Category: Airbnb Updates

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March Airbnb Update – How Disney Closing Has Impacted My Airbnb

Wanted to share a quick update on my Airbnb’s in the busiest time of the year! Disney announced they would be closing at close of business today for the remainder of the month. Universal followed suit. I purchase Airbnb properties in the Orlando area with my main guests being people who are visiting the area for the parks. A great investment, when the parks are open. Disney closing has had an impact on my short term rental business. 
 
These two months are what we consider the busiest time of the year  for Orlando travel! Well…should be the busiest time of the year for travel 🙂
 
What a wild world we are currently living in. From a massive fluctuation in the stock market each day to a pandemic that who knows what the final outcome will be.
 
Here is the awesome thing, I have 0 control of it. I wanted to share the reality of what happens when some of these things occur. These are real numbers from my Airbnb account.
 
The second Disney and Universal closed, I had 12 guests cancel between my three Airbnb properties. Am I mad about it? Heck no!
 
That is a part of the thing people call investing! This is part of the game. You have to be able to roll with the punches and put yourself in a position financially to get through this.
 
I am excited for being able to see something like this happen to understand some of the challenges that will occur through investing. This will absolutely not stop me from continuing on down the journey I am on.
 
I will be able to pay all my mortgages on my four homes without any issue if this were to continue on for another two years.
 
The message I want to deliver with this post is always have a gameplan for worst case scenario. That doesn’t mean you have to continue to tell yourself over and over that worst case scenario will happen. You just need to be able to financially take the hit and not lose everything.
 
That is the situation I have put myself into through all the investments I have.
 
In the meantime, if you are looking for heavily discounted prices to come to Orlando let me know! I have dropped my prices by 20-40% for anyone who still wants to come to Orlando!
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Creating That Wow Factor To Help Your Airbnb Standout

Time for a quick update I did to Turquoise! Creating that wow factor to help your Airbnb standout is critical to getting clickthrough of your unit. The more wow factor you can add to your Airbnb to help it stand out, the more people you will have click on your listing. Time for a quick update on my second Airbnb that I now have ready for professional pictures on Monday next week!

Here is the before picture:

Before Turquoise Living Room

Here is the after:

Turquoise After

For those of you who don’t know, Turquoise is my second Airbnb unit that I closed on three weeks ago. It is a 3BD/2.5B located in the surrounding Orlando area.

This unit has a lot of good things going for it, but didn’t have any wow factors for a great featured image on my Airbnb listing.

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I figured it was time to add that wow factor! It is so important in Airbnb to have great pictures. You want the main picture of your listing to draw the potential guests in. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
For this, I had a vision to add some accents to the wall in the living room downstairs. I had this vision, looked at a few different options and finally decided to move forward. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I blocked a day on the calendar for my GC to come out and install the accent wall. Swipe right to see the final output!

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I honestly didn’t know if this was going to turn out well or not. I could not be happier with how it actually looks in person and on photos! I now feel like my listing will have that wow factor when I get professional pictures taken on Monday next week!

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Do you like the accent wall?

All in all, the labor and materials for this cost $600. I believe this one picture and addition will help add $5-10 per night alone to my booking! From a return on investment standpoint (ROI), that will help generate another $1,368 in income assuming a 75% occupancy rate in one year. This will end up paying back in less than a half year!

Key Takeaways:

  • Creating that wow factor for  your listing will help it stand out against the competition
  • Calculate your ROI to understand if doing something like this would help your listing. Not only with this help my nightly rate, it will also help my occupancy rate. 
  • You don’t have to wait for all the remodeling of the home to be done before you have guests booking. Allow guests to book and then block off the random 1-2 days that naturally occur between bookings and utilize those for getting some work done!

Don’t forget @TheYoungRetireeBy33’s 3 Core Principles:

1 – Your money should make money for you⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2 – Start early to realize the power of compound interest⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3 – Eliminate your largest expense by house hacking

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Airbnb Superhost Tip – Why Addressing Someone by Their First Name Makes a Difference

Want to know how to make your Airbnb guests feel like they have a connection with you from the beginning? What is the most amazing single word to any human being? Think about it for a minute. There are plenty of words that probably come to mind.

What is the first thing that came to mind? For me, I didn’t even come close.

The single most amazing word for any human is their name. Think about it. This is the one thing you have identified with your entire life.

So here is a very simple Airbnb Superhost tip to make your guests feel welcome and excited to stay at your place. Address them by their first name in all your messages! Don’t say bud, pal, dude, gal, etc. These are all informal and leave your Airbnb guests without the best experience.

Here is an example of a message I send to my Airbnb guests after they have a confirmed booking with me:

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This message starts with me addressing them by their first name and then giving them a lot of great information about my place! It makes them feel welcome and also helps to confirm the date they will be arriving. It is the simple things like this that help reduce the amount of questions or concerns I have from guests.

Key Takeaways:

  • Communicate with your guest using their first name. It will make you seem more personable.
  • Give more information in messaging than simply saying, “Thanks for your reservation”
  • In subsequent messaging, continue addressing your guests at the beginning of the message by their first name

Don’t forget @TheYoungRetireeBy33’s 3 Core Principles:

1 – Your money should make money for you⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2 – Start early to realize the power of compound interest⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3 – Eliminate your largest expense by house hacking