Airbnb FAQ for New Hosts

Thinking about creating a listing on Airbnb to rent out your property short-term and earn extra income? As an aspiring Airbnb host, it’s most likely that you have tons of questions about hosting on this well-known OTA platform.

If you are new to hosting on Airbnb, consider starting by learning how the platform works.

In this article, you’ll find answers to the most common questions that potential Airbnb hosts may have.

Airbnb Hosting FAQ

If you are interested in hosting guests to earn additional income, getting started on Airbnb is simple. To help you get a better idea of what it takes to become an Airbnb host, we’ve created this list of Airbnb hosting FAQs.

Is my home or apartment a good fit for Airbnb?

You can offer a private or shared room in your home or an entire place, which guests will have to themselves. The key is to set clear expectations because when guests book on Airbnb, they want to know what they’ll be getting. It’s essential to indicate in your listing the exact type of property that you’re offering—a house, apartment, boutique hotel, or a unique space like a treehouse, yurt, sailboat, windmill, etc.

You can list almost any property on Airbnb. Your space may be luxurious, quirky, or simple and affordable, and there’s a perfect guest for it. However, you need to create a detailed and honest listing that showcases the unique features that may appeal to your potential guests, and be frank about the pros and cons of your listing.

Provide a detailed description and professional photos to help guests understand exactly what to expect. And of course, you should set a fair price. Many travelers are okay with staying in a modest space if they feel it’s a good value.

Can I control when to host?

What if you don’t want to host all year? With Airbnb, you have the flexibility to host whenever you like. Whether you want to host only on weekends, once a week, or all the time, you can set your hosting schedule. It’s up to you to decide when you want to share your space, how many nights guests can stay, and if you need breaks between bookings.

If you want to become a full-time host, you may also decide to list your property on other rental listing websites to reach more travelers and increase your occupancy rate. Then, you’ll need to keep your calendar updated across all channels to avoid double bookings. You can easily do it with Hospitable. Our channel manager will protect you from double-booking with instant calendar synchronization across platforms.

What legal and regulatory issues should I consider before hosting on Airbnb?

Before listing your space on Airbnb, you need to understand the laws in your city, county, state, province, territory, and country that may apply to you:

• Business licenses
• Building and housing standards
• Zoning rules
• Special permits
• Taxes, etc.

For example, some cities have laws restricting the ability to rent out a property on a short-term basis. These laws are often part of a city’s zoning or administrative codes. In many cities, hosts are required to register, obtain a permit, or secure a license before listing their rental property or accepting guests. Certain types of short-term bookings may be prohibited altogether.

Local laws and regulations surrounding home sharing can be confusing, but it’s crucial to abide by them, as penalties may include hefty fines. If you have any questions, please get in touch with your local government or consult a local lawyer or tax professional.

How much does Airbnb charge hosts?

You can list your rental space on Airbnb for free. But to ensure the platform runs smoothly and to cover the cost of services that help hosts share their properties, Airbnb charges a service fee when a booking is confirmed.

With a split-fee structure, hosts pay a flat service fee of 3%. This fee is calculated from the booking subtotal, which includes a nightly rate, cleaning fee, and additional guest fee (if applicable). The subtotal doesn’t include Airbnb fees and taxes. The service fee is automatically deducted from the Host payout. Guests typically pay a service fee of approximately 14% of the booking subtotal.

With a single-fee structure, the entire fee is deducted from the host payout. It’s typically 14–16%. But Airbnb has announced that most hosts currently on the single-fee structure will soon start paying a new single rate of 15.5%.

How should I price my listing?

When choosing the right nightly rate for your Airbnb property, consider its type and size, amenities, the number of guests it accommodates, local market conditions, and several other factors. It’s essential to ensure that you remain competitive in the market and that your price covers the costs of owning your property, allowing you to generate a profit.

With all the different variables to consider, setting the right price can be pretty complicated for any host. Airbnb offers a free Smart Pricing tool, but it’s not the best option for you because it prioritizes occupancy over your income and may price your Airbnb listing too low.

If you opt for Hospitable, you’ll be able to take advantage of our built-in Dynamic Pricing solution, which is included in Host, Professional, and Mogul plans at no additional cost. If you activate this feature for your property, Hospitable will automatically adjust your prices based on real-time market conditions to maximize revenue generation and optimize your occupancy.

How do I get paid for hosting?

To receive payments on Airbnb, hosts must select their payout method in the Payments & Payouts section of their account. Available payout methods include bank transfers, ACH, PayPal, Payoneer Prepaid Debit Cards, Western Union, and others. Your options will depend on your location.

Airbnb will send you your payout about 24 hours after a guest checks into your place. Your bank and payout method will determine how long it will take for your funds to arrive in your account.

What requirements must I meet when listing my property on Airbnb?

Airbnb asks all hosts to meet certain requirements for each of their listings to help create comfortable, reliable stays for guests:

• Accept trip requests from guests whenever their properties are available
• Try to avoid cancellations because they’re a massive inconvenience for travelers
• Maintain a high overall rating because guests expect a consistent level of quality, no matter where they book
• Be responsive and reply to all inquiries and booking requests within 24 hours

It’s critical to maintain effective communication with your guests to provide them with the necessary information at the right time and make them happy; however, it’s very challenging to be available to them 24/7. That’s why many successful hosts prefer to automate this process, using tools like Hospitable.

With Hospitable, you can set a perfect message flow to automate the delivery of scheduled messages, sharing routine information at specific stages of the guest’s journey, from booking inquiries to checkout and beyond.

Still, you should be ready that your guests may have a lot of questions, so Hospitable uses AI to help you answer them as fast as possible. You can use the Suggest with AI tool available in your Inbox to generate a draft response to any guest message based on the message context, booking details, and past replies. You can review the message and make edits if necessary before sending it to your guests.

You can select Improve with AI to rewrite your message. Just provide some bullet points as guidance, and Hospitable will create a personalized reply. You can also upload your guidebooks to the Knowledge Hub to educate the AI about your properties and policies, enabling it to make more accurate and relevant messages for you.

As you get confident with our AI performance, you can opt for the Auto Inbox feature. In this case, we will automatically respond to your guests’ questions without requiring your review. Thus, you can control the level of communication automation, reaching 100% autopilot.

Watch this explainer video to learn more about Hospitable’s AI features.

The good news is that Hospitable is an all-in-one short-term rental software that offers a comprehensive set of features. Our STR super app can help you manage your short-term rental property efficiently, even without a large team in place, saving you many hours a week through AI automation. With us, you’ll be able to automate almost all your routine tasks, even if you have several listings, and focus on growing your business.

What essential amenities should hosts provide?

Essential amenities are basic items that guests consider necessary for a comfortable stay. They include towels, toilet paper, hand and body soap, linens, and pillows. Airbnb strongly encourages hosts to provide essential amenities in all their listings.

When travelers view potential places to stay, they can see the amenities you offer. Guests can also filter search results to see listings that provide the amenities they feel are important, such as WiFi or air conditioning. Highlighting the right items in your Airbnb listing can make a significant difference in attracting potential guests.

You may want to explore our Airbnb host checklist that can help you stock your property to ensure a perfect experience for your guests.

Final Thought

Airbnb is one of the world’s leading marketplaces for booking vacation rentals, which allows people in more than 200 countries to become successful hosts by renting out their own spaces. We hope that the information provided in our Airbnb FAQs will help you determine whether this platform is the right option for listing your rental property.