Category: All About Airbnb

Airbnb Bad Reviews: Use them to your Advantage

Post author By Shivam Kaushik
Post date June 28, 2021

There is nothing more demoralizing than receiving a bad review on Airbnb, especially when you go above and beyond to take care of your guests and host them to the best of your abilities but they still leave a negative or unsatisfactory review. Getting a lot of bad reviews can negatively impact your future bookings as the majority of guests go through negative reviews to make a decision before booking a property.

Every Airbnb host has to deal with unsatisfied guests and bad reviews at least once during their hosting career, and if not dealt with properly could do a lot of harm. In this blog, we will tell you what to do if you get a negative review and how to deal with the guests and convince them to delete the negative review, and also some methods to harness bad reviews on Airbnb and use them to your advantage.

Getting rid of Negative Reviews

1. Requesting the Guest

If a guest leaves a negative review on your listing, you should try and reach out to them as soon as possible. Ask them what you could have improved to make their experience better. Let’s say if the guest pinpoints out something that you disagree with, you should not dismiss that and become defensive as it will cause a conflict, instead, you should agree and tell the guest that “they are right and you’ll try to improve on the suggestions given by them”.

Doing this will help the guest realize that you have acknowledged the issue right away instead of dismissing it and then this will make them more receptive to your request of deleting the bad review. Then you should ask them to remove their bad review and explain how it negatively affects your business, and if done right will most likely work.

2. Give Discount/Compensate

If the above method of “Requesting the Guest” doesn’t work out and the guest is still not ready to change their negative review, then you can try to compensate them for the unpleasant experience they had. You need to be careful while using this method as if not done correctly it could backfire and leave a bad impression on the guest as you may sound arrogant. Choose the right words and way of compensation.

You can give your guest a discount for their next booking or send them a gift card which they can use to pay for their next booking at a discounted price. This compensation can help you get a negative review removed and retain a guest as well. Many airlines and professional services use this method to make amends with unhappy customers.

3. Don’t Rush to Review the Guest

Don’t rush in to leave a review for your guest after they leave, wait till they have left you a review especially if you feel they will leave a bad review. This will help you decide on how to review them based on the honest experience review. Also, it’ll discourage them to leave an unreasonable review as they’ll be worried about you reviewing them negatively, which might make it harder for them to book good properties in the future.

Also, guests just have 14 days to review a property and if you feel there is a slight chance that this guest might review your property badly then you should not write a review about them. Airbnb will prompt them as well to write a review about the property if you write the review early. If you do write a review, write it after a few weeks so that the guest doesn’t recall small things to nitpick and give you a positive review.

4. Reach Out to Airbnb

If you feel that the bad review you have received is unjustified and does not express the real experience of the guest then you can raise a review removal complaint to Airbnb. Airbnb reviews also fall under Airbnb’s Content Policy which monitors if a review is a spam, a threat, use of foul language, maliciously motivated, or fabrication of real experience.

If you followed all the Terms of Services and kept your conversation with the guest on the Airbnb platform then it’ll help you a lot to convince Airbnb to get rid of the review. You need to be able to prove that you are in the right and the review violates Airbnb’s Content Policy to use this approach.

Use them to your advantage

Leave detailed responses

When you receive a negative review make sure to respond back. Make sure to pinpoint every detail of the guest’s stay. Keep it as brief as possible and mention all the minute details. This will help in making a positive impression on the other reader as you’ll seem like someone who cares and takes notice of guests’ needs.

Focus on the Positive

When responding back to a bad review make sure to highlight the positive aspects of the guest’s stay and don’t blatantly disagree with negative reviews. You shouldn’t accept them either if you feel you were not in the wrong, but do acknowledge them. Acknowledging them and then telling why those issues occurred and how you are working on making sure other aspects of your guest’s stay were up to mark will help you build trust with readers.

Show what you have learned

If you were in the wrong then accept the mistake and if you weren’t in the wrong then acknowledging it will go a long way. Telling what you have learned from it and what you have you are doing to improve on it leaves the reviewer with nothing to defend and argue about.

Highlight the steps you have taken after this last negative review to improve future guests’ experience. Also, go through all the negative feedback to get a broad understanding of all things you can change to have more satisfied guests in the future, and use negative remarks as a guidebook to improve your hosting.

