EP227: Airbnb Tips from an Austin Superhost
Summary
This article from Get Paid For Your Pad covers various aspects of STR revenue management and operational strategies, including the importance of scheduled pricing routines, understanding booking signals, and the strategic focus of CEOs in growing STR businesses. Hosts should pay attention to these insights to optimize pricing, understand market dynamics, and effectively manage their time and resources.
Key Insights
- •Early bookings can indicate underpricing or upcoming events, requiring hosts to adjust their pricing strategy.
- •The article emphasizes the importance of a daily and weekly pricing routine for effective revenue management, rather than relying on a single pricing rule.
- •STR operators should not rely on last-minute demand as much as hotels can, due to booking windows and operational constraints like cleaning.
- •CEOs waste 30-50% of time on low-value activities, which becomes more dangerous as STR businesses grow.
- •STR pricing is dramatically harder than hotel pricing due to product uniqueness, booking windows, and operational constraints.
Action Items
- ✓Review every booking to reveal pricing and demand signals and spot mistakes in minimum stays and pricing settings.Effort: lowImpact: medium
- ✓Schedule time for daily and weekly pricing reviews to stay ahead of market trends and optimize revenue.Effort: lowImpact: medium
- ✓Identify the biggest bottlenecks in the STR business, recognizing that these bottlenecks shift as marketing, sales, and fulfillment scale.Effort: mediumImpact: high
Tools & Resources
- →Freewyld Foundry: The article mentions Freewyld Foundry as a resource for revenue reviews.(https://www.freewyldfoundry.com/report)
- →Get Paid For Your Pad: The article mentions Get Paid For Your Pad as the source.
Common Mistakes
- ⚠STR rate drops must be deeper near arrival compared to hotel practices.
- ⚠The biggest revenue mistake most STR operators make isn’t their pricing tool… but the lack of a daily and weekly pricing routine.
- ⚠Solving the wrong problems stalls growth even when demand is strong.
More from Pricing & Profitability
A host reported earning $2,300 monthly on Airbnb with almost constant bookings, only to quit due to difficult guests. This highlights the financial potential of STR hosting but also emphasizes the importance of guest screening and managing guest behavior. Balancing profitability with a positive hosting experience is crucial.
This article discusses Kansas City's high occupancy rates compared to other World Cup host cities, raising questions about the effectiveness of efforts to increase short-term rental availability. It implicitly touches on market trends and the impact of major events on the STR market. The article likely explores whether increased rental supply can meet demand while analyzing the city's approach to STRs.
Realtor.com's report on best mountain towns for Airbnb returns reveals key locations for STR investment. The analysis likely includes data on occupancy rates, ADR, and RevPAR to identify profitable markets. Understanding these trends helps hosts optimize pricing strategies and choose lucrative destinations.
Curated by Learn STR by GoStudioM