The best time to buy a house is when you're not buying it for yourself but will be using it as as rental. Most people were sold the idea of the American Dream where your "house was an asset", but if we look at the definitions between an asset and a liability we find out that a house is actually a liability. Why? Because you're paying the mortgage, paying for the maintenance, insurance, and all the other headaches that come with home-ownership. So, if you want to turn your house into a rental (asset), then one way to do this is to list it on Airbnb, and for your information, you could also rent our an apartment or a condominium.
How To List Your Apartments or House On Airbnb?
If you have a house, condo, or apartment, listing it for rent on AirBnB is much like creating a Facebook account for yourself, or a Facebook page for your business. So, if you haven't already made an account with Airbnb then that should be step number zero. Once you've created an account and verified your email, you will then head back to the sign in page where you will see a green button labeled "list your space".
Once you click on "create your space" you will be directed to the page where you input all of your space's features and details. You will choose the home type to list either an apartment, a house, a bed & breakfast, or other. Next, you'll select the room type to let the renter know whether it will be a shared room, a private room, or the entire home or apartment. The following item to list is the number of people your space can accommodate. Make sure that you list a number based off of your own experience, meaning that you would feel comfortable fitting as many people as you list. Don't list 10 people when the room can only fit 5.
After you list the number of people, you will have to provide the city where your Airbnb is located. Then you will be taken to the following section where you will describe the interior more in detail. You will fill in items like "there's towels in the bathroom", etc. From here on out we move on to the calendar, pricing, photos, and amenities. In the calendar section you will select when your Airbnb is available. You can choose between always, sometimes, or one time and can select the dates accordingly. In the pricing section, Airbnb will determine a price based on their algorithms which uses information on the city your space is located in and what the rents are going for based on the size and type of your space.
If you're new to Airbnb you might want to select a price that's a bit below what they say you should list for, this way you get people interested. Once you've set a price you will be led to the overview section. Here it is your job to sell your space by writing a catchy title and summary of the space. For example, you can say something like "Panoramic Ocean Views in The Heart of (Insert City)". Also, when writing your summary, don't write an essay. Make sure it's clean and has bullet points so people can scan through it and book!
The fifth section of your Airbnb listing includes photos. You don't want to give people more than 10 photos to look at because it becomes overwhelming and you give them too much up front. You want to make it a bit mysterious, but also showcasing the best parts of the space. The first three photos should be the most high resolution and should showcase the most eye-opening section of the rental. Once you've listed your photos, you'll fill in the amenities section which include common amenities like television, cable, air conditioning, heating, a kitchen, internet and wifi, and more. You can choose some extras as well like hot tub, washer and dryer, pool, and breakfast if this is available for your renters. You have to select from the Airbnb options, but you can later edit and create new amenities such as "waterfall shower" etc.
Finally, the listing and mapping sections. In the listing section you will define bedrooms, beds, and bathrooms. Then you will select the home type, room type, and the number of people it accommodates, again. In the mapping section all you have to do is begin typing the address and Airbnb will automatically fill in the rest. You will see the red icon on the map, exactly where your property is.
After completing all of these steps, and after you've reviewed the listing and how others will see it, you can publish it. The one thing we leave you with is to tell the truth. Don't try to make your listing something that it's not because sooner or later, your renters will leave comments and reviews and as soon as Airbnb sees that you're getting negative comments and bad reviews, they may take your listing off their system.
Conclusion
In conclusion in this article we discussed the topic of Airbnb and how to list a property on their website. You have to make an account, you have to know the details of your space, you need to put at least 3 photos, and you need to be truthful with the information you provide. If you follow these steps and price you rent correctly, you will have people telling their friends to visit your place.
