Are you ready to finally start that Airbnb business you’ve been daydreaming about?

Maybe you’re most excited about making a great real estate investment next year. Or you’re finally ready to turn an existing property into a money-making machine. Or maybe you love hospitality and can’t wait to host your very own guests.

Whatever the case, you need to make sure you’re setting your Airbnb up for success. Instead of reinventing the wheel and making tons of common mistakes, use the 10 tips in this post to successfully start your first Airbnb next year!

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I’m not affiliated with Airbnb in any way (other than being an Airbnb host, of course). Read my full disclosure policy here.

10 Tips to Successfully Start an Airbnb in 2023

1. Know your market

How do you know where your Airbnb should be located? What’s the best market for Airbnbs? Where can you earn the most revenue?

If you try to answer these questions on your own, you could spend tens of hours researching and never even identify a location you feel confident in.

Thankfully, AirDNA makes finding the right location for your Airbnb super easy. AirDNA instantly calculates the expected short-term rental revenue, nightly rate, and occupancy rate of any location you type in. If you want to maximize your revenue, this data is crucial before starting your Airbnb. The best part? It’s totally free.

That said, before investing in any property, you’ve got to know the market on a much deeper level. With AirDNA’s monthly subscription, you can dive deep into market data like monthly revenue breakdowns, seasonality, and your competitors’ performance. AirDNA’s low-cost monthly subscription is well worth it for the confidence you’ll get before spending even a dollar (make that hundreds of thousands of dollars) on starting an Airbnb.

Pro Tip: This is also the best time to learn about any short-term rental regulations in the locations you’re considering.

2. Estimate your profitability

However, just understanding the market isn’t enough to make a sound real estate investment. Before making an offer on any specific property, you need to know if it would actually be profitable as an Airbnb. My free Airbnb profitability calculator will tell you just that.

This profitability calculator is exactly what I use to determine whether or not a potential investment property would be profitable as an Airbnb. Based on specific inputs you’ll plug in, this free downloadable instantly calculates three crucial financial metrics you need to make an informed investment decision.

With my Airbnb calculator, you can quickly assess whether or not a property would be profitable before you even spend time touring it.

Pro Tip: One of the best things you can do to increase your profitability is optimize your listing.

3. Plan for the essentials

While starting your first Airbnb creates a lot of uncertainty, one thing’s for sure: planning, finding, and setting up all of your furniture and supplies is a ton of work. At the same time, these items have a huge impact on how many bookings and 5-star reviews you earn, so getting them right is crucial.

Make setting up your property a breeze by using my free room-by-room Airbnb checklist. With this free downloadable, you’ll instantly get access to over 100 essential items you need to start your Airbnb!

4. Know what it’s really like to host guests

I hate to admit it, but Airbnb nightmares do happen. I learned this the hard way with my second guest ever who threw a party, trashed my property, and upset my neighbors.

After all the hard work I put into renovating the property and making it a wonderful place for guests, it was really disappointing to see how badly this group mistreated it.

I’m not telling you this to scare you. I’ve only ever had guests like this once; the vast majority of guests are great. But, a huge part of being an Airbnb host is interacting with guests (in fact, it’s by far the most time-consuming aspect of running an Airbnb). So, you’ve got to know what you’re truly signing up for.

Find out what it’s really like hosting guests in this blog post.

5. Set up a high-converting listing

Another thing that might surprise you as a first-time Airbnb host is how much work goes into crafting a listing that converts potential guests into bookings. And that the work doesn’t stop after your listing with Airbnb goes live.

Make sure you’re maximizing your Airbnb revenue with these can’t-miss listing optimization secrets.

Pro tip: There over 15 sections on your listing that can be optimized today to start earning you more revenue today!

6. Don’t manually calculate your Airbnb pricing

Nailing your pricing on Airbnb is actually one of the hardest aspects of running a profitable Airbnb business. Using the wrong automated pricing tools can cause you to lose tens of thousands of dollars in potential revenue (speaking from experience). On the other hand, manually calculating your nightly rate takes hours and is ultimately not effective, since you’re working with very limited information.

Instead, get the exact pricing strategy I used to earn over $85,000 in gross revenue my very first year hosting.

7. Plan for property maintenance

Once you start short-term rental hosting, one thing that might surprise you is how much property maintenance you need to do. And when you first visit your property, you might be shocked by how many issues guests haven’t told you about.

You’ll quickly realize how important it is to regularly visit the property yourself because proactive property maintenance can turn a potential disaster into a minor hiccup. Regular property maintenance makes hosting more enjoyable, helps you get more 5-star reviews, and gets you closer to earning Airbnb Superhost status.

Get 10 rental property maintenance mistakes (and how to avoid them!) in this blog post.

8. Know that a perfect 5-star rating isn’t everything

Not long after starting your first Airbnb, you might find yourself stressed about your reviews and overall star rating. After all, you just poured tons of time, energy, and money into creating a perfect Airbnb. The thought of getting a less-than-perfect review is heartbreaking!

And you’re right to worry. Reviews are very important to guests. The better your reviews, the more bookings you’ll get. But getting a perfect 5-star rating isn’t everything (nor is it realistic; and telling yourself it is will just result in you hating hosting).

The good news is, I’ve rounded up the 5 things Airbnb guests care about most. After reading this blog post, you’ll know exactly where to invest your time and energy to get the best reviews possible.

9. Learn how to earn even more revenue

Over my first two years as an Airbnb host, I grossed over $160,000 in revenue! One of the most important things that drove my revenue was having an optimized listing.

Pro Tip: an optimized Airbnb listing can help you earn significantly more revenue; check out my can’t-miss listing optimization guide HERE.

10. Stay in the know on Airbnb updates

Airbnb is constantly optimizing its platform, so to keep making your Airbnb as profitable as possible, you’ve got to stay in the know on the most recent updates.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram, where I share daily Airbnb hosting tips and keep you informed on Airbnb’s latest updates, so your Airbnb continues to be as profitable as possible!

Takeaway

Congrats!! You’re well on your way to starting a super successful Airbnb this year. Now that you have all the tips in this post, you’re well prepared to start a profitable Airbnb and avoid tons of common Airbnb hosting mistakes.

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Why do you want to start an Airbnb this year? Let me know in the comments!

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