If you decide to let your property through Airbnb it’s tempting to think that you will have minimal hands-on involvement, and with everything taken care of on your behalf all you have to do is enjoy the income. The harsh reality is often somewhat different to that scenario.
If you are not located close to your rental property or simply don’t have the time to spare on running admin tasks and dealing with queries and check-ins, there’s a couple of options to consider. There’s a way to automate most aspects of Airbnb, such as using smart locks and keyless entry systems, but that process can’t be seen as completely hands-off. There’s also the option of using a professional property management company to handle your Airbnb rental on your behalf. If you search Airbnb management Bath, for example, you can get a clearer idea of how this works.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at some key elements of managing your Airbnb property to see how much work is actually involved.
Keeping your property clean and presentable is essential
It stands to reason that if your property falls below a certain standard of cleanliness and presentability it is going to have an adverse impact on ratings and future bookings.
You need to either keep on top of cleaning and maintenance yourself, which is very arduous and time consuming, or you could use a property management company who offers a vetted cleaning team as part of their service.
If you decide to try and handle the work yourself, or coordinate with a local cleaner, that is obviously going to be more hands-on than leaving everything to a management company.
Some tasks can’t be automated
There are certain tasks that can be taken care of with the help of automation, which helps cut down the amount of hours you spend on your property rental each month, but certain tasks simply can’t be delegated to technology or smart systems.
Physical maintenance and emergency repairs are prime examples of hands-on tasks that you will either have to handle yourself or use a management company to deal with these things on your behalf.
Certain guest services and issues are best handled by the human touch anyway. That ensures your property gets high ratings and positive reviews from guests.
As you can see, there is a certain element of choice that you have in dictating how hands-on you are with your short term rental.
Automating the check-in process
Arguably, one of the most time-consuming aspects of an Airbnb rental is the check-in process. If you choose to be present for the handover and other aspects of the rental itinerary that will obviously boost customer satisfaction levels, but is clearly the most hands-on option.
A viable alternative would be to embrace what technology has to offer to automate certain tasks, or you could develop a relationship with a property management company that has specific Airbnb experience and technological capabilities to help automate some of the main processes of the booking and rental procedures.
In answer to the original question, having an Airbnb property is as hands-off as you choose to make it.
