Rent your home while on holiday and earn money while you’re on vacation – sounds like a dream, right? Renting out your home as a short-term rental when you’re on vacation is an effective way to earn cash.
Follow these ten tips to learn how to start making an income while you’re on vacation, and to how to use Host Tools to manage your listing, so you can enjoy your time away!
Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today!
#1 Determine Your Short-Term Rental Value
The first thing you need to do before you rent out your home on holiday is determine how much money you can charge. Conduct research on the average price in your area for your home size, and taking high/low seasons into consideration.
Is there a music festival happening the week you are on vacation? Will you be renting the property over a major holiday? These types of events allow you to charge more than a normal week. Host Tools makes pricing easy by utilizing our pricing tools. You can pick a base price, and add custom pricing within our platform.
#2 Create Rental Policies
It’s important to ensure that you and your guests are on the same page in regards to rental expectations. When you create your listing make sure to include house rules that are available on your listing prior to booking.
Information such as quiet hours, pets, check-in/check-out times, etc. should be included in these rules. You should also include a house manual that will provide basic information such as wifi, appliance instructions, local things to do, and more. That way you can rent your home while on holiday and rest easy knowing that you have set up the correct expectations for your guest.
Create your first listing using this link and earn $42 after hosting your first stay!
Some hosts require a refundable security deposit when booking their rentals over their holidays. This is a great option for protecting yourself from guest damage while you are out of town.
#3 Prepare Your Property
A basic rule of thumb for protecting your property is: if you can’t afford to lose it – don’t make it accessible to your guests. Unfortunately, guests are far less careful with items than if they were their own.
Consider padlocks, zip ties, or smart locks for cabinets or rooms you don’t want accessible to your guests. Some hosts choose to block off entire bedrooms for storage, however, this can lower your rental rate since fewer bedrooms are available to guests. Another option is to provide specified storage space for your guests, and remove any valuables from accessible areas.
On the other side, you may want to share features of your home with your guests – this can help you reach Airbnb superhost status. In your house manual, include instructions for access to entertainment such as Netflix or Hulu, where extra pillows and blankets can be found, additional toiletries, and cleaning supplies.
Check out this article for more tips on how to prepare your home before leaving on holiday.
#4 Invest in Insurance
Whenever you rent out your home, you need to invest in short-term rental insurance. Short-term rentals are (generally) not covered by your standard home insurance, and will require additional protection. Investing in insurance can protect you from property damage, liability, and loss of income.
#5 Take Strong Photos
When you rent your home while on holiday, the last thing you want to spend time on is marketing your property. In addition to guest reviews, taking incredible photos of your property is vital to securing guests and income. When you make sure that your photos look great, your marketing will almost completely take care of itself so you can enjoy that well-deserved holiday!
#6 Screen Your Guests
Airbnb pre-screens guests before they are allowed to book. However, some hosts choose to take extra precautions when screening guests. Consider turning off Instant Book so that you manually approve a guest booking request.
The biggest threat to a host is the risk of parties. Airbnb punishes hosts who have guests who use their property as a party pad. When accepting guests keep an eye out for one-night stays, young renters, and any other suspicious activity. You could also invest in a noise monitor to help prevent parties.
#7 Automate Cleaning
You’re on vacation – so there is absolutely no way you are coming back from the beach to clean in-between bookings. Hire a cleaning service and automate communication with your cleaners before you leave.
#8 Hire a Property Manager
You don’t want to worry about your property when you’re taking a holiday. The best way to handle guest issues in a timely manner is to hire a friend as a co-host or professional property management company to ensure your guest’s experience is running smoothly. They will be your guest’s point-person and deal with any issues during their stay – so you keep enjoying that piña colada.
#9 Manage Your Calendar
Make sure your calendar is consistently up-to-date. If you’re only planning on renting your home while on holiday, be sure that the days available reflect that. Hosts are penalized in Airbnb’s search ranking when they cancel reservations too often.
Additionally, consider when you book your vacation. If your travel dates are non-negotiable, it makes sense to book your vacation first and advertise your rental at a low price for the area. The downside is you may miss out on guests who are willing to pay a higher price. Conversely, you can have raise your rental prices and plan your vacation around the days that are booked. If you utilize this method, make sure that you turn off instant book so you don’t get surprised by last-minute bookings.
#10 Automate with Host Tools
Automating as many daily tasks as possible for your Airbnb will give you time while you are away. The last thing you want is to spend your whole vacation frantically dealing with guests. Host Tools will set your smart lock codes, messages your guests and cleaners, and sync your calendars if you list across multiple channels. Simply deactivate the listing when you get back and you won’t be charged for Host Tools when you are done with your trip. The best part is, everything you set up is saved so you can go back in to activate your listing when you are ready to rent your home while on holiday again!
Create your first listing using this link and earn $42 after hosting your first stay!
As you can see, by following a few simple tips you can earn passive income while traveling the world and enjoying your own holiday. Let’s review:
- Determine your short-term rental value
- Create rental policies
- Prepare your property
- Invest in insurance
- Take strong photos
- Screen your guests
- Automate your cleaning
- Hire a property manager
- Manage your calendar
- Automate with Host Tools
Enjoy your vacation – while making an income!
Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today!