Don’t bad mouth the guest

Arguing or speaking unfavorably about your previous guest will portray you as rude and make you an undesirable host for future guests. You need to be calm and professional throughout and realize bad reviews are part of being in the Airbnb business and should be handled professionally and strategically.

Tags Hosting Tips

Airbnb Investment All About Airbnb

Best Cities to start Airbnb Rental Arbitrage Business in the US.

Post author By jae an
Post date June 21, 2021

Best Cities to Start Airbnb Rental Arbitrage Business

The pandemic has hit short-term rental businesses all over the world, but it’s not the case in the US. It’s backed by data that many of the remote US destinations have experienced the most profitable Summer in 2020 and are looking for another profitable Summer in 2021. So it might seem the world is falling apart and everything is going down. But the data is speaking otherwise, according to 2020 airbnb data this is a great time to start your STR journey. The market is about to bounce back as people are craving the outdoors. So to help you focus more on the important things in your STR journey, and not the boring research part, we have compiled a list of the best cities to start Airbnb in US.

The Airbnb business is booming

The rental arbitrage model is extremely attractive for hungry and motivated entrepreneurs. You don’t need much money to get started with your first rental. In fact, you can even start by renting out your own room (and you stay the night at your car or friend’s house) to save up the initial deposit to start your first arbitrage unit. However, the rental arbitrage won’t generate passive income – It’s not true passive income because you constantly need to pitch to landlords and manage day to day operations.

What is Airbnb Rental Arbitrage?

Maximize your rental property revenue with more inventory and dynamic pricing tools.

Data-backed Market Research: You start with conducting thorough research about the market to find the profitable neighborhoods, amenities, and styles.

Pitch to landlords: Now you know the number and you know this property will generate profit for sure. It’s time to contact landlords to get permission to do rental arbitrage and get accepted.

Efficient operation & Profit: A lot of hustles in putting your listings on various channels, right pricing, and many other tactics. Still, I trust that you will be able to learn along the way as long as you have started with the right properties.

How to identify profitable rentals for rental arbitrage?

Make more informed decisions with the power of accurate data.

Definition of Arbitrage: In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets.

As the definition suggests, you need to find the gap between the “long-term rental market” and the “short-term rental market”. Fortunately, finding a long-term market base price is straightforward. You can easily find the market prices for the long-term rental market in Zillow. Finding the short-term rental market price is more difficult since looking at “daily rate” and “cleaning fees” on Airbnb isn’t enough because you also need to know “occupancy rates”. Therefore, the key to the success of rental arbitrage research is in short-term rental market research.

Then, what is the “key” of short-term rental market research? It is basically clearly identifying the range of profit of properties in different neighborhoods and by the size of properties.

The profit consists of three variables – 1) occupancy rate, 2) average daily rate and 3) expenses. The size of properties is a little bit more complex as it consists of the “number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and the total number of beds”. I will go through different tools to find out the occupancy rate and daily rate of different neighborhoods a little bit later.

How much does it cost to start your first rental arbitrage?

Stay up-to-date with relevant industry trends.

Don’t panic. After all, the starting cost is quite predictable once you do enough research.

Deposit
First-month rent
Furnishing (Beds, Sofa, Dishes etc)
Supplies (Here’s a checklist)

If I were you, I would start with basic furniture only – one mattress with a base and a cover per room, one used sofa, a pot, a pen, and plastic cutleries. Once I receive a few bookings, then, I will start investing more stuff like lamps, coffee pots, and so on. Starting with a huge budget will make you feel pressured to get a better return, so please be a minimalist when you get started.

Tips to do market research effectively and correctly

Use competitive and intelligent data to your advantage.

You need to make a comparison table to structure your research and efficiently search for your next properties. The template could look like below.

Profit before paying rent = (occupancy rate * daily rate) + cleaning fees (that you charged from guests) – cleaning fees (that you actually spent) – other expenses

Now you know the profit before paying rent, so now you can just identify which properties on Zillow can be profitable when you rent them. On Zillow, as of today (2021-06-20), there is only one property that can profit $500 a month to you.

How much does it cost to start your first rental arbitrage?

Stay up-to-date with relevant industry trends.

Now I guess you are wondering how much a short-term rental around your neighborhoods is making.

You can use our research tool to find it. You can choose one city, and if you zoom in to a specific neighborhood, it will show the average daily rate and occupancy rates from the short-term rentals on the map.

