Coffee and Fresh Flowers

3 simple ways to make your home a 5-star stay on Airbnb.

Friends and family will think you're crazy, right up until the moment they see your extra income. As a host and avid traveler, I'm often on vacation myself when Airbnb guests are living in my house. Yes, the same house I live in. And on the first morning of their stay, or my vacation, I receive an email outlining the payout that just hit my bank account.

Money is nice and hosting on Airbnb is a great way to start earning an additional income. Airbnb makes it simple and leverages existing hosts to help you through the process. Ambassadors , as we're called, are paid a referral bonus once you host your first guest.

Here are three of the most important things to focus on as you get started.

1. Cleanliness

Have you been to an Airbnb, a hotel, or even a friend's house and had to bite your tongue to keep your language kid-friendly? Same. And it's honestly one of the reasons I love being a host, it encourages me to keep my house cleaner on a regular basis.

As a host, cleanliness takes on a higher standard. It's not enough to have clean toilets, fresh bedsheets, and no smudges on your mirrors. Guests notice the little things and you will too. Through the process of cleaning and organizing your house while prepping for guests, you'll start noticing the cobwebs and mouse droppings. At first, you'll be disgusted with yourself and then you'll be grateful you found it before someone else did. And what's more, you'll be better prepared for the next guests, addressing these problems at the source so that they require less time later.

A few things guests will notice include hairs on bedsheets, grimy knobs/handles, and an overgrown entry to the property. I picked these three because they're the sort of things that you don't always notice. Ok, you'd likely notice hair on the bedsheets but you'd be surprised how often this comes up. Some bedsheets create a lot of static cling when dried and can hold onto any human or pet hairs until you are ready to put them on for your guests. Amazing how one hair can make your entire house seem unclean. I suggest buying sheets that are less prone to this (seems microfiber is the worst) and have a lint roller handy.

Grimy knobs and handles are another sticking point for people. I know you're likely to wipe doorknobs and handles that are used frequently but what about the ones in the corner of the kitchen where the kids play? Also, how often do the light switches on the wall or lamps get a wipe-down? Anything sticky is an immediate turnoff.

Our first rental property was a quaint country rancher on six acres. Every door of the home opened to a deck that flowed seamlessly to the yard. And every part of the yard tried relentlessly to take back the plot where the house now sat. This meant that pathways, decks, and even doors would be grown-over if unkempt. On a daily basis you may not notice. Generally you may be ok with scooting by your healthy shrubs out front but you may not take note of how a guest may feel about this. Keep your paths clear and wide enough for people of all sizes to enter comfortably. After all, your entrance is critical to their first impression.

2. Friendliness

It's impossible to overestimate the impact your attitude has on your guests' experience at your property. You are really the first, last, and ongoing impression your guest has about your home. Guests will go out of their way to help you and book again with you if you've treated them well as their host.

Hosting is a loaded word. It embodies a gesture of giving, of serving, of trust. Airbnb had difficulty gaining traction early because this relationship is hard to build with complete strangers. With identity verification and reviews, this becomes a little simpler but the vaguely anonymous nature is still a struggle for many. Couple that with the fact that most host/guest interactions take place over text, the format most likely to lack non-verbal cues.

Approaching this may come naturally to you or may require a lot of energy. In either case, every host out there has countless stories of great interactions and a couple that weren't so good. The best approach is to be proactive, like the waitress who asks if everything tastes alright before you have to flag her down about a problem. By being friendly in your intro, upon check-in, and during the stay, people will feel their requests are being addressed by someone who genuinely cares. You're sure to find true success in this area if you do actually care because it will shine through any problems that arise.

3. Willingness

The old saying, go the extra mile, rings true here. However, you often don't have to go the full mile. An extra inch is often noticeable to even the most discerning guests.

My family will vouch for how much work Airbnb hosting truly is. Especially my wife who does most of the cleaning. What always amuses me are the comments that pop up in the reviews remarking about coffee or fresh flowers. Since reviews are the primary place hosts look for validation that we're doing a good job, it is always a joy to read good reviews. Humorous though that these last-minute, little things can be what sticks out in a guest's mind. I wish I could tell you there was forethought in this but the truth is, the first time we put out fresh flowers it was a collection from our backyard that we snipped as we were leaving.

Coffee. The world loves it and your guests will notice when it's there (or not). Sometimes I like to find a local roaster or sometimes it's a last-minute pickup of Peet's at the grocery store. It hardly matters as long as it's there and how to make it is clear. One of my most common questions from guests, as they plan for their trip, is; what type of coffee maker do you have? My answer: all of them. While I'm sure there's a multitude of ones I don't have, we have a high-quality drip machine along with a french-press and pour-over setup which covers most preferences outside of espresso.

The big picture.

Hosting on Airbnb has been one of the most rewarding business ventures of my career. It has taught me how to host with care, invite strangers into my home, let go of my personal belongings, travel more, and spend more time with my family. It's hard to comprehend what my life would look like without it. I'm a better husband, father, entrepreneur, guest, and traveler because of Airbnb hosting.

For these reasons I'm very passionate about helping others experience this income and lifestyle boost. The sampling of advice above provides a brief teaser to an e-book I've been working on to help hosts even more.

As an Airbnb Ambassador , I'm available to help with questions, concerns, and logistics of getting set up as a host. The best part is Airbnb gives us both a referral bonus once you host your first guest. This makes the initial process cost-effective for you and monetarily beneficial for us both.

Get in touch with me to get started using this link !

#airbnbambassador