Awesome videos, very detailed and well thought out! Thank you! Question regarding checkouts. If you have someone request a late checkout are usually able to make it work or does it throw off the whole schedule with the cleaners and the new people coming in? How do you work your scheduling is it completely open where people can book it one stay after another? Or do you typically block of 1 day between bookings so you have the time you need for a deep cleaning and whatever else you may need?
If we have someone request a late check-out we text our cleaners as soon as we are asked to make sure they are able to fit it into their schedule. If it won’t work we let the guests know it’s a busy weekend and we hope they understand (usually they do, esp if it is a last min request). We leave the cal open and we do deep cleanings in between guests and block off a day during the week to get in there and do the job ourselves! We do this about once every week / week and a half depending on our work schedules. Hope this helps!!
Congrats on the house! I have airbnbs in Florida and Puerto Rico. I've been doing it for about 10 years and I retired at 45 and live off my rental income. You'll be very happy you've gone down this path. New Sub.
managing the cleaners and the home in general will get old really quick, oh and add laundry, inside maintenance, normal wear and tear of the house and items, inventory count, bad guests, guests request/demands/questions, trash day 🥵 much success to you guys.
Amazing video guys. Myself and my wife watched your video before starting our Airbnb Maple Blue in St. John’s Newfoundland and now we are into our second month. We opened to guests on June 29th and have been booked everyday since and everyday up until Sept 17th (minus days between guests of course) We have had more success so far then we could have ever dreamed possible. Thank you for your tips and tricks and I hope you guys continued success with your listings. Cheers Chad and Janine
Oh wow! Thank you so much for the super sweet comment. And congrats on all your success so far! We are so happy we could share our experience with you guys and so happy we could help in some small way. Best of luck on your journey! Keep us updated 👏🏼
@therarebreed8038 Congratulations 🎉 I'm looking to do research on Airbnb I lived in NB what advice would you give someone looking to start this business? Would you be eligible for a small loan? Who should speak to ask more questions? When buying the house do you have to list the house as a business home?
We self manage 3 STR's. Great advise. I get into my property at least once a month to do a deep clean and restock. Also having good cleaners is key. Can't wait to watch you grow your business.
I think your final point about how this allowed you to enter the realestate market in CA is a big factor. Well done..... This will set you up for your future.
It's not easy to find youtubers so natural, humble and honest as you are. You are not trying to sell anything and you keep it real and clear. Thank you so much for the video, I found it very informative.
I'm in Denver. Started Airbnb May 2021. Made about the same in my first 6 months. Learned a lot. 2br 1ba, use pricelabs. Reinvested my money too. Huge expense of $15,000 to completely gut the backyard and landscape it, let alone buying a grill, outdoor furniture, firepit. Had over $4K repairs already this year too. But hey, it pays my mortgage after all expenses paid and sometimes and as much as more than 2X my mortgage. Congrats!
So glad you're having a positive experience as well and we're on track with what you're doing in your first year as well. That's comforting to know! Best of luck to you and your STR!
I'm renting out my condo annually in Denver (Aurora actually)... the market is crazy, pricing is crazy & I honestly don't think the market is far off from CA. What I'm currently collecting for rent is DOUBLE+ my mortgage on a 2/2. It has legit been a huge blessing, allowing upgrades, double payments, and ultimately financial security 🙏💖🙏
Привет! Мы в Centennial, CO. Ищем инвестора из Colorado или другого штата, хотим переехать в горы и принимать гостей в доме,в который купит инвестор. Если заинтересованы, то пишите пожалуйста. Спасибо 🤗
I've had STR & furnished rentals since 2016 and one thing I've learned is that people spend A LOT of money on their pets. I suggest you consider allowing pets, raise your prices, and that gives you room to offer discounts to guests who are considering your house and don't have a pet. Plus a higher price house draws more serious guests and gets rid of people who don't make decisions based on value. That makes guests happy all around! and people who travel with their pets are USUALLY clean about them.
plants are a no brainer. Tons of realistic faux plants on line. Worth it. Also make your check list for cleaners ahead of time and save yourself a headache!
Great tips guys! This is something I'm seriously considering. Starting the initial research stages. Little nervous about airbnb laws and regulations - so educating myself there as well.
