Let’s say you own a few apartments and want to rent them out to earn extra income. What is the first thing you’ll likely do? That’s right, list your properties on the internet. Not only is it free, but it’s where you’re going to find the people who are interested in renting your apartments, either long-term or short-term.
Online travel agencies, or OTAs, are key players in getting your accommodations noticed by the right audience and easily landing those bookings. These websites aggregate different types of accommodations and allow travelers to easily search for the ones that fit their preferences and needs, down to room types, amenities, additional services, and location. It’s much easier for a potential guest to use an OTA to search for their preferred accommodations rather than using a regular search engine like Google. In September of 2023, Airbnb had 89 million visits to its website.
Given the popularity of the platform, chances are that Airbnb will be high on the list of OTA platforms that you think of when you’re brainstorming where to list your accommodations online.
Airbnb has a significant market share of 29.19% in the hospitality industry, specifically within the reservation and online booking category, so it makes sense that property managers would want a better way to manage their listings on the platform. This is where Airbnb property management software comes in.
In this article, we explore the particulars of Airbnb property management, including the history of the platform, tips for becoming a successful Airbnb property manager, and how to choose the best Airbnb management platform for your needs.
Brief History of Airbnb Property Management
Airbnb has grown to be a powerhouse in terms of platform-based property management in recent years. The company started in 2007 with its first host and has since grown to have over seven million listings worldwide in 100,000 cities and towns. Initially, the platform was started to augment the founder’s high rent, but it quickly evolved into much more than simply making a couple of bucks to offset costs—over 12 years later, Airbnb is worth $31 Billion USD.
Though the business had challenges in the beginning, landing on the name “Air Bed and Breakfast” and trying to be a roommate matching service before going back to the short-term stay model, they eventually found success by continuing to try and perfect their product. After a name update (to Airbnb) and a rocky road of ironing out the kinks of the business and navigating various legal challenges later, Airbnb became what it is today.
Why Is Having an Airbnb Management Platform Necessary?
Given the success of the platform, many property management companies that have a heavy focus on Airbnb or list exclusively on the platform have emerged. As a result, the need for effective Airbnb property management has become necessary. This means that property managers are looking for effective solutions to help them manage their properties on the platform. This idea has given rise to many different Airbnb property management platforms that either focus on one system or allow you to prioritize it as much as you want as a property manager alongside other OTAs.
Newbook is an example of such a system, as it supports direct integration with Airbnb out of the box through our robust channel manager, allowing you to integrate with other popular OTAs as you’d like. Also, you can list unlimited properties with Newbook for no extra charge, while most other channel managers limit listings to a certain number or charge extra for each additional listing over a certain amount.
Becoming a Successful Airbnb Property Manager
An Airbnb property manager handles the overall responsibilities and daily operations of various Airbnb properties, from handling bookings to greeting guests and maintaining the property itself. Some Airbnb property managers may work for a larger property management company, while others may simply be owners of multiple different homes who are looking for an easy way to monetize their investment.
The typical responsibilities of a property manager include:
- Managing property listings and bookings, including online, over the phone, and through traditional advertising like newspaper listings
- Communicating with guests and providing a great experience (e.g., for check-in, check-out, or to handle concerns)
- Building relationships with business partners
- Organizing cleaning and maintenance tasks, including hiring and scheduling people to do the job or doing it themselves
- Handling marketing tasks like email blasts, online advertising, social media management, and more.
Here are some important tips for becoming a successful Airbnb property manager:
1. Understand Local Regulations
Since Airbnb’s inception, different cities and towns around the world have implemented regulations regarding the legality of short-term rentals like the ones that Airbnb helps facilitate. As a property manager, it’s important that you have a good understanding of the local rules and regulations that apply to short-term rental in your area prior to listing your property online so you can avoid any hefty fines.
Airbnb provides some helpful guidelines on its website to help you get started by helping you understand which questions you should be asking:
- Some jurisdictions may require you to apply for a business license before you can operate a legal Airbnb. For example, in Seattle, you need to obtain a business license online before you can open an Airbnb in the city.
- Local building and housing standards may apply in your area, where the municipality or similar governing body needs to determine whether the location is suitable for an Airbnb. For instance, most cities have strict rules regarding whether a property is considered commercial or residential so people can’t purchase a storefront space and turn it into a private home. These standards vary greatly depending on the area, so it’s best to contact the local government in your area for clear information.
- You may require a permit or other documentation in advance so you can legally rent out your property, so it’s important to contact your local government to find out if you need any paperwork. For example, any Airbnb operating out of Florida requires a license through the Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR).
