If you’re just getting started in the airbnb business, you may be pondering the question of self-managing versus hiring a professional short term rental management company. Both methods can result in a successful short term rental business. Ultimately, this decision depends mostly upon your personal situation and how much time you want to invest in managing your airbnb.
First things first, let’s consider what goes into managing an airbnb investment. If you are doing it yourself or hiring someone to do it for you, the tasks will be the same. All of these activities can be categorized into four main sections: initial activities to get your property listed, marketing/pricing, guest communications, scheduling repairs and housekeeping.
Initially, there are many things that will have to happen to get your property live. You will need to develop a pricing strategy, write a property description, make a home book, get professional photos taken, develop a rental policy and then get all of this information uploaded to various listing sites. This isn’t entirely comprehensive, but it gives you a rough idea of the steps that need to be taken after the home is fully furnished and before you can start getting bookings.
Once the listing is live, there are a variety of ongoing tasks that need to be efficiently handled in order to ensure your airbnb runs smoothly. Continuously updating pricing to match the market trends is something that can be handled manually or through various pricing applications. Addressing potential guest inquiries, properly communicating guest check-in instructions, maintaining communications with guests during their stay, and asking for reviews after a stay are all activities that you can expect to routinely handle while operating an airbnb. Do you think you would enjoy fielding various questions from guests about your property and the nearby attractions? Do you have the time to properly respond to these inquiries? If you do decide to self-manage there are various softwares that optimize routine communications. However, no matter how good your processes are, there will still be time that goes into handling one off inquiries.
The other major component that goes into a well-oiled short term rental investment machine is efficiently handling repairs and turnover cleanings. An experienced property management company will have systematic ways of ensuring preventative maintenance is occurring regularly and will have a solid network of various tradesmen to address maintenance issues quickly if they happen during a guest’s stay. They will also have a team of well-trained, airbnb specific, maids to turnover your home quickly. If you choose to manage your airbnb yourself, it’s imperative that you identify a qualified cleaning company and a responsive handyman to help you run your airbnb.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of work that goes into managing an airbnb. Thus, property management companies in the short term space charge a considerable fee. On average, most STR management companies in the Austin market charge between 20-30% of gross rental revenue. However, with that considerable fee, you will be almost entirely hands-off. If you choose to manage the property yourself, you will be spending a considerable amount of time running the day to day operations - at least until you get all of your systems in place. One study from HomeAway showed that owner-operators spent 8.4 hours per week managing an airbnb investment. What’s your hourly rate and how valuable is your time? Speaking of time, do you even have the time to properly manage your STR investment. If you don’t, and you manage it poorly, the financial consequences could be detrimental. This is a 24/7 industry where prompt response times are everything!
Now, if you decide to hire a property manager to run your airbnb business, don’t just assume everything will be groovy and the money will start rollin’ in immediately. All vacation home property managers are not created equal. You want to do your homework and make sure you choose the right one for your specific property. Look for someone who has experience working with homes similar to yours, and in close proximity to your airbnb. Ask to see their other listings, and spend some time reviewing their booking calendars and past guest reviews. It’s important to choose the right manager from the start, because most times your airbnb listing is not transferable. Thus, if you have a bunch of great reviews and your management company suddenly starts dropping the ball - you may have to start over from scratch when you hire a new management company.
No matter which route you decide to go, you can have a very successful airbnb investment. Just make sure to do your homework so you know what you are getting yourself into, and have the tools and resources to make sure you succeed. If you need help with optimizing your self-management activities or finding a qualified STR property management company, we can help- check out our resources page for more information!
