How to Start an Airbnb Business: Questions Answered

Check local STR laws and regulations

Before you decide on a location for your Airbnb rental, you should research local short-term rental laws and regulations. Find out what requirements you must meet to operate legally and what taxes you must pay. This step could save you headaches later.

Keep in mind that some cities ban short-term rentals completely, and some locations don’t allow non-owner-occupied short-term rentals. Some cities may restrict your ability to rent out your property short-term to specific zones or limit the number of days you can rent out per year. Many cities and counties require short-term rental property owners to register and obtain licenses and permits.

If you are considering starting an Airbnb business in the US, you may want to check out our blog article covering different aspects of Airbnb regulations by state. You’ll learn about STR laws in some popular locations.

But keep in mind that short-term rental regulations vary from city to city and are constantly changing. So, you should check out local government websites and consult your local lawyer if you have any questions about the steps you need to take to ensure compliance.

Consider your expenses

Listing your rental space on Airbnb is free, but you’ll want to consider any extra costs you might incur as a host. They include Airbnb service fees and ongoing expenses for maintaining your vacation rental home. They include repairs and maintenance costs, professional cleaning services, utilities, subscriptions for WiFi and Netflix, and funds for supplies and goods to restock your space after each stay.

Besides, you should consider how much you’ll need to invest in your property to make it cozy and visually appealing for guests, ensuring a comfortable stay and an enjoyable experience. For example, you may want to buy durable furniture suitable for a rental apartment that adds personality to your space.

Interior décor is also important, and your rental’s aesthetics can greatly impact your income potential. You may want to check out our article to find Airbnb decorating ideas and tips to help you create an inviting space and achieve the “wow” factor.

Make sure you can meet the basic Airbnb host requirements

Airbnb has a few basic requirements and rules that hosts are expected to follow to create comfortable, reliable stays for guests and maintain a high standard of customer service:

• Provide the essentials, including toilet paper, soap, linens, and at least one towel and pillow per guest. Tick out all the boxes in our host checklist;

• Keep your listing clean and free of health hazards before guests check in;

• Accept reservation requests from guests when you’re available and provide a reliable check-in experience;

• Avoid cancellations of confirmed reservations unless there are certain valid reasons that you can’t control—Airbnb cancellation policy is stringent;

• Ensure timely communication with guests. Respond promptly to your potential guests’ booking requests and inquiries. The slowest response time you can afford is 24 hours. Sometimes, to win a booking, you must send a message within minutes of an inquiry.

How to Start an Airbnb Business: Essential Steps

For hosts, renting out a short-term property is much more lucrative than taking on long-term tenants. But before you even sign up for Airbnb and start creating your listing, you should prepare your house for welcoming guests.

Spruce up your place

Your space may be perfect for you, but it doesn’t mean it's ideal for guests. So declutter your home, consider a proper renovation, review must-have amenities, and deep-clean every room.

If you don’t have a large budget for renovating your home, focus on what your guests would value most after a long day of travel and exploration. Invest in comfortable beds and high-quality bedding, revamp the bathrooms, and modernize the kitchen, replacing outdated appliances with energy-efficient ones.

Here are some tips to cut your long-term costs—following these tips will minimize your maintenance and repair costs. Rest assured—the comfort of your guests will not be jeopardized:

• Choose robust, durable materials, fixtures, and fittings that will withstand a constant stream of STR guests.

• When painting walls, use high-quality, hard-wearing paint that requires minimal maintenance, and use heavy-duty gloss paint where possible.

• Furnishings may be broken and damaged by Airbnb guests, and they are costly to replace. So it makes sense to use only necessary furnishings and remove everything else.

• Soft furnishings are subject to spills and stains as well as wear and tear, so it’s better to replace them with hard-wearing PVC or leather alternatives.

• Replace carpet with hard flooring where possible because hard floors last a very long time and are easy to clean.

• Paint skirting boards with dark, hard-wearing paint—then scuffs and marks will be less visible. You can also use dark-stained wood as an alternative.

• Use black grout with any tiling work in the bathroom since it makes any mold buildup invisible and is easy to clean. Then, you won’t need to re-grout tiles often.

Pro tip: There are a few significant differences between an apartment you want to live in and an apartment you want to rent out. And it's not about saving on the quality of amenities. It's about efficiency.

Make your property safe for guests

You should take measures to ensure the safety of your guests. Equip your rental with safety items, including a functioning smoke alarm, a carbon monoxide detector, a fire extinguisher, and a first-aid kit. Provide emergency contact information for the nearest hospital and directions to the emergency exits.

It’s essential to identify potential risks before they turn into accidents. Go through your home to check for possible issues like loose steps, tripping hazards, slippery tubs, broken railings, or exposed wires, and fix everything.

A good idea is to install security cameras around entrances to keep your guests safe and protect your property. Just inform your guests about their location in your listing’s description. And remember that Airbnb's camera policy restricts security cameras that monitor any part of a listing’s interior, regardless of their location.

You may also consider installing noise-monitoring devices to receive alerts when noise exceeds a certain level. That will help you prevent unauthorized parties and avoid neighbor complaints. However, remember that Airbnb doesn’t allow hosts to install noise-monitoring systems in bedrooms, bathrooms, or sleeping areas.

Set up self-check-in

You’ll also need to set up a smooth check-in process. Today, more and more guests are looking for vacation rentals that offer self-check-in, eliminating the need for a host to be on-site when guests arrive.

The simplest solution is to install a lockbox and store the keys to give guests access to your property. But this solution is outdated, and there’s a smarter alternative. So consider installing a smart lock, which you can manage remotely via your smartphone and easily change the code after each guest checks out. Offering self-check-in will save you time and ensure a seamless experience for your guests from the start.