Pimp my Airbnb

December 5, 2016 7:07 AM

I have been a renter on Airbnb, but never a host. I would like to rent out my entire house for the Superbowl in 2017.

Prices are all over the map ($30/night for a private room in the middle of nowhere all the way to $10,000/night for a five-story townhome). My house is very central but requires a drive or park/transit to the event. When I look at the property as a potential renter from February 2-5, 2017, Airbnb indicates that 10 other people are looking at it for that timeframe. I'm getting about 60 views a month and the listing has been active for a few months.

Can you take a look at my listing and let me know if there is anything I might improve, any questions it raises (or anything that you like). The one thing I probably cannot change is the cancellation policy because I'm essentially going to be moving us out of the house, and I'd rather have no renter than no renter and a kajillion hours of work. Complicating factor: fans don't know until very late in the game, so to speak, whether their team will be in the Superbowl, so maybe people are not booking now. Also, if you have hosted on Airbnb during a major event, your tips would be helpful.

posted by *s to Travel & Transportation (31 answers total)

Best answer: I only see one photo with a bed. Make sure every bed is pulled out and shown.
posted by k8t at 7:11 AM on December 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

Look at some other rule examples, as yours seem incomplete. What about noise and your neighbors, for example? Pets? Kids?
posted by k8t at 7:13 AM on December 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Show a photo of the jacuzzi tub.
posted by k8t at 7:14 AM on December 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

More photos would be great and can you improve the lighting in the photos?

I think the main barrier, though, is the cancellation policy. No one wants to lose a $4000 deposit when their team doesn't make it to the Superbowl. I understand your reasoning but I doubt you'll get many bites until the contestants have been determined.

Maybe put a note in the description that if they cancel within 24 hours after the end of the AFC/NFC championship games you'll refund the money (though that could violate AirBnB terms, I don't know)?
posted by mskyle at 7:29 AM on December 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: For that amount of money, I would want to know exactly what I was getting. Every room, every bed, every corner of the bathroom, washer, dryer, kitchen amenities, backyard, etc. Lots of photos, close and far. The way you take your photos (part of rooms, doors blocking the view, only 1 bed) makes it look like you're hiding something. My rule of thumb for Airbnb is if it's not in the pictures, it isn't there.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:35 AM on December 5, 2016 [7 favorites]

I'd want to know how much space there is for dining and what the kitchen set up is like. (Also I don't know if people really care that it is a Vitamix.)
posted by k8t at 7:38 AM on December 5, 2016

Response by poster: This is super helpful so far. Followup question -- the reason I haven't taken a photo of the second bedroom is that my fiance is about to move in in January (he is the source of the second queen bed) and the room just has a futon that will be long gone by the time the house would be rented. Is it misleading to take a photo of the bed in his house for now and post that if I make it clear where the photo is taken?
posted by *s at 7:43 AM on December 5, 2016

"No parties or events" - Super Bowl visitors are there to party.

I would imagine cheaper accommodation is still available right now and you can either drop your price to be more competitive or wait until last minute visitors are scrambling and willing to pay anything.
As an aside, please be careful about trafficking/prostitution. I hear the Super Bowl attracts huge amounts of that.
posted by littlewater at 7:50 AM on December 5, 2016 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Yep I think it's mostly just adding stuff. For that price point people are going to want to feel like they are staying someplace that is very predictable and set up and with AirBnB there's the caveat emptor thing where you presume anything that is not shown is sketchy af. They also want to know that you know what you are doing, so it's unclear why, if you have reviews, they are not in the review section? (I mean I get it but others might wonder what was up) So my specific suggestions

- I appreciate not changing the cancel policy but what about some sort of refund option if teams don't make the superbowl? At that price point people are out a lot of $$ to AirBnB if their teams don't make it which is a hassle.
- aim for 10-15 very good photos that show all the stuff you advertise (all beds, all kitchen, all laundry) and have good captions (on preview: yeah just let people know that the futon will be replaced)
- adding more house rules. I know it's counterintuitive but these can be marketing as well as warning "No bubble bath in the jacuzzi!" for example
- maybe use more active language "Use my parking pass to get close to downtown on game day!"
- consider a two night minimum?
- set up one of those lists of local stuff so people know where they can get food/drink nearby?
- how big is that back porch? can you make it look bigger? Can people BBQ in the backyard?
- getting a few people in at discounted rates so that you have actual reviews of the place?
posted by jessamyn at 7:51 AM on December 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

If I'm a renter looking at places in that price range, I would want to see at least one review from someone who stayed at the property to show that it's not a fake listing.
posted by craven_morhead at 7:53 AM on December 5, 2016 [9 favorites]

I'd list it as 3 beds, counting the sofa. Seeing "6 people 2 beds" is weird, seeing "2 bedrooms 3 beds" implies the pullout sofa.
posted by aimedwander at 7:57 AM on December 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

Another option for the second bed is to borrow an air mattress and make the set up look approximately like how it will look when the real bed arrives.
posted by k8t at 8:22 AM on December 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

As far as price goes, we rent our similar-sized house for a similar type of town-stopping event and we charge something in line with the cost of two hotel rooms for that weekend. Hotel rooms in your area may be more expensive but you seem to be charging a heavy premium for a not-especially-convenient location. There's nothing stopping you from doing that but people might have sticker shock.
posted by tchemgrrl at 8:56 AM on December 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

Did you update it? I think it looks really nice and inviting. The photos look good, and I especially like that you added photos of sitting areas.