Thanks for sharing your experience. We've considered being hosts (currently in the research stage), and your videos are very insightful. I can't remember in what video you recommended a wall heater/AC unit. Could you share that again? Thank you! :)
Here in Louisville I only spent $1500 renovating a shotgun house in the restaurant district. And regularly have income double the house overhead. A large place to be able to tweak the mathematical equation of profit is spending very little on the renovation. I found that keeping things clean is more important than having new things.
Oh my gosh, do not get a hot tub! It's my biggest regret. I bought a brand new one to put in our airbnb because I felt like we didn't have something to really draw people in. It definitely helps with bookings, especially in the Winter here. But it's soooo much work and such a headache. No one follows the rules and it leads to serious time and money in cleaning. Nightmare.
The whole pet advice is really good . Had someone sneak their pet in and after they checked out, they said it was a service animal. I placed that lack of transparency on their review despite me reviewing them well. I had told them to let hosts know next time. Can’t assume it’s ok without consent .
Thanks so much for the nice message. Best of luck on your journey and let us know if you have any questions. If you want you can sign up with this link and get $40 and you can message us through airbnb if you have any questions setting up your account. www.airbnb.com/r/mchaelm9
What a coincidence - I just found your one month update video today and you also today uploaded the six month update LOL Appreciate the in-depth insights. My wife and I are thinking about grabbing a property to Airbnb but just trying to weigh the pros and cons!
Great video!! I’ve commented on your last video about dogs. We have a granny flat that we built on our property but we had a full remodel of our property and had the granny flat built so it’s completely private from ours (fenced off and has their own steps). We did install a spa (guests LOVE this), heated floors in bathroom and anywhere and everywhere I could add luxury, we did it. High end guests want high end amenities. I knew allowing dogs was going to be a big deal, and I fully believe many guests will find “ways” to make sure they can bring their dog, so we just went with it and all of our guests except one had dogs (most have two). I could not agree more with you about spotless cleaning. Luckily, I manage our airbnb and I am in there cleaning the unit with our cleaner when we have to flip it. I also schedule my handyman every 4 months or so to go in and touch up anywhere that needs it. I always am buying new fresh WHITE towels/sheets to replace anything stained. I try to make our unit the absolute best I can and we have been so lucky with being rented all the time (we are at least one month STR due to local laws). I have asked every guest how I can improve on anything and I’ve been surprised with some of the answers but I appreciate the feedback and make changes where I can. I can not stress how great airbnb has been for us. They definitely are more slanted towards the guest than the host but that is their platform and it works. We only built a 725 sq ft one bedroom and we clear anywhere from $6500 to 8G a month. If you guys can swing it, try to get closer to a highly desirable beach town (ours is in San Diego) because the draw is year round for bookings. Best of luck to you!!!!!!!
Would you ever buy/build a brand new house to air BnB? We are debating if it is better to get a fixer upper or just purchase land and build. I like the idea of knowing there will not be issues with new but also worry a new house will get trashed. Costs will be slightly higher for new but also won’t take months to do our own renovations. Thoughts?
Good to be here! I like this video, very educational and informative...I am taking notes. I am an REI with multiples LTR but looking to expand my endeavors into the STR.
That's why we went with barrel sauna over hot tub. Don't want to deal with maintenance, cleanliness complaints, and higher electric and water bills. So happy we went that route
How much does the sauna require clean/maintenance? We have a sauna at our personal home but think it’s prob too hot the majority of the time in the desert to justify one
@@kristenandmichael At first, it tripped the breaker every few weeks but once we figured out where moisture was coming from and sealed it, maintenance has been zero. Our cleaner spends 5 min with a portable vacuum in between guests. And once a month we deep clean it
Well done, kudos to you both! An incredible amount of hard work and effort goes into maintaining and managing a vacation rental (been there, done that)... But in a market like CA, such a smart way to get into the real estate market. Best wishes for continued success. And can we all just say how much we love good guests...!?
First, you guys are so cute and have such a nice/kind approach. I have been thinking about to get something around Joshua Tree and you both are inspiring me!