- Landlord and tenant laws in your local area may apply for long-term rentals, which are important for you to know and understand. Once again, these laws vary by jurisdiction but involve legal rights for guests that may involve your inability to remove them from the property without undergoing an eviction process if they won’t leave, for example.
- Certain tax collection rules may also apply to your Airbnb property and may go to the city or the state. Airbnb as a platform may handle tax collection for you depending on the area.
2. Get Property Management Insurance
Homeowners insurance is often not enough to cover you for anything that may happen at your Airbnb property. Business insurance is often necessary, and you may want to look at additional coverage options for your unique situation. Usually, this is in the form of a customized rental insurance policy. Many insurance companies that handle property insurance today offer tailored plans for Airbnb property owners.
3. Payment and Expense Tracking
You’ll want to set up a comprehensive revenue management system to help you track your business’s payments and expenses. In some cities, Airbnb may handle the tax payments that are required by submitting them to the local government on your behalf, but in other instances, you may be required to pay these taxes on your own.
Newbook offers revenue management functionality and also integrates with popular revenue management tools often used in the hospitality industry to make keeping track of your money easy and effective.
4. Determine Cleaning and Maintenance
You’ll either want to hire a cleaning service to come in and clean your units when guests check out or hire a permanent employee to do so. You’ll also want to determine how you want to handle maintenance, whether you have the skills to do it yourself, or whether you need to hire someone with that skillset to handle that portion of your business for you.
Either way, Airbnb property management software is also useful here. With Airbnb management software, you can easily schedule tasks for your employees so that they know what is expected of them. Plus, you can set up automations that automatically schedule tasks once certain actions are completed. For example, a guest checks out, and a cleaning task is scheduled for that property automatically instead of you having to do it yourself manually.
5. Handle Property Listings
Listing your property online and considering how you’re going to manage these listings is another important consideration for Airbnb property management. Of course, you’ll be listing on Airbnb, but you’ll also want to list on other OTAs to maximize your reach as much as possible. Visiting each of these websites individually and relying on their native tools has many issues, especially with ensuring that your prices are always correct.
With an Airbnb property management system like Newbook, you can effectively manage your OTA listings via the built-in channel manager. This software aggregates your listings into a centralized location so you can manage them from one place. In addition, it incorporates automatic real-time updates to your pricing and availability, which means that your guests will always see the correct information no matter where they book from. In addition, if you want to update your listings’ descriptions or images, you can do it once and have that new information automatically updated for all of your listings.
Key Features You Need in an Airbnb Management Software
Choosing the right Airbnb management software is crucial for hosts and property managers looking to efficiently handle their short-term rentals. Here are key features you should look for in Airbnb property management software:
| Feature | Why it’s Important |
|---|---|
| Multi-channel management | Being able to manage all your listings, including those on Airbnb, across multiple platforms in one centralized location. This maximizes your property’s exposure, reduces workload, and ensures consistency throughout all your listings. |
| Real-time availability updates | A reliable real-time calendar synchronization feature is essential. This ensures that your property’s availability is automatically updated across all platforms in real time, reducing the risk of double bookings. |
| Centralized reservation management | Efficient reservation management features should include tools for handling bookings, cancellations, modifications, and minimum and maximum stay requirements no matter where they come from. With centralized reservation management, all your bookings go to one place for easy management. |
| Pricing optimization | Dynamic pricing tools that consider factors like demand, seasonality, and local events can help you optimize rental rates. This feature maximizes your revenue by adjusting prices based on market conditions |
| Task automation | Automation features for routine tasks, such as sending check-in instructions, requesting guest reviews, or handling security deposits, can significantly improve your operational efficiency. |
| Legal compliance and data security | Stay compliant with local regulations and tax requirements. Look for software that provides information and assistance in navigating legal and regulatory aspects related to short-term rentals. In addition, look for software that provides exceptional data security in how data is stored and protected as it moves. SSL and TLS are two advanced online security protocols to look for. |
| Scalability | Consider your future growth. The Airbnb management software should be scalable to accommodate increasing listings and your evolving business needs. |
| Customer support and onboarding | Access to reliable customer support and training resources is essential. Choose a platform that offers assistance when encountering issues or needing guidance on using specific features. |
| Integrations and connections | It’s important that your Airbnb property management software supports a unified tech stack by enabling integrations and connections with the software that you already use every day. Look for software that offers a variety of out-of-the-box connections or an API that helps you facilitate important connections. |
Additional Considerations When Choosing an Airbnb Management System
There are other important considerations you should remember when choosing an Airbnb management system, including forecasting, efficiency improvements, and integration options. Choosing a system that marries these factors will help you enable significant improvements to your overall operations and revenue.
