Any AirBnB owners here?

Author
Discussion

kurt535

Original Poster:

3,559 posts

116 months

Sunday 9th April 2017
quotequote all
How has it gone? Worth the punt or is it a PITA?

I have a 3 bed cottage in a well known quant seaside town in East Anglia. Im either going to rent back out full time or have a go at AirBnB but am curious if it really can make more than going down the more trad agency routes.

Ty

Ali2202

3,815 posts

203 months

Monday 10th April 2017
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It's been brilliant for us. You need a great support structure and a caring approach.

(see profile)


Slushbox

1,484 posts

104 months

Monday 10th April 2017
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Friends have one in a university town. They say they normally get people connected to the Uni in some form; faculty, and students. It's adjacent to their house, so fettling it for each stay is easy. Said they get paid very quickly and haven't had any issues.

If getting to the property to re-supply it after each stay isn't an issue, then why not?

Gareth1974

3,408 posts

138 months

Monday 10th April 2017
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deckster

9,630 posts

254 months

Monday 10th April 2017
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Gareth1974 said:
Payment in kind ?!

minimalist

1,488 posts

204 months

Monday 10th April 2017
quotequote all
I rent out a place on airbnb and it has been mostly good. One chap damaged a glass table but paid £700 towards fixing it. We asked for £500 so the extra was a surprise. It didn't cover the repair mind.

I also rented out another place in Pimlico through One Fine Stay. They manage everything so it was very handy but they take a much bigger cut. A few years ago I was very happy when a business woman wanted to rent the place for a month. A few weeks in a neighbour phoned as she found all the comings and goings a bit strange. We asked One Fine Stay about it who played it down but we are fairly certain there was a make-shift brothel there.

Ali2202

3,815 posts

203 months

Monday 10th April 2017
quotequote all
Please remember that Airbnb is very much an honour system where both owner and guest are reviewed. This seems to keep the 'piss-takers' on both sides to a minimum. It's important that you are clear with your house-rules (no smoking/pets/parties etc.).

We have had few problems. Americans have been the worst....leaving heating on high, all lights left on. rubbish not cleared as requested. They have often forgotten that the apartment is our Home and treat it like a hotel instead. In our reviews of these type of guests we have been relatively gentle but said enough to give the hint to future guests. It seems to be working... wink

kurt535

Original Poster:

3,559 posts

116 months

Monday 10th April 2017
quotequote all
Hey all,

Very useful responses. Many thanks.

Would you say that your property is utilised far more than if:

1. you had done a normal 6 month AST
or
2. rented your house out through a holiday let agency?

Thank you!

Ali2202

3,815 posts

203 months

Monday 10th April 2017
quotequote all
kurt535 said:
Hey all,

Very useful responses. Many thanks.

Would you say that your property is utilised far more than if:

1. you had done a normal 6 month AST
or
2. rented your house out through a holiday let agency?

Thank you!
For us Airbnb has trumped both the above by a long shot and it also allows us access to the apartment in the off-season. We are fortunate to have a really keen and conscientious person that does the changeovers for us whilst we manage schedules via the Airbnb dashboard in the background.

It is Lake Como of course which does help from a demand viewpoint!

kurt535

Original Poster:

3,559 posts

116 months

Monday 10th April 2017
quotequote all
Ali2202 said:
kurt535 said:
Hey all,

Very useful responses. Many thanks.

Would you say that your property is utilised far more than if:

1. you had done a normal 6 month AST
or
2. rented your house out through a holiday let agency?

Thank you!
For us Airbnb has trumped both the above by a long shot and it also allows us access to the apartment in the off-season. We are fortunate to have a really keen and conscientious person that does the changeovers for us whilst we manage schedules via the Airbnb dashboard in the background.

It is Lake Como of course which does help from a demand viewpoint!
I can quite see an anchorman/woman is the key. Do you charge cleaning ontop or is it included in the price?

W211

3,925 posts

268 months

Monday 15th April 2019
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Just a bit of a thread resurrect here... was wondering if anyone has any recent experiences? We are looking at it as part of a pensions/investment strategy and were interested in the upsides and the downsides really... are the returns OK?

Mykap

633 posts

187 months

Monday 15th April 2019
quotequote all
We run our apartment in Costa Blanca as an Air bnb. Absolutely no issues at all, Air bnb pay us two days after guests arrive without fail. We don't even bother advertising elsewhere.

All our guests have been fine. As stated above the two way review system works well. We have only ever declined one guest and that was on the basis of their online review.

A lot of non sense is spouted about troublesome guests.

98elise

26,376 posts

160 months

Monday 15th April 2019
quotequote all
Mykap said:
We run our apartment in Costa Blanca as an Air bnb. Absolutely no issues at all, Air bnb pay us two days after guests arrive without fail. We don't even bother advertising elsewhere.

All our guests have been fine. As stated above the two way review system works well. We have only ever declined one guest and that was on the basis of their online review.

A lot of non sense is spouted about troublesome guests.
How do you organise cleaning etc? Do you tend to get week block bookings as its a holiday destination, or is it more random?

I"m getting out of BTL so looking at holiday let's as an alternative.

The Moose

22,821 posts

208 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
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I run a few out here. I wouldn’t buy one to be a holiday let in our market if looking for a return.

They work well here if the owners are trying to supplement their running costs.

Anyone looking at it financially here would never buy to run like this - the opportunity cost of the money would be to great.

