I am considering doing an Air B n B next year. I have a 5 bedroom 2 bath mobile home, which is empty. I am planning to upgrade the mobile home and the 3 acres it sits on to make it into an Air B n B business. I am right near the highway/main interstate and 30-45 mins from Tampa or Orlando.
Both WWE Wrestlemania and the Superbowl will be in my area and I’m thinking this would be a great opportunity to make some extra cash.
Has anyone ever done an Air B -N-B? Tips/suggestions, licenses/insurance needed
Thanks
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I have experience with AirBnB. The sign-up process is quick and easy. They supply a million-dollar insurance policy. Some things to consider are how close you are to the property so you can clean it, change & wash sheets and towels and take care of any issues that may arise–or hire someone close to the property for that. I would also recommend security cameras on the outside of the property. One way to determine prices and demand is to look at AirBnB as a traveller and see how many there are in your area. If there isn’t a lot of activity, you can market it as a ‘getaway’ type destination and/or vacation property for groups or families. You will also need to decide how people will gain access to the front door and make sure you have secure locks on the bedroom doors for safety and security of your guests.
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In addition, you need to look into the laws for your area because most states are requiring that you can only list properties that you live in on AirBnB. If your area does not allow for AirBnB you might want to list it on a different site.
I live in another building on the property. Thanks for those suggestions, they are very helpful.
I have not done it personally but it is something I will get into in the future when I have a place of my own.
It can be a very lucrative business if done correctly and the area you are in gives you a lot of potential to earn money.
I would suggest researching ways to market your property. If you can master the marketing, you can really win with AirBnB.
Nowadays, there are people who have even built entire businesses by renting a property and then re-renting it on AirBnB
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I did it about 4 or 5 years before it became a company…I think around 2007/8. So I have no idea if I did things the right way or not ?? If anyone would like to comment, that would be great…I was just looking for a way to pay my Mortage…it was a really good learning experience bc I really didn’t know what I was doing. However I did enjoy it.
If u live in a condo, u can either find out if it’s allowed (probably not), or just not ask - I took that route…it’s did fluff some feathers but I told the family to say they were my cousins …this was a long time ago, so I really had nothing to go off of.
Here’s just a short list of some some things I learned bc a pro & cons would be based off of, what I learned.
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you can make good money, esp if you are in a downtown area where events r going on.
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Families are good bc you would most likely be less $$ than a hotel
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bc I had no info to go off of (it was probably around 2007 or so ?). Clean the home like your mom is coming over w/all of her friends
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I removed all of my clothing and pretty much emptied the closet…does any ome know if that is expected ?
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make sure the fridge is clean, but I can ask them if their are certain little things that they need. I don’t know if that is normal either.
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thaw out the freezer - I forgot and when I did take everything out it was disgusting, and a negative. So that’s crucial
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Ether before if when they arrive, find out if they are gonna need to use your computer - so set up a guest account
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Bc u don’t want calls at 3 in the morning: you can let them know the cable info & password (u can always change it back)
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have flyers and brochures about the local events, places to see.
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Buy some new bed sheets, target ones, and depending on of u are charging a decent amount, u can always get some new
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leave a list of: local emergency info, hospitals, urgent cares etc., the closet grocery stores, places that your community is known for, some local and main newspapers.
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they are probably gonna be thirsty, hungry, after flight (this can depend on how many people, kids, etc. So u might want to get some water and some fruits and what ever u think they might like. Mine had a couple kids and were pretty tired when they got in. Also, basics like salt, pepper, the stuff that people generally have.
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make sure u r ready the day BEFORE, bc they might arrive early
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if u have friends helping unclean and get the place ready - be careful bc some say they just want to help out but then when it’s all said and done, they might want part of your mortgage payment - reason why i did it
Also make sure u really know your friends and aren’t finding out at last minute that one has major OCD. Yea, this was one of the biggest problems along with the not ready freezer and I had to comp them a day bc my OCD friend wouldn’t leave, for more time that was acceptable.
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parking, depending on your parking situation, need to find out a lot of things (people who park in ramps are aware of this).
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if u decided to stay - which I did, so I could show them where the laundry was, the condo amenities. Where the doors where, key fobs, etc
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then we took walk around the area and I pointed out where things, where the building was where they would be going to every day. Then little things like fuse box, etc.
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bc this was so long ago, I just did am Ad on Craig’s List…that might not be enough for the “new era”
In the end I made just enough for my costs that I needed to pay and I also comped a day bc of the OCD friend and the freezer
So was this anything similar to what is going on now with the Airbnb ???
one last thing, if u do get a chance to talk w/them, have a list and see if their are certain things they might need, not need, get a feel of why they are coming and then you can add some extra little touch to make their stay as pleasant as possible.
Any comments or suggestions? And i hope I have some useful feedback
Thanks,
Shelbie