If your yard is enclosed, I would add that for people with dogs.
posted by Vaike at 9:28 AM on December 5, 2016

Best answer: At first glance my suggestion would be that you would benefit from better/more photos.
- Better lighting
- Pull back the shower curtain in the bathroom pic
- Can you fully open the sunroom doors so the whole room shows? Also be really fussy about straightening the pillows/blankets on the couch (I know it seems silly, but it helps!)
- Crop in tighter on the pic of the front of the house. I'm sure the lawn is lovely and lush in person, but it sorta dwarfs the house in the pic.
- Show the kitchen and dining rooms
- Consider showing the sunroom with the pull-out bed.
- Figure out how to take a picture of the second bedroom and make it look like a real bed
posted by radioamy at 10:16 AM on December 5, 2016

Background: Rented my (whole) home out on Airbnb for several years.

This place is insanely expensive, and I can't figure out why. Who wants to pay $433 a night to sleep on a sofa bed? And $433 assumes you have the max of six people. And then you have a minimum stay of three nights on top of it. Is this just a money grab for the Super Bowl? Like, are hotels going to be even more expensive than this?

Also, if people are coming to check out the Super Bowl, are they going to care that you have a Vitamix? They'd probably rather have a cheaper place.

"Just 15 minutes away" can mean a lot of things. For one, it probably means it's actually 20 minutes away. It also sounds like it's actually kind of complicated to get to the game - "I can offer my parking pass for Super Bowl patrons who want to park downtown and take public transit to the game." So I have to drive and then take public transit? Not really a great deal.
posted by unannihilated at 10:19 AM on December 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

For people who are not familiar with the area, a low-budget motel chain (America's Best Value Inn) in the OP's area is renting rooms for $750 per night for that weekend. Every other hotel in her area or downtown is completely booked.

It would be good to add "X minutes to downtown Houston."
posted by muddgirl at 10:32 AM on December 5, 2016 [6 favorites]

(and on further inspection, ABVI is also booked on Sunday and Monday).
posted by muddgirl at 10:37 AM on December 5, 2016

Photos of living room? Kitchen? If I were renting a whole house I'd want to get a sense of those.

Of course I may just be nosy because I have a very similar 100+ yr old bungalow in Savannah, GA. Mine is not nearly in as good shape, but will be some day.
posted by mareli at 11:10 AM on December 5, 2016

Thanks for the clarification on the pricing. One thing I found is that people never wanted to pay more than the cost of a hotel, even though they would be getting many amenities in a house that they wouldn't at a hotel. The only exceptions to this were (1.) they wanted an amenity that a hotel by definition couldn't provide, such as a yard or (2.) hotels were sold out.

But if people were basically just looking for a place to sleep, they generally believed that if I was charging more than a hotel, it wasn't a good deal, and if I wouldn't match the price, they'd stay at a hotel instead. This is true even though I had many amenities they could never get a hotel, but the flip side is there is also more regularity and less risk with a hotel. If there are still cheap hotels in your area, that could be the reason. Your lack of reviews are also probably hurting you.
posted by unannihilated at 12:46 PM on December 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

You might verify that your parking pass is valid that day.
My employer 's parking access is completely shut down to staff during our Big Annual Event.
So even though we can sometimes win free tickets, parking is NOT included or available at our work site.
posted by calgirl at 1:59 PM on December 5, 2016

I don't know much about the pricing in the area for the superbowl, but I agree that when I look on Airbnb I'm looking for a BETTER deal than hotels, so if yours is pretty much equal to them then I'd be like "what's the point?"

More pictures, of everything. I like to see how the sleeping arrangements really are so I know what my friends and I have to be prepared for. I like to see the kitchen and what utensils/tools are available. I like having some photos that show a sense of how the whole place is laid out. Think of it as a listing to sell your house. And agree with the above that if you have an amenity listed I want to see it.

Put 2 bedrooms and 3 beds.

I almost never rent places that have no reviews. If you could have someone stay once and write one that would be immensely helpful, I think.

Also, it doesn't sound like it's all that convenient to get to the stadium so for me that would knock down my price expectations a bit.
posted by sprezzy at 3:21 PM on December 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh! Last thing...I know this is totally personal for me and would likely not really bother many people, but I don't really rent from places that say "smoking allowed" because many of my friends do not and I'd be worried about lingering odors bothering people. Just offering up a reason why some people might not bite.

