🏠5/6 How to Furnish, Decorate and Smarthome your first AIRBNB 🚀
In this blog, we are going over standing up an Airbnb property. What types of furniture do you need to host your first Airbnb?
We are going over how much the cost of the item is, where to buy them, what problems we've run into with certain items, and more. If you are looking to set up your Airbnb in the most efficient way possible, this is the blog for you.
This blog is part of a 6 part getting Started with Airbnb series.
Are you considering standing up your first Airbnb but not sure?
If you have followed blogs 1-4 of this section, you should have a good idea of how to fund your deals, what you need to do to start picking markets, and how to analyze deals and start making offers.
In theory and hopefully - that will lead to offers going out and offers getting accepted.
I know this part can be a little scary but remember this is the goal and if you have a proper due diligence clause, you are not risking much if you have time to learn more about the property and area.
But still, you will need a thorough checklist and some systems to stand the property up and even more so if you plan to self-manage from a distance
Some of you may be considering offloading property management to a 3rd party company.
Which I think is a good idea in a lot of cases, but even if you do. This blog can help you because you will understand more of what they are actually doing and make sure you don't get ripped off as well as make sure you have an alignment of interest.
If you choose to self-manage from the beginning, which I personally recommend if you do it the right way, you can keep some of that margin that you would be giving up to property management. But on that note, again you need systems and people in place to help handle things for you.
And Building your team for Airbnb or management, in general, is the difference between replacing your job with a job or replacing your job with a business that gives you passive income to do what you want every day
So we are going into the 5 steps of setting up a property and building your team.
Step 1 - Understand what you are walking into
In a lot of cases, if you are buying in a vacation area, you will have the option to negotiate furniture during the sale. If the furniture is nice or goes with the property it can be a great option. Even if the furniture isn't great, a lot of times it can be a good starting point so you don't need to start fresh with replacing an entire house of furniture, which can be really expensive.
Also, it’s a good time to survey the condition of things that might be worth repairing or improving on the front end before pictures are taken and you start getting bookings which makes repairs harder.
You are also looking to emphasize something special about your property or give your property something memorable. This could be a hot tub, a painted wall, a view, or something else. But it’s very important to try and have some part of the home that will be your centerpiece for pictures and or be 'Instagramable'
Step 2 - Furniture and Decorating - Building a checklist
So all properties will be a little different and You need to understand the theme or look you need for the specific property you own. If you are in the mountains, that will be a different vibe than the beach or a desert. But from the research we've done earlier in this series, you should have a good idea of what the vibe is in your area.
But its also another great opportunity to check out the other listings in your area and see what the top ones are doing well
Some things will be the same no matter what, like bedding, kitchen supplies, Tv's and sometimes furniture
I’ll also mention before we get into the team portion - there are some services you can hire who will go to the property, stand it up, and furnish or design it. It’s definitely something to consider if you are very tight on time and can afford it or you think you are not wanting to do the stand-up yourself.
I have a few friends that do this and we are actually considering adding this as a service or product in addition to potentially starting to do Airbnb management for other people. Let me know in the comments if you think this is something we should do or not.
Step 3 - How to Make Your Property Pop - Staging and Pictures
Something special or fun about the property. You want to emphasize this. It could be a view, a hot tub, a game room, or a backyard. It will be different for every property but you want to do everything you can to showcase one part of the property in most cases
It can be painting, purchasing new equipment, or just redesigning a current part of the house
Some other things to seriously consider if you are design-challenged like I am
Finding a local designer or stager who can help you build out the full property or consult with you at times when you have questions or just help with finishing touches or artwork.
I think this a great option, especially at the beginning when you haven't done one of these. And after you have help, you can decide if you can do it yourself or if you can just replicate what this person did in future properties.
This kind of falls into the category of a lot of things in beginner business that it doesn't matter exactly how it happens the first time because you will learn from it and know it way better on the second one. But its always good to have guidance or use some best practices
As for Pictures, I used to try skimping out on pictures. By either take them on my iPhone or have a friend use my nice camera and take them.
Bad idea. It’s worth investing in the pictures so that you can showcase all the hard work you have done. It will feel painful in the end but trust me. This is not an area to skimp.
It’s worth hiring a professional photographer who knows how to use angles, lighting, and different equipment to showcase your property, but they also know how to edit pictures and tell a story with the images instead of just making a static theme.
Good pictures can cost anywhere from $150 - $350 dollars. I know... 😵💫
Step 4 - This will probably be its own video - creating your listing and setting pricing
From a high level, it’s all pretty straightforward. The prompts on the Airbnb setup page are straightforward
I am actually thinking of starting a weekly live series where we help someone set up their listing.
But from a high level, The things you want to make sure you have in your listing and emphasize are all the comfort items.
Fast Wifi
Quiet Area's
Quality bedding and linen materials
Things to do around the property
Very specific detail around the bedroom count and guest count
How many TV's you have
And also the house rules, mainly explaining that you are an accommodating but also stern host if there are problems
Pricing will be determined by your research on comps, Airdna, and if you are really serious about exploring a tool called price labs. It’s what I use and a lot of other hosts use.
There are a lot of pricing rules and tricks. A few of my favorites are trying to get guests to come early or extend their trips with some messages letting them know. I also like giving creative discounts especially during the week or during the slow season to encourage longer stays - less wear and tear.
Watch the video I've just uploaded on my YouTube channel! 👇