How Can Airbnb Pricing Software Help With Forecasting?
Being able to see historical and current data that could potentially affect pricing, such as market demand, economic conditions, seasonality, weather, and more is extremely valuable for informing future business decisions and goals. Airbnb pricing software, also known as a revenue management system, is a valuable tool to help you gather and interpret the information from these price-affecting data sources.
For example, with the help of Airbnb pricing software, you can determine the best time to run certain promotions. During a period of downtime, you could run a promotion that gives guests who stay a certain length of time a discount or add an additional amenity or service to their stay for free. Planning these types of strategies in advance can go a long way in helping you attract more guests and gain more revenue in times when you would typically be expecting a downturn.
How Can Airbnb Software Help Increase Efficiency For Property Managers?
The best way to answer the above question is to illustrate how effective software can help so many facets of a business through some examples:
- The Vassaliki Naturist Club is a beautiful resort on the rugged hilly coast of western Cefalonia in Greece. They were looking for a user-friendly solution to improve their establishment’s property management and online bookings. The training they received as well as technical support from Newbook allowed them to implement the solution easily, and Newbook heard their requests for additional features and updates and was even able to implement some of them in the very next update.
- The BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort is located in Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia, and offers a wide range of accommodation options (glamping, caravanning, condos, cabins, and villas) in addition to many different facilities and attractions for guests to enjoy. After implementing Newbook, including the occupancy and forecasting tools included in the software, BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort was able to enjoy a 44% increase in gross revenue, a 14% rise in spend per site, install eight new deluxe cabins, and grow their mid-week occupancy by 3.5%!
- BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Queenscliff Beacon is a beautiful resort located in the National Marine Park in Queenscliff Victoria, only 90 minutes from Melbourne. An impressive array of facilities for all ages and beach access are just a couple of features that make this resort an attractive choice—so much so that 68% of their guests are repeat customers or referrals. BIG4 Ingenia’s big goal was to simplify its operations and grow its revenue using effective technology. After implementing Newbook, they were able to see impressive results, including a 13.7% increase in revenue from February to April 2019, a 41% reduction in their credit card merchant fees, and much more.
Newbook: Why It’s the Best Airbnb Management Software
Newbook stands out as an excellent choice for a comprehensive Airbnb property management solution designed for all types of accommodations. Providing a centralized system, Newbook ensures the accuracy and reliability of information for both single and multiple properties, simplifying the management of channels, properties, and revenue.
The integration of channel management directly into the Newbook platform eliminates the risks associated with software glitches and issues often encountered when using third-party solutions. This integration significantly reduces the potential for downtime, preserving the integrity of your listings across various channels.
In addition to its integrated channel management capabilities, Newbook seamlessly connects users with popular OTAs such as:
- Airbnb
- Expedia
- Booking.com
And much more. Notably, there are no additional booking costs for multiple property listings, allowing for easy scalability without the concern of increased expenses. With features such as automatic price synchronization and real-time updates, Newbook ensures that all bookings remain consistently up-to-date across channels, alleviating the need for manual management.
In terms of reliability, Newbook exceeds industry standards with an impressive 99.99% rating. While the difference in percentage may seem small, when we break it down further, it results in a significant difference:
| Reliability Rating | What it Means |
|---|---|
| 99% | Equals an annual outage of 3 days, 15 hours, and 39 minutes. |
| 99.99% | Translates to an annual outage of only 52 minutes and 35 seconds. |
Conclusion
Navigating the dynamic landscape of Airbnb property management requires strategic insights and efficient tools. This article delved into the evolution of Airbnb, emphasizing the need for effective management solutions due to the platform’s substantial market share. With over 7 million listings worldwide, Airbnb’s impact is undeniable, making streamlined property management essential.
The role of an Airbnb property manager encompasses diverse responsibilities, from compliance with local regulations to implementing robust insurance coverage. Essential tips for success, including understanding local regulations and investing in property management insurance, were outlined. Moreover, thorough revenue management, cleaning and maintenance strategies, and comprehensive property listings management were emphasized.
Choosing the right Airbnb management software is a critical decision for hosts and property managers. The key features to consider when you’re choosing Airbnb software include:
- Multi-channel management
- Real-time availability updates
- Centralized reservation management
- Pricing optimization
- Task automation
- Legal compliance
- Data security
- Scalability
- Customer support
- Integrations support
Newbook is a comprehensive Airbnb property management solution that can significantly improve your business’s operational efficiency and help you increase revenue. Not only that, but you can take advantage of the software to reduce your workload and enable you and your staff to focus on higher-level tasks.
To learn more about Newbook, contact us today for more information.
