are charging on average in your area.

Competition for renters on Airbnb is fierce in some markets and you should know what you’re up against when it comes to Airbnb pricing.

4. Do I Have a Business Plan?

Whether you’re just renting out a room in your home or you’re planning to rent out several apartments on Airbnb, you absolutely need to have a business plan. A written business plan will help you to determine if you’ve calculated your spending and planned revenue appropriately. Make sure that you do it carefully and actually write it down. A business plan that’s still in your head is not a real business plan.

5. Have I Done Everything Possible to Prevent Damage to My Airbnb listing?

Although Airbnb offers its own insurance, you also need to take the necessary steps to ensure that you have the proper insurance required to rent out your home according to local laws in your area.

Evaluate your risks. It is important to be cautious and takes all measures to prevent damages. Be careful when screening your guests and check guest reviews first to see if the person is trustworthy before you accept a rental request.

6. What Additional Services Do I Need?

As an Airbnb host, you can improve your chances of becoming a successful Airbnb host by using outside professional services to fulfill some of the duties that you don’t have the time or experience to do yourself. Cleaning services, key management services, and vacation rental software are just a few of them that you should consider.

If you’re building a serious business, you absolutely need Airbnb management software. iGMS is a cloud-based software that allows you to control your guest communications, bookings, alterations as well as manage day-to-day operations of your Airbnb business.

With all that said, be as accurate as possible as you create your  Airbnb listing and don’t forget to use your marketing knowledge to attract your precious guests.