Mykap

633 posts

187 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
quotequote all
98elise said:
How do you organise cleaning etc? Do you tend to get week block bookings as its a holiday destination, or is it more random?

I"m getting out of BTL so looking at holiday let's as an alternative.
Our set up will be very different to your idea.
We live in the main building and the apartment is a separate self contained 2 bed with its own entrance, access to the pool etc.

I was just referring to the Air BnB as a site and its efficiency for collecting payments and acting as a platform to advertise. My wife handles the cleaning and admin. We tend to get guests staying for 1 to 2 weeks although we have a couple staying for a month in September. Most bookings are seasonal but with the 5 star reviews we seem to be picking up more out of season short term stays. We have been running for 2 years and get booked up early in the year.


What we have doesn't make a fortune but lets us run the villa in Spain free of charge. Living the dream...……...

98elise

26,376 posts

160 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
quotequote all
Mykap said:
98elise said:
How do you organise cleaning etc? Do you tend to get week block bookings as its a holiday destination, or is it more random?

I"m getting out of BTL so looking at holiday let's as an alternative.
Our set up will be very different to your idea.
We live in the main building and the apartment is a separate self contained 2 bed with its own entrance, access to the pool etc.

I was just referring to the Air BnB as a site and its efficiency for collecting payments and acting as a platform to advertise. My wife handles the cleaning and admin. We tend to get guests staying for 1 to 2 weeks although we have a couple staying for a month in September. Most bookings are seasonal but with the 5 star reviews we seem to be picking up more out of season short term stays. We have been running for 2 years and get booked up early in the year.


What we have doesn't make a fortune but lets us run the villa in Spain free of charge. Living the dream...……...
I might be moving to where I buy, but it's got to stack up as a business. If it can't beat BTL then it's not worth it.

My alternate plan is student let's, but I'd rather move my capital out of the UK.

The Moose

22,821 posts

208 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
quotequote all
98elise said:
Mykap said:
98elise said:
How do you organise cleaning etc? Do you tend to get week block bookings as its a holiday destination, or is it more random?

I"m getting out of BTL so looking at holiday let's as an alternative.
Our set up will be very different to your idea.
We live in the main building and the apartment is a separate self contained 2 bed with its own entrance, access to the pool etc.

I was just referring to the Air BnB as a site and its efficiency for collecting payments and acting as a platform to advertise. My wife handles the cleaning and admin. We tend to get guests staying for 1 to 2 weeks although we have a couple staying for a month in September. Most bookings are seasonal but with the 5 star reviews we seem to be picking up more out of season short term stays. We have been running for 2 years and get booked up early in the year.


What we have doesn't make a fortune but lets us run the villa in Spain free of charge. Living the dream...……...
I might be moving to where I buy, but it's got to stack up as a business. If it can't beat BTL then it's not worth it.

My alternate plan is student let's, but I'd rather move my capital out of the UK.
Holiday let’s aren’t the only real estate investment available outside the UK!

The Moose

22,821 posts

208 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
quotequote all
Mykap said:
What we have doesn't make a fortune but lets us run the villa in Spain free of charge. Living the dream...……...
Out of interest, what are the capital values doing?

Junior Bianno

1,400 posts

192 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
quotequote all
We now let our townhouse in Portugal out via AirBNB. It's been a game changer. Previously we just used local rental agents and they were pretty good at letting it during the summer peak season, but other than that we got very little. Think we put it on AirBNB in 2017 and since then it's had effectively full occupancy. Even over December and January we had only the odd single day free. Pretty good given that really is dead season in the Algarve (can be very nice weather though). Obviously the rates are lower, but they're still profitable. The biggest problem is making sure we schedule time for our own use.

It now comfortably pays all bills with quite a bit left over. Added to that property values locally have increased quite a bit over the past few years.

AirBNB as a system works really well - other than little niggles, no complaints really. We have a deal with our local agents. If they get the booking, they deal with everything and they take 20% + €50 for cleaning. If we get the booking through AirBNB, they take 10% + €50. We just pass the cleaning charge on via AirBNB. The 10% keeps the agent sweet, and they deal with the keys, keeping an eye on the property, damage and repairs, checkout, queries etc. One thing to bear in mind is that with level of occupancy, you do spend quite a lot on upkeep - painting, repairs etc. Other things crop up too - the bedroom air conditioners are now pretty much knackered, so that is going to be €1800 this year to replace those, but we should be able to do that out of income.

I wouldn't give credit completely to AirBNB for the high occupancy though. It's really just a tool that brings a large audience. The basics matter - our place is close to the airport, walkable to the town centre, marina and beach, surrounded by golf courses, and local bars, restaurants and shops are a couple of minutes walk away. The house itself is well presented and has all the amenities that people are looking for like a pool, aircon, outside space etc. Basically everything a large percentage of people are looking for when booking holidays. If you don't have those it's unlikely a nice AirBNB listing will make up for it.

It all works out well for us at this stage in life. We're too busy to use it very much at this point with kids in school etc, but it's a nice little investment and it had the side benefit of being able to use it for holidays.

Mykap

633 posts

187 months

Tuesday 16th April 2019
quotequote all
The Moose said:
Out of interest, what are the capital values doing?
I bought in 2004 and suffered the nose dive in 2006-7. However since 2011 we have seen a steady rise, currently running at about 3% pa. Subject to the property being in a desirable location.