{"id":41364,"date":"2023-07-27T21:22:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T01:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/news\/5-tips-to-become-an-airbnb-superhost\/"},"modified":"2023-07-27T21:22:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T01:22:42","slug":"5-tips-to-become-an-airbnb-superhost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364","title":{"rendered":"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This article is reprinted by permission from <\/em><\/strong>The Escape Home<\/em><\/strong>, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe <\/em><\/strong>here<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a9 2023. All rights reserved.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Summer is finally here! As millions of Americans get ready to travel, it\u2019s important for short-term rental providers to be ready to offer a five-star experience. This week, The Escape Home chatted with Christine Vanderkaap, an Airbnb superhost with properties in Austin, Texas. She shares some of her top tips \u2014 and what she looks for when booking stays for herself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Don\u2019t make guests take out the trash \u2014 or other menial tasks.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

That is the most crucial thing \u2014 I treat guests the way I want to be treated on vacation. And my favorite thing is- because guests literally will be like \u2018I don\u2019t see any checkout instructions, do you want me to take out the trash or do anything?\u2019 and it just makes me so happy to be like\u00a0 \u2018hey this is your vacation don\u2019t lift a finger make sure you have all of your belongings and have a safe trip home.\u2019 I looked at an Airbnb once and the listing said \u201c\u2018we don\u2019t charge a cleaning fee \u2014 it\u2019s cheaper for you but you have to clean it before you leave.\u201d First of all, I don\u2019t want to clean on vacation, but second of all, how gross is this place going to be if it\u2019s not cleaned professionally? This is a huge debate within the Airbnb community about the policy \u2014 do we clean or do we have guests clean \u2014 it\u2019s very dividing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have a generous refund policy.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For example, I just had a guest who wrote to me to say the air conditioning was dripping \u2014 there was a heatwave so it was probably overworked \u2014 but it dripped on some of her stuff. And immediately I refunded her $50 to apologize. I will get a good review because I was that generous. I read on this forum once that a woman who runs an Airbnb said the water had stopped working while guests were there, but they got a plumber out to fix it the next day and she didn\u2019t want to refund the whole night \u2014 but they didn\u2019t have water. I just don\u2019t see why you wouldn\u2019t refund the whole night to ensure that the guest is still happy enough to give you a good review. Realistically, one bad review can\u2019t bring down your Airbnb but it can lose you a lot of bookings, which means money. So what\u2019s $50 or $100 to ensure you get a good review? I always see it as the cost of doing business.<\/p>\n

Use a secondary pricing system.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I use PriceLabs, which sets the prices for Booking.com, VRBO and Airbnb, the three sites that I\u2019m on. It\u2019s just much better at managing the prices around specific holidays or festivals than Airbnb\u2019s built-in pricing tool. I\u2019ve tried a few different pricing platforms, but PriceLabs is the most comprehensive and easy. It\u2019s not free but it\u2019s worth it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allow pets.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I feel like I get a lot \u2014 most of my guests actually, I would say 80%\u00a0 \u2014 of guests with pets, because most Airbnbs don\u2019t allow pets. Out of dozens of experiences, I\u2019ve only had one minor mishap where a dog chewed the corner of a rug. I\u2019m one of the highest-earning Airbnbs in the area, and the fact that I get many guests with pets makes me think that I\u2019ve made thousands and thousands of dollars at the cost of one small incident. I think people are just scared that pets are going to cause a lot more damage than they do. Plus, I love pets, and people with pets love me because I provide dogs bows, blankets and treats; I make it a whole experience for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stay in your Airbnb.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s the same as if you\u2019re designing clothes \u2014 wear them before you put them on the market. You want to make sure everything is comfortable and everything is working right. I feel like nine out 10 people will not tell you that there is something wrong when there is. I feel like if there is something that\u2019s slightly off, people will still leave a good review but might not return. I really value having repeat clients, so it\u2019s important for me to figure out those little things. I recommend that hosts stay overnight, have a shower, utilize things, have your cleaner come as normal \u2014 set it up as if it\u2019s a normal guest \u2014 every few months.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What she looks for when booking an Airbnb.\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Most of the time I look at the pictures first, and I don\u2019t really book anything that has less than 4.7 stars. I will also read reviews and find the ones where people say \u2018it was one of the best Airbnbs I\u2019ve stayed in,\u2019 or something of that nature. I understand that people travel differently and sometimes you\u2019re just exploring the city and barely spending any time in the accommodation, but I feel like Airbnbs can be a huge part of your vacation, where they are experiences in and of themselves. I want something that I can\u2019t get in a hotel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article is reprinted by permission from <\/em><\/strong>The Escape Home<\/em><\/strong>, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe <\/em><\/strong>here<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a9 2023. All rights reserved.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe here. \u00a9 2023. All rights reserved.\u00a0 Summer is finally here! As millions of Americans get ready to travel, it\u2019s important for short-term rental providers to be ready to offer a five-star experience. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-41364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\n5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019 | iFintechWorld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe here. \u00a9 2023. All\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019 | iFintechWorld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe here. \u00a9 2023. All\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iFintechWorld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-28T01:22:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-28T01:22:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1690507361_social.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61\"},\"headline\":\"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-28T01:22:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-28T01:22:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364\"},\"wordCount\":922,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Featured\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364\",\"name\":\"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019 | iFintechWorld\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-28T01:22:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-28T01:22:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe here. \u00a9 2023. All\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\",\"name\":\"Repay Down\",\"description\":\"Latest Personal Finance News, Tips and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Repay Down\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png\",\"width\":558,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Repay Down\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019 | iFintechWorld","description":"This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe here. \u00a9 2023. All","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019 | iFintechWorld","og_description":"This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe here. \u00a9 2023. All","og_url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364","og_site_name":"iFintechWorld","article_published_time":"2023-07-28T01:22:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-28T01:22:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1690507361_social.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61"},"headline":"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019","datePublished":"2023-07-28T01:22:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-28T01:22:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364"},"wordCount":922,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Featured"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364","name":"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019 | iFintechWorld","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-28T01:22:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-28T01:22:42+00:00","description":"This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be. Subscribe here. \u00a9 2023. All","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=41364#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 tips to become an Airbnb \u2018superhost\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/","name":"Repay Down","description":"Latest Personal Finance News, Tips and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization","name":"Repay Down","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png","width":558,"height":90,"caption":"Repay Down"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com"],"url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?author=1"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41366,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41364\/revisions\/41366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}