How To Start An Airbnb That Will Kill It In 2024

I was interviewing with the CEO of a company yesterday and we got on the topic of how to start an Airbnb. He had no idea how to become an Airbnb host, yet he ran a $300 million dollar company. My mind was blow!

His shock at all the data companies that exist for people running a short term rental business took me back to my early days. In 2020 and 2021, I found so much online education and it really helped me build out the systems and processes I use today to self manage a multi six figure and 8 door Airbnb portfolio.

This post is all about how to start an Airbnb.

How To Start An Airbnb in 2024

Finding a property

Whether you have a property already identified or you’re just starting from scratch, I would encourage you to go through these steps. Either way it’s going to help you understand the landscape of the current market and get you into the right mindset for what to expect from the market you will be hosting in.

If you’re new to Airbnb, use my referral link to earn an extra $40 from Airbnb for hosting your first guest!

1. Pick and understand your market

To be completely honest, out of my 8 properties that I have listed on Airbnb, only 1 of them was intentionally bought to be used as a short term rental. We turned our primary residence into an Airbnb after running it though the tools I am going to show you below and the others we bought as long term rentals but eventually turned them into Airbnbs as we got great at operating a short term rental.

Analyze the property

Once you identify a market and pick a property, you are going to want to analyze to see if it will be a good fit for your strategy. I always buy distressed properties that are priced under market value and allow me to force appreciation by remodeling it. We will make sure it pencils out as a long term rental or a short term rental so we have a back up plan if Airbnb doesn’t work out. Once I find a property that hits this criteria I will move on to the next step. Figuring out the profit!

Airbnb profit calculator

Airdna is the best tool for a quick analysis. On the main page, create a free account then plug the address of the property into the Revenue Calculator and it will give you project occupancy, annual revenue and annual operating expenses. Take the revenue minus the operating expenses and that’s your number to subtract out the mortgage/taxes/insurance so you can see your annual profit. If that number is larger than a long term rental, you have a great property.

For an in-depth look at running number, take a look at this article!

2. Set up a budget

You’ll need to understand your budget for purchasing a property and setting up a property. Let’s dive into both below.

Initial acquisition

I titled this acquisition because there are many different models out there for acquiring a property to Airbnb. Some could be doing the rental arbitrage strategy and others could be converting an existing rental or just straight up purchasing a house for Airbnb. All these methods will require a budget for acquisition so you really want to be clear on what that will cost you and budget accordingly.

Set up of the property

Now for the set up of the property, I have a tool I can email you below that will help you think through everything you need for property set up. It’s a budget tool I use for all my properties when setting them up initially.

Rule of thumb for furnishing is to spend $10-$15 per square foot to get a good full space. Other expenses will include the initial stocking of inventory and back stock.

Setting up a team

There’s many people you’ll want on your team for managing an Airbnb property. They include everyone from cleaners and handymen to pest control and gardening. We’ll dive into the importance of the team and who needs to be on it.

1. Pay a management fee or Self-manage remotely

There’s two different approaches here, you could hire a manager or go the self managing route. Both have positive and negatives and we will dive into those here.

How to decide

A manager is typically 20-25% of your monthly revenue. It’s different than a long term rental property manager which is 10% and that’s because there’s much more day to day work than long term rentals. I thought this was the way to go until I discovered all these Airbnb hosts that do it remotely and self manage their portfolios. Self managing is the best option for me but it’s definitely not for everyone! You have to decide if you want the ultimate responsibility for guest experience to land on you or someone else. Both options can and should be automated.

Best ways to pick a manager

Like I said above, I self manage but this is what I would do to pick a manager. I’d talk to all the managers in that market, yes all of them. Find out the following:

• Referrals to other listings and read all the guest reviews.
• Speak to the property owners as well.
• Ask what their team looks like.
• Ask about the technology they infuse to ensure bookings are coming in and pricing is set appropriately.
• How do they handle guest issues and what do they do for urgent issues.
• How is your property maintained.

All of these questions will be key to understand so you can make your best pick for a property manager.

2. Software set up

This section is geared towards those who will be self managing but still super valuable for those that select a manager. You will learn what questions to ask when choosing a property manager.

Airbnb

First step is to set up your Airbnb account. I have a referral link below that will earn you an extra $40 for hosting your first guest so check it out! I have a great article that will take you through step by step how to go from no listing to live on Airbnb. Check it out here.

Are you a first time host? Use my Airbnb referral link to earn an extra $40 from Airbnb for hosting your first guest!

Dynamic pricing tool

Once you have your listing live on Airbnb, you need to get a dynamic pricing tool set up. There are many options out there but the one I use is Pricelabs and honestly, it’s the only one I’ve tried. I don’t use it on all my listings, some I use the Airbnb pricing tool but it’s a super great way to ensure you’re optimizing your pricing for maximum revenue in a competitive market.

Use this link for a free 30 day trial to Pricelabs!

Instacart subscription

Get yourself an Instacart subscription ASAP. It will be so helpful when you have last minute things you need for your listing, cleaners or guests. I’ve used this more times than I can count and swear by paying for the extra speed. It’s always worth it for delivering a 5 star experience for your guest.

Use this link for $10 towards your first purchase when using Instacart.

Turno

Turno is the best platform for managing and automating your cleaning team. They do have a fee associated to each transaction but it’s worth it. You can find cleaners, read their reviews from other listings they manage, communicate and automate the entire turnover process from start to finish. I barely have to communicate with my cleaning teams now that I am using this platform.

Thumbtack

Thumbtack is an app that is great to connect with other contractors in your area. If Turno doesn’t have a great marketplace of cleaners, Thumbtack is a good resource too. It’s a review based platform for everything from carpet cleaning to pest control to handymen and plumbers. I love this platform because when there is a last minute maintenance issue, I can get it handled by a trusted professional who understands technology and usually understands the business I’m running.

3. Go Live

The most exciting step thus far! You get to finally host your first guest.

Host your first guest

I was absolutely shocked someone wanted to stay at my property and then also terrified that they would have a terrible experience. I remember when I got that first 5 star review I was addicted and it challenged me to continue to provide a top tier experience to every guest that comes my way.

Make tweaks

You will have to adjust and make tweaks to your processes as you learn the business and your guest. I had no idea about a guest avatar when I first started hosting and wanted anyone and everyone to come stay at my property but now I know that’s not the best way to attract guests. You want to set your listing up for a certain target customer and just go hard to attract that particular customer every single time.

What else is part of your Airbnb set up process? I’d love to know in the comments below!

This post was all about how to start an Airbnb.