If you do research, you will find out that there are so many profit combinations (neighborhoods x property size).

Now let’s take a look at the best cities to start airbnb in the US.

Best Cities to Start Airbnb in US

To make it easy for you, below are some (not all) best cities to start Airbnb in the US that have possible profitable combinations for rental arbitrage.

There’s no point in giving you some numbers of expected rental arbitrage returns because it will be depending on the exact neighbourhood and the size of properties you are going to rent. Please do your thorough research to find out some areas where there’s a high demand for short-term rentals while having excessive long-term rental supplies.

What's next?

If you are doubtful about using data solutions, I’d recommend you to 1) speak to a property manager in your area 2) ask other Airbnb hosts in various Airbnb host’s communities 3) collect data on your own from Airbnb website.

If you are lost, you can find other Airbnb hosts from the following links.

Tags Airbnb Investments

All About Airbnb Hosting Tips

Red Flags to Look for When Renting on Airbnb (Airbnb Guest with No Reviews)

Post author By Shivam Kaushik
Post date June 17, 2021

Airbnb guest with no reviews is a major red flag when accepting a request. Learn how to onboard this kind of guest from this article!

Home > Resources > Hosting Tips >

Red Flags to Look for When Renting on Airbnb (Airbnb Guest with No Reviews)

Airbnb guest with no reviews is a major red flag when accepting a request. Learn how to onboard this kind of guest from this article!

December 18, 2023

Being a host is never an easy task. For starters, you have to take care of marketing your listings, communicating with guests, and property management. Recently, hosts have started to report scams and illegal activities that have started taking place due to the massive reach & popularity of short-term rental platforms. These people are taking advantage of hosts and their property by finding a loophole in the system. Usually, they are Airbnb guests with no reviews.

In this blog, we surveyed over 100+ super hosts to take note of the red flags when renting your property on Airbnb so you make the best decisions when hosting an Airbnb guest with no reviews. Continue reading to learn more!

1. Airbnb Guest with No Reviews

When you come up with profiles with no single reviews, this could indicate that the person is using Airbnb for the first time or has created a duplicate account. It gets very hard to judge guests based on their type of profiles. Your best bet here would be to communicate with the guest and request them to complete their profiles. This is especially necessary if they already don’t have an ID and photos.

Questions to ask Airbnb guests with no reviews

But fret not! Of course, we can give guests with no reviews the benefit of our doubt. But just to safeguard your interest as a host, you can ask the guests the following basic questions:

What is your purpose for visiting?
How many people will be staying?

At the same time, hosts can also use this simple message template for Airbnb guests with no reviews but are showing interest in the property.

Hey there {{guest’s name}}

Thank you for showing interest in my property and welcome to the Airbnb community. As your host, I want to make sure that your first stay with us will go smoothly. Before I approve your booking, please verify your profile photo with a government ID & kindly fulfill the required information below:

1). Brief information about your stay & number of guests
2) What brings you to the neighborhood & what are your expectations?

I look forward to approving your request pending this information.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Cheers,

{{Host name}}

2. Not reading/following the rules and guidelines

To avoid Airbnb guests from having last-minute changes such as bringing extra people or pets, it’s ideal to remind them of the rules and regulations prior to confirming their stay. Although this isn’t always a red flag, Airbnb guests who keep changing their statements that are against rules and regulations should be reminded to read the listings to avoid complaints and confusion.

3. Having inappropriate photos or no photos

Similar to Airbnb’s no review guest’s account, an Airbnb guest with inappropriate photos or photos that don’t show their face clearly could be considered a red flag. Having no photo might also indicate that the profile is new, and if that is the case, you can request the guest to update his/her profile using the message template indicated above. If they hesitate to upload a photo or the uploaded photos seem altered, then it is certainly another red flag. As an Airbnb host, you should ask for proper verification in case of any suspicion before confirming the stay.

4. Convincing to book a listing outside of Airbnb

If a guest is trying to use alternate methods to share his number to book the Airbnb listing, then it’s a major red flag. Keeping all the chats and conversations on the Airbnb app is really important. This is truly necessary in case of damages to the property or any other mishappening during the guest’s stay. It also helps you to be on the safe side in terms of receiving the money and having proof of conversation in case of any legal action. Taking the conversation on some other platform will not only increase the chances of a scam, but it’ll also leave you stranded without anyone to reach out for help in case of a mishap.

