When you are on a vacation, what does your room do while you’re gone? Is all of your crap and stuff and things scratching at the door missing you, howling in it’s loneliness? No. It sits and collects dust until you come back.

Take advantage of this opportunity to list your apartment for vacations you plan on taking! It’s such an easy way to make money while you are gone. I have plenty of friends who are self-employed or independent in their work and they actually list their space at a very high price all year, and whenever someone books it, they take a vacation with that expected income.

2. Create a Great Side Income (or even main one)

I made around $25k over 5 months of actively doing it my first year, and it averaged out to about $100-$150 per hour in terms of my time put in

If you’re able to own or rent property to create this income, it’s not a bad hourly rate, though I spent most of my hours in the first 2–3 months flailing and struggling through many issues I didn’t plan or expect. Once I got into the swing of things, my hours put into it lessened and it helped increase the average hourly rate. With my updated knowledge, it could even scale to $200 an hour.

It can certainly be a great main income if you live in a popular tourist destination or have a lovely home/property in consistent good weather regions. It should be evident that the quality and location of the property are big factors in terms of your income expectations and whether it would be side or main income.

3. Be as Honest as Possible in Your Listing

Guest expectations and their ability to read are a directly inverse relationship

Guests are human people, and human people often do not read. This is a fact of life. Since guests will probably only view photos and key information in the listing, it’s important to make the photos and key information as honest and reflective as possible of what they’ll get when they show up. Early on, after my first 20–50 guests, I probably changed the listing a good 20–50 times to adjust it for all of the questions and feedback I received on their mismatched expectations created when showing up compared to what they claim they understood from the listing.

EXAMPLE: My neighborhood is diverse and colorful with all kinds of people from all walks of life. I am upfront about that to inform the occasional sheltered gentry type of guest to expect that kind of neighborhood when arriving.

Ironically, the guests with the highest expectations usually read the least, and the ones with the lowest expectations, usually read the most. The latter are usually preferred guests.

4. Go Above and Beyond (super-hosting)

Guests expectations vary WILDLY, so over-prepare and go uber-white-glove with customer service

When I first started, I was “validating” everything by going ridiculously lean. This is smart in most business or startup methodology, but bad with a platform where your success solely depends on guest reviews and you screw your future business by being too stingy early on. I made many mistakes early on by being cheap with linens, furnishings, and even cleaning. I even was cheap with the art by hanging random paper weights I had on the wall and pictures I painted— no lie here — see below my drunken Groupon Paint Night horror-piece).

This was not wise, and you should assess which aspects of your property can be enhanced to really make a great first impression. I would recommend taking note of your experience in traveling, and implement what impressed you.

Comfy bed, easy arrival process, and clean bathroom/kitchen are key.

5. Get Reviews FAST

A low occupancy rate will hurt you early on if you’re renting out another property for AirBnB — hack your early reviews.

Most people know that platforms like Amazon, Yelp, etc. have paid reviews that seep through the cracks. I’m even being conservative in using the word “seep” — probably more like flood. This isn’t the most ethical tactic, but guests look for reviews to build trust, and without any you’ll be slow to attract them.

Early on, I did a variation- I reached out to my friends, family, and extended network on AirBnB and asked them to book my place and come stay as a favor. I obviously refunded them and let AirBnB keep their fees, but I encouraged them to visit and write positive reviews for me. I also wrote positive reviews for them and stayed at their places local to me, which builds both of our profiles. After about 3–5 reviews, you should start standing out in results to guests.

6. Ask for 5-Star Reviews, and Give Them

5-Star reviews are what set you apart, don’t be afraid to request them from guests if they had a good stay

In this effort, the most important thing I often do right after a decent or good stay from a guest is ask them for a 5-star review. What is a “decent” or “good” stay? It’s one that didn’t have the guest constantly complaining (it happens) or where they cleaned up and seemed to show they actually cared to get a good review from you.

There is no shame in letting them know that you put bread on the table from good reviews. I often let them know I first left a great one for them, and encourage them to leave one in return. Equally important to add is encouraging them to deliver any negative feedback privately and not publicly, so you can continue to get guests and use that money to make improvements. Here’s my usual message:

7. Find a Reliable Cleaner Beforehand

Unless you’re available to clean all the time, a reliable cleaner is probably the most important investment you’ll make

I’m certain that if Hercules 13th labor was to find a reliable cleaner in my area, it would have been his hardest. To this day I’m still vetting and screening good cleaners to build a strong relationship with one at a reasonable price because I didn’t tackle it early on. Two failed cleaning services (Handy.com and Bonnie’s Maids I’m glaring at you!) and two individual cleaners later, I still haven’t found the one.

My recommendation is to get this squared away quickly if you plan to travel or be a remote host. Handy.com is probably the largest and best you’ll get outside of individual hires, and they honestly do not do a good job. TaskRabbit and a few other services are on my list to try — I’ll update once I try them.

8. Where Appropriate, Create Guest Accountability

Live at the property, install security cameras (even fake ones), or innovate ways to keep guests accountable for their stay

Let’s get this out of the way — being on site is 100% recommended if you want hosting to be easier. It sounds antithetical to the vacation advice, but trust me, if you’re not traveling it can certainly help. If immediate problems come up and you don’t have an on site-manager, guess who’s problem it becomes? Guests also treat properties that don’t have hosts on site very differently than when a host is either sharing the apartment with you, or even next door. I’ve had guests move furniture, leave the place less clean, and do all kinds of wackiness because they perceive that “no one is there”.

Think about when you stayed at a hotel or property and no one is there — do you treat it with the same attitude as a place you’re staying that has a host within reach? Hotels have security cameras, bed and breakfasts have check-out requirements, etc. — you can get creative here to ensure guests do their part as good guests.