Congratulations on your 6 months anniversary on Airbnb. I appreciate your openness about the setting up of the property and the numbers. I really love the fact that you’re working side by side. It’s Powerful! All the best to you both. 👍👍
New subscriber! Thank you so much guys for your videos. This is something we are looking into for short-term and might turn long-term. These videos have been extremely helpful.
I’ve had an Airbnb for three years in Arkansas on our property, a ranch. We are located in a national park. I am a little confused about the service fee. I did some research and I cannot find where to lower it. Currently it looks like it’s about 15%. I hate that we charge $115 per night for our little studio cabin and people have to pay $40 for two nights in service fees. We’ve had the same issue with pets, I get asked all the time. I’m very clear in our listing that we have Donkeys and that if someone’s dog got loose it could get killed. We are also an allergy free unit due to family members who stay there. When I say this I have no problem. I learned the same about amenities. I have guest occasionally suggest things like bird feeders that would be a lot of work and I just say “Thank you for the feedback.” I also learned that putting fresh fruit in the house is a waste of money. And 100% on the cleaning. I try to clean mine randomly between the cleaners just to find things that may get overlooked. One thing I have found with the hair is lint rollers on the sheets are so valuable. I love your honesty and authenticity.
In the description of this video we link to a video that shows where to adjust service fee, it’s not lowering it it’s just switching it so that it doesn’t come out of your pocket. And same, we have coyotes that run through our property so we don’t want anything to happen to anyones pet but all we can do is warn them to be cautious. Thank you so much for watching. 🙏🏼
Why in the world would the guests have to pay the service fee as well? IT should be either 50-50, or on the host. The person booking is already making a "blind date" investment to the place, when there may or may not be a good or bad day for the airbnb. If you do not deep clean every time, the least hosts can do is pay for the service fee.
I love your guys Thanks for share all those your experiences. It helps a lot I’m ready for my 1st AirBnB in Austin . Nervous and excited at the same time Hopefully things will goes smoothly
I am so happy I found you two. I bought a course from some guru couple that teaches Airbnb and long story short I had to schedule a fraud charge for 6k, I just learned more from this 17 minute video than that entire course haha, keep up the good work 😋
Thank you!! These #s were before we took out expenses. All gross - but we did touch on roughly how much we spend on things in this and our latest vid!🙏🏼
I reserved an Airbnb a few months ago. 3 days later I had to cancel. lost over 700 dollars and part of it was a cleaning fee. So, I didn't stay but got charged like I did. Weird fees kind of go both ways.
You, too, have inspired me to open my own Airbnb property. You guys are so honest and open about your mistakes and good things , and I really appreciate it. Keep these types of videos coming. Keep up the good work. Also can you guys make a video how you list your property in Airbnb?
Thank you, Paul! That really means a lot to us. Congratulations & good luck to you on your STR journey! Definitely keep us posted on the progress. We wish we had filmed a step-by-step on how to list your property when we did it initially but maybe if /when we launch another one, we will! We have a "create your own direct booking website" coming in the next week or so, so keep an eye out for that!
Wish i found you guys sooner before i spent $1500 on a course taught by 2 20 year old tiktokers who claim they know everything and a course put together less than an hr that didnt provide as much value as you ❤
My wife and I just bought a property out of country and wanting to do airbnb. But not sure where to start and what type of softwares we will need to make it work out.
Here is an idea for you. I am setting up an Airbnb and wanted outside plants. You guys should look into a Blumat system. Perfect for miro irrigation. I have the best looking plants on the street.
Wow! The Blumat system is actually really cool. I'm curious if there's a way to hide the water source so guests can't see the long tube running out of the pot (for inside plants). Thank you for sharing! We had no idea.
Thank you so much for sharing. My wife and I purchased our first investment home as an ABB. 20 days into the renovation. Hopefully be ready in three to four months. I’ve learned so much from you guys. Thank you so much for such great content. Keep it coming!
You guys got this! It’s so much work but you will be so proud of yourselves. What an exciting (and taxing time🥵)! Just know it’s temporary and RU-vid everything if you don’t know how to fix something lol and give yourselves some grace. We bickered A LOT during reno bc neither of us knew what we were doing but it def made us stronger and better at working together. Congrats and good luck!!
