J ordan Hrovat is the cofounder of BeyondBNB.io. They help Airbnb hosts make more cheddar using their Earnings Optimization (E.O.) Framework.
Jordan wants to get a few things off his chest about Airbnb.
Airbnb is generally good. Most times, if a guest damages your property, they’ll pay for it. But not always.
Their security deposit? Pretty much useless. They never actually charge the guests that amount. So they’re not holding it, ready to foot the bill when some bro can’t handle his whiskey and puts his cue stick through the window.
Their security deposit is more of a vanity metric – only there to make you feel warm and fuzzy.
And they don’t allow you to take your own security deposits on the side, either.
Point being, Airbnb doesn’t have to pay when Chad turns into a property-wrecking tornado. So hear Jordan loud and clear when he says: you need short-term rental insurance.
Also, send out a nice, concise list of house rules the minute someone books.
And consider installing a noise monitor in the home. You can set it to where, after 10 pm, for instance, if the noise reaches a certain threshold, it buzzes you on your phone and lets you know.
Okay, but whaddya do when they ignore your house rules and could care less about your silly little noise monitor? You get gangster, that’s what. You have some Marsellus Wallace-looking security guard on call, right? Then, when the noise monitor goes off, you have him go over there and deal with it.
Where to get cleaners? Airtasker, Jordan says. You go on there, you post a job, and anyone who wants cleaning gigs, in this case, can bid on it. They’ll have their own ratings and reviews, so you can screen for quality people.
Pro tip: always have a backup cleaner on standby. For when the main cleaner’s kid gets sick or what have you. Tell the main cleaner to text the backup if they can’t make it in. That way, you’re not involved.
Speaking of which, get yourself a good property management software. Something that ties in all the calendars and team members and communication channels and lets you manage bookings and customer support and reviews all in one place.
Another thing, Jordan points out, is a lot of people think Airbnb’s the cheapest place to market your short-term rentals. But it’s a lot more expensive than ya think. If you list the same place for the same nightly rate on both Airbnb and Booking.com, for example, you’ll lose more money to commissions on Airbnb.
What else? If you’re finding yourself booked out ahead of the market average, that’s not something you should celebrate. As DJ Khaled would say, Congratulations, you played yourself. Raise your rates, silly. You might’ve left a good 20% on the table.
How aggressive can you get with pricing? A good rule of thumb is to never exceed 3x what you’d charge during a slow season. Anything beyond that, and people will start leaving you nasty reviews.
Jordan’s free content is more insightful than what some experts offer in their pricey courses. This makes me think their Earnings Optimization Accelerator is probably bursting at the seams with money-making tactics.
Here’s what you can expect if you decide to join.
E.O. Accelerator will help you leave your local market in the dust, elbow your way to Airbnb’s first page, use split testing to turn lookers into bookers, set up systems and automation, refine your EO strategy so it’s always aligned with supply and demand, and run your business by the numbers to produce steady profits.
Cost is only revealed after you get on the phone with ’em.
