Just how much time is needed to manage an Airbnb?
If you are considering starting and managing your own airbnb it’s important to understand that in effect you are running a small business. Many property owners underestimate the complexity of running an airbnb, so it’s important to understand everything that’s involved and the time required so that you can decide if it’s right for you or whether your should hire an airbnb management company.
In the following blog we’re going to highlight the most time consuming tasks in running an airbnb.
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Managing online listings
If you want your airbnb to be successful you actually need to list on more than just airbnb! You need to list of Stayz (Expedia) and Booking.com as a minimum. Due to the majority of hosts not having a property management system this means that if you need to update your listings you need to do so in three places each time. This can be very time consuming and if you forget to update one and get a negative review due to poor accuracy this can badly affect your rank on the booking platforms, in turn leading to reduce bookings.
Time estimate: 1-2 hours per week.
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Updating Pricing
Pricing requires a huge amount of attention to detail to ensure that you are optimising your pricing to match market demand. Again, solo hosts don’t typically have the technology to do this automatically which means they have to track prices in spreadsheets and manually add platform fees. Doing this manually for three platforms takes time.
Time estimate: 2-4 hours a week.
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Answering guest questions
Unless you have a knowledge base and substantial FAQ’s set up with automated templates you may find yourself drowning in guest questions before, during and after bookings. Don’t underestimate how many questions guests will ask you – from requests for early check ins to questions about amenities, you may find yourself driven to distraction!
Time estimate: 2-4 hours a week.
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Managing Cleaners
Getting a booking is just the start – managing cleaners is the next step! From scheduling them too dealing with issues caused by guests to arranging their payments and making sure they are doing a good job, you may find yourself spending hours just organising your cleaners.
Time estimate: 1-2 hours per week.
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Property Consumable Updates
To cater for your guests you need to supply consumable items such as tea, coffee, sugar, cleaning products, shampoo, soaps and more. Your cleaners, unfortunately will not buy these or organise these for you – they have to be purchased and supplied by yourself. Unless you have the right systems in place this will require you to visit your property weekly to check on stocks and to re stock consumable items.
Time estimate: 1-2 hours per week.
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Payments & Accounting
It’s important that for tax purposes every payment and all expenses are tracked and logged. This is because you will have to declare your property’s profit as income in your tax return, so your accountant will require accurate data. Fail to do this properly and you could find yourself in deep trouble with the ATO.
Time estimate: 1-2 hours per week.
Is it a good idea to spend time managing an Airbnb yourself?
We estimate that the total time required to manage your own airbnb ranges from 8-16 hours a week. This includes only the basics of listing your property on the main booking platforms. If you are intending to do more marketing such as have your own website, use social media or use other websites it could become almost a full-time job.
If you are currently retired or don’t work this could be an enjoyable job for many people, but we find that the majority of short-term rental owners are at a stage in their lives where they are juggling busy jobs and family commitments and simply don’t have the time to manage an airbnb effectively themselves.
Want help managing your Airbnb property in New South Wales?
If it all sounds too hard then why not contact us to find out how we can do it all for you, saving you valuable time. With our world class systems and award winning experience we make the whole process easy for you.
If it does sound like something you want to do, we’d still like to help you – simply contact us and we’ll send you a free copy of our incredible book “The Professional Holiday Home” so you can give it a go yourself!