5. Unconventional name or email

In 2022, getting a decent email without numbers and weird symbols is next to impossible. While there are some odd emails that use offensive words, and sexist or racist remarks, this can be a red flag as a lot of scammers use pseudo emails to make Airbnb accounts. It’s important to be aware of unconventional names or emails. These people often do this to prevent leaving traces of their personal identity in case of any investigation.

6. Broken language

Many times, scammers who pretend to be Airbnb guests run bots and reach out to multiple hosts at once. They send them personalized messages based on their listing using learning bots. You can identify these messages if the grammar is incorrect or if even a single sentence just doesn’t make sense. Usually, these bots have the conversion for a few seconds until some human switches over. You need to be careful and look for these types of sentences that sound auto-generated by a bot.

7. Exchanging services in return for a stay

Another red flag is if a guest offers to clean the house or do any other service in return for a stay instead of paying money. The chances of that person leaving without cleaning the place are very high. At the same time, this is not a good practice to follow as an Airbnb host. It’s still advisable to have your property cleaned by a reliable cleaner as the chances of getting scammed are very high in these types of situations.

8. Asking the right screening questions

If the Airbnb guests are local and staying for one night, you may want to ask their motive for visiting the property and confirm if they agree with your house policies. If they are visiting from outside of town, you can casually ask what they would like to do in the city. This way, you can easily identify the intention of guests while giving some helpful suggestions depending on what they want to do.

9. Do what your gut says

Sometimes you don’t need any red flags. If you have a feeling of uncertainty when giving your property to a guest based on his/her profile and messages, it is best to drop that guest as your gut instinct could be right.

When to take the risk of accepting bookings from Airbnb guests with no reviews?

While there are red flags to look out for when accepting Airbnb guests, it’s important to take note that there are some Airbnb guests who might have difficulty creating their accounts as they are new on the platform. Here are some of the go signals for Airbnb hosts to take the risk:

1. Airbnb guest provides necessary data

If you require the guest to provide a valid government ID and a clear photo, and they promptly follow along with a clear intention of their purpose of visit, then your worries should at least be minimized.

2. Airbnb guest instantly confirms the payment

The majority of Airbnb hosts are usually worried about guests with no reviews because they might be a no-show and waste the bookings on their calendars. However, if the Airbnb guest instantly confirms their payment online, then it’s recommended to take the risk (and still follow the mentioned precautions).

3. Airbnb guest is willing to go through security checks & verify account

Airbnb guests who are willing to go through security checks & verification on the platform should be considered as a go signal for hosts to accept the booking. At the same time, it’s necessary for Airbnb hosts to make sure that the guests are responsive and agree to the rules & regulations of your property.

How to decline an Airbnb guest with no reviews?

If you see all these red flags and you can’t see any redeeming quality in your guest, now is the time to decline the booking request. Declining a guest is a delicate process. So, be sure that you keep the conversation professional and courteous until the end.

Remember, maintaining professionalism and politeness is key when communicating with potential guests, even if you need to decline a booking request. This approach will uphold your reputation as a host and align with Airbnb’s community standards.

1. Start with Gratitude:

Begin your message by expressing your appreciation for their interest in your listing. This sets a positive tone for the conversation.

2. Explain Your Policy as a Host:

Let the guest know that, as part of your hosting policy, you usually prefer guests with reviews to ensure a smooth experience for both parties. Make this sound like a general policy rather than singling out the guest.

3. Apologize and Explain:

Apologize for any inconvenience and explain that you are unable to make exceptions at this time. Make sure your message is respectful and understanding.

4. Suggest Solutions:

If possible, offer some alternative solutions that could help the guest build their Airbnb profile and increase their chances of securing future bookings. For instance, suggest that they consider booking with hosts who are open to new users or recommend ways they can improve their profile.

5. End on a Positive Note:

Conclude the message with well wishes and a friendly tone. This helps to maintain a positive reputation and ensure a good impression of you as a host.

Feel free to use the sample template below for declining guests who show red flags

Hi {{guest’s name}}

Thank you for considering my Airbnb listing for your upcoming stay. I appreciate your interest in my space. As a part of my hosting practice, I typically consider guests who have reviews from previous stays. This helps ensure a positive experience for both guests and hosts. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this might cause, but I currently don't have the flexibility to make exceptions regarding the review policy.