I MIGHT rent from a "smoking allowed" home if the owner really specified that their home/furnishing didn't carry a scent.
posted by sprezzy at 3:24 PM on December 5, 2016 [4 favorites]

I Airbnb and I changed to 3 night minimum and people stopped booking. Even though many people did stay for three nights when I didn't have a minimum. Damnit.

You used to be able to get a local Airbnber to come by and give you a review in exchange for visiting their place (not staying, just tour) and giving them a review. Not sure if you can still do that but it would be a way to get good reviews. Another way would be to give up a few weekends and rent the place out as cheap as you can go and then stock it with delicious free food and pray they feel guilted into giving you a good review.
posted by cda at 3:40 PM on December 5, 2016

Another photography tip: Use a wide-angled lens for your photos to show more of the space. If you don't have a wide-angled lens, take a short panoramic photo with your phone and crop.
posted by chevyvan at 4:00 PM on December 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

More photos, particularly of the kitchen, living and dining space, driveway, sofabed set up and outdoor entertaining area. You're advertising it for 6 people for 3 days, I'd want assurance that there's enough space for 6 people to hang out together. I really like to know what the floor plan is like when someone is sleeping in the loungeroom, to see how much privacy they will have, and how inconvenient it will be if the group have different bed and waking times. I normally work this out by deduction from the photos, but would love a floorplan.

Strict cancellation policies are offputting. I'm less likely to book something early if it's cancellation policy is strict.
posted by kjs4 at 6:14 PM on December 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: It's really hard to tell from your listing what I'm getting. Especially given the huge amount of money involved, it's really hard to have so many unknowns before booking.

There aren't many photos, and the angle of the photos is very narrow. You could re-shoot the photos with a wide angle lens, like a 35mm equivalent at least, or 28mm equivalent. I think you need way more more photos. Does the house have a kitchen? Dining area? TV area? Bar? I want to visualize how I'll spend my time there. Will the bed be comfortable? Do the bedrooms feel nice? Where will I eat breakfast? Can 6 people hang out on the deck? Where will I park a rental car? Do I need a rental car?

For comparison, check out this competitor listing that was suggested by Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5945476

It's definitely farther from the center of Houston, but there's no mystery what I'm getting. I can understand the spaces in the house, and get a sense for what it will be like to stay there. I think you need to take away all the mystery so people feel confident committing to this massive lodging expense.
posted by reeddavid at 11:40 PM on December 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

A couple people have recommended stating that you have 3 beds, inclusive of the sofa. Maybe I've been thinking about this wrong, but in my listings I've only listed real beds as "beds," and have excluded futons and pull-out couches.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:18 AM on December 6, 2016

Especially given that your listing is really ONLY available for Super Bowl weekend, you need to absolutely play up the convenience and "why here?" factor. "Great proximity to the game without the noise once you're home" kinds of things if that's the case.

You also need to make it stupid easy for out of towners to understand why this is a convenient place to stay. They will not take the time to look up where your neighborhood is in proximity to where they are going if they dn't have to. Make the transit direction specific: bus numbers, etc. Talk about what amenities are close by to the property: groceries, liquor stores, etc. (I know you've got "Target" but not everywhere has one, so spell it out.).

Use bullet points rather than paragraphs.

Change "no parties" to "any additional guests must be approved" or something that sounds friendlier.

Consider that with that high a rent and deposit, plus AirBnB fees, you are asking someone to commit to having about $10k total available on their credit card between the booking and payment. That's kind of a tall order.

Given the number of places near you with similar pricing that also show up as available, I'd also say that timing is a factor here. I'd bet that the hotels don't have strict cancellation policies on their rooms right now, even if they are jacked up pricewise, because they KNOW they will be booked by the time things happen. So your cancellation policy is not going to get you an early reservation.
posted by pixiecrinkle at 11:19 AM on December 6, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks again -- this all makes sense. My attempt at photo "artsy-ness" is at the expense of clarity -- I will retake a few photos and add ones of the spare room, kitchen, mudroom, the driveway with lots of cars in it. For posterity, I'll put in an additional suggestion I did not see here -- staging. Setting up the outdoor table with coffee cups and saucers, putting a bowl of green apples on the dining room table, etc. I'd been so focused on decluttering before taking photos and making it look like no one actually lived there that I had not put much thought in to what should be added to make the setting inviting.
posted by *s at 7:43 AM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: And, for posterity, I figured out how to get a few renters (and a few reviews) without having to entirely move out of my house! Airbnb/IRL friends visiting from out of town agreed to rent the place while we were still there for $20. Between that and the better-staged photos I'm planning on taking, I should be in decent shape.
posted by *s at 11:15 AM on December 22, 2016 [1 favorite]