We have an opportunity to host through Airbnb again! As with all things money and finance, I am happy to share the adventure with you.
First, I’ll give you some background on our original experience with Airbnb.
Then, I’ll explain why we stopped renting with Airbnb. Spoiler: It’s a good and pretty unique reason.
Next I will explain our future Airbnb plans. We’re doing things a little different.
Finally, I want to help you get started with Airbnb yourself. I’ll let you know how we can connect if you want me to walk you through the process.
Our Original Experience with Airbnb
About ten years ago, we bought a house that included a one-bedroom guest house. Having a rentable space was one of the features we were looking for when we were shopping for a house, so this was great.
We first started renting with Airbnb in 2018. It was a total experiment! We don’t live in a touristy area, so we had no idea how it would go. Would anyone want to stay at our place?
We were pleasantly surprised by the demand! We never would have guessed all of the reasons guests would find and choose our guest house. We had guests who were visiting family, going to funerals, attending weddings, traveling for work, escaping the San Francisco Bay area for some solitude, celebrating girls nights, participating in mushroom hunting excursions, and visiting touristy or recreation areas that are 45 minutes away. We had people just passing through on road trips and non-custodial parents from out of state coming to visit.
Our place was booked nearly every night, 348 nights of the first 365! We enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. Ninety-nine percent of our guests were great!
We did all of the cleaning ourselves, which very convenient since it’s right next door. Airbnb deposited our funds in our bank account with each stay.
Continuing Airbnb with Changes
There are only a few companies that offer insurance for short-term rentals like Airbnb. In 2022 our special home owner’s insurance that covered short term rentals canceled policies in our area. I go more into insurance in this post.
We adapted. We continued with Airbnb but only for stays of at least a month. Longer stays of a month or more just require a normal tenant add-on to insurance instead of the hard-to-find special short-term rental insurance.
We weren’t sure what the demand would be and if it would be worth it to rent through Airbnb rather then find a traditional renter. Would there be awkward gaps of vacancy between renters? How would the earnings compare with what we were earning previously with Airbnb?
Once again we were surprised at our success. We had families moving between homes, contractors traveling for work, travel nurses, and Bay Area remote workers who could work remotely and didn’t want to pay Bay Area residential prices anymore. We were still pleased with the amount of money we were earning. It was much more that we would have earned if we had just rented the space traditionally.
Why We Stopped Hosting on Airbnb and Why We’re Starting Again
In the fall of 2022, we heard about the need for housing Ukrainian refugees from a friend who was helping at refugee camps in Poland. We decided we could pause our Airbnb rental and offer our place free of charge to a family escaping the war in their home land.
The Ukrainian family, who had spent the past ten months living in a hotel-turned-refugee-camp in Poland, joined us in the spring of 2023. I shared some of our experience, if you’re interested in more details.
- We’re Sponsoring a Ukrainian Refugee Family FAQ
- Handling Finances for Sponsoring a Refugee Family
- Update on our Ukrainian friends
For over three years, we hosted this Ukrainian family, a single mom with three children.
We were happy, but a little surprised that they stayed as long as they did. The apartment is only 600 square feet, which is not a lot of space for a mom, two teenagers, and a preschooler. Having a family of four with three years of accumulated possessions in a one bedroom apartment got pretty tight.
In August they found a two-bedroom apartment about 15 minutes away.
Our Future with Airbnb
Since we last rented with Airbnb, our home owners insurance situation has gotten worse instead of better. Due to expensive wildfires across California, no commercial carrier will cover us. That means we still can’t get insurance for short-term rentals. It’s kind of a bummer because we really did have fun doing Airbnb the classic (short-term rental) way. Short-term rentals also earned more than renting on the long-term model, and our place was booked nearly 100% of the time.
Now that the apartment is open again, we are getting it ready for renting on Airbnb with stays of a month or longer. So much has changed in the past three years since we have rented this way. We have no idea what they current demand is and what sort of income current rates will provide.
We also have some updates and maintenance to take care of, including replacing the original single pane windows. We will need to do some painting, deep cleaning, and updates to the furnishings.
If there is no longer a demand for longer-term Airbnb rentals in our area, we will pivot and find a traditional renter, probably through word-of-mouth or Facebook Marketplace. I really hope that Airbnb comes through because we would earn more and wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble of finding and vetting a renter. I’ll keep you posted.
Help Getting Started with Airbnb
If you are considering earning an income with Airbnb, I totally encourage you to give it a try! Whether it’s renting out a room in your house, a portion of your house, a guest house, or your whole house when you are out of town, Airbnb makes it possible!
There is no need to be in a high tourist area. People are looking for Airbnbs everywhere for a million different reasons. Your space doesn’t need to be picture perfect either. As long as it’s clean and the listing photos, description, and price accurately convey what the guest will experience will be, then you can be successful!
I am happy to answer your questions. Sign up through my Airbnb link and Airbnb will connect us on that platform so I can walk you through the process and answer any questions you have. We were both surprised and delighted that it worked so well for us. I know you can be successful!
How about you?
Have you, and do you still, rent on Airbnb? Or do you think we should go straight for regular renters on Facebook Marketplace or Zillow?
Any advice from other short-term rental hosts or traditional landlords?
I used Furnished Finder as a travel nurse and places were often posted on both sites. Not sure if you’ve looked into that but that’s the first place I look as a travel nurse and often the website companies share with new travelers.
I second the furnish finder. One annual small time fee and no fees for you or the guest after that.
Thank Nicole! I will check it out!
That’s great to hear! I have a local friend who has found renters this way too. I will definitely look into it!