However, I suggest you explore other listings where hosts might be more open to hosting guests without reviews. You could also enhance your profile by verifying your identity and completing your Airbnb profile, which will increase your credibility in the community.

Best of luck with your travel plans, and I hope you have a wonderful experience using Airbnb in the future.
{{Host name}}

Conclusion

I hope this checklist is somewhat useful in your hosting journey!

If you are just getting started with hosting, I believe you want to get more quality bookings. The first step is to have a clear picture on your listing’s performance against to similar listings in your area. This allows you to set a realistic goal.

Compare your occupancy rate against to other similar listings around your area using Airbnb Analytics tool (Click the banner below). Once you are in the app, search for your market, and zoom into the area where your listing is located. Then, you can find the average occupancy rate of the area you are seeing in the map.

Unlock Worldwide
Short-Term Rental Data

Find unsaturated neighborhoods with the highest occupancy history.

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Tags Hosting Tips

Airbnb Investment All About Airbnb

Best Airbnb deals in Dallas (2021 Updated)

Post author By Shivam Kaushik
Post date June 9, 2021

Bring out your cowboy boots and get ready to explore the best deals in yet another amazing southern city of Dallas, being bordered with Mexico and with more than 42% Hispanic population, you’ll find fusion foods that are so amazing and unique that it’ll be hard to find such combinations anywhere else in the country. Dallas is the fastest growing city in the US currently with a 1.3 million population and it’s inviting more people to come and explore the culture. Here is the list of 9 Best Airbnb deals in Dallas that you can’t find anywhere else.

Downtown/Deep Ellum 1 BR – 3 guests ($60)

Located within walking distance to the city center, this place is great if you aren’t bringing your car with you, Sheraton Downtown and Deep Ellum are 2 min walking from this location. At this price point finding a place in the city center is near impossible.

Why is it the Best Airbnb Deal in Dallas?

Great location – walking distance from major Dallas attractions
Affordable with sufficient amenities for the price.
Free Parking
Experienced Host with 4.7 ratings and 650+ Review

Getting rid of Negative Reviews

1. Requesting the Guest

2. Give Discount/Compensate

3. Don’t Rush to Review the Guest

4. Reach Out to Airbnb

Use them to your advantage

Leave detailed responses

Focus on the Positive

Show what you have learned

Don’t bad mouth the guest

Best Cities to Start Airbnb Rental Arbitrage Business

The Airbnb business is booming

What is Airbnb Rental Arbitrage?

How to identify profitable rentals for rental arbitrage?

How much does it cost to start your first rental arbitrage?

Tips to do market research effectively and correctly

How much does it cost to start your first rental arbitrage?

Best Cities to Start Airbnb in US

What's next?

Red Flags to Look for When Renting on Airbnb (Airbnb Guest with No Reviews)

Red Flags to Look for When Renting on Airbnb (Airbnb Guest with No Reviews)

1. Airbnb Guest with No Reviews

Questions to ask Airbnb guests with no reviews

2. Not reading/following the rules and guidelines

3. Having inappropriate photos or no photos

4. Convincing to book a listing outside of Airbnb

5. Unconventional name or email

6. Broken language

7. Exchanging services in return for a stay

8. Asking the right screening questions

9. Do what your gut says

When to take the risk of accepting bookings from Airbnb guests with no reviews?

1. Airbnb guest provides necessary data

2. Airbnb guest instantly confirms the payment

3. Airbnb guest is willing to go through security checks & verify account

How to decline an Airbnb guest with no reviews?

1. Start with Gratitude:

2. Explain Your Policy as a Host:

3. Apologize and Explain:

4. Suggest Solutions:

5. End on a Positive Note:

Conclusion

Quick Links

Quick Links

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Other requirements and regulations to have in mind if you’re thinking about starting a STR in NYC

Airbnb and their history with the data sharing law in NYC: is Airbnb still permitted?

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Conclusion

¿Debería de mantener mi política de cancelación estricta?

¿Debería aceptar huéspedes de medio plazo en mi Airbnb?

¿Debería permitir mascotas en mi Airbnb?

¿Debería comprar una lavadora para mi Airbnb?

1. Gives you a benchmark

2. Helps you understand your target audience better

3. Improves your marketing

4. Determines whether it’s worth the investment

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