Clean AirBnb Pro: Personal Experience

Фото: Depositphotos

The Internet is filled with the stories of those who use the airbnb service, renting housing in various parts of the world, but I’m going to talk about how I rent an apartment through airbnb - I’ll lay it all clean.

So, in July of this year we bought an apartment in San Diego - 2 rooms, an area of ​​47 square. meters I lived there for almost 4 of the month, but, having left for Thanksgiving in November with a desire not to return before my birthday in February, I thought, why not accommodate on airbnb to help myself a little with paying for apartment maintenance.

Katya Matoyan is a life coach and professional journalist based in Los Angeles. Photo from personal archive.

The apartment was bought without a mortgage, so we don’t have to do anything with the bank.

The rules of our "homeowners association" Do not allow short term rentals. Minimum - 30 days. Practically everywhere in California, this is taken at the legislative level, and if you settled for a few days in Santa Monica or San Francisco, then this is in violation of the rules. In our house it threatens with a fine of 1000 dollars, and these fines are written out left and right. It is clear that to some extent this was lobbied by the hotel business - the cost of hotels and accommodation at airbnb is incomparable, this is what leads to the fact that in some cities airbnb owners have been equated to hotels and are forced to pay taxes at the interest rate of hotels (it’s really funny - how can you compare me and Marriott), but airbnb is a powerful movement of the modern economy, and I am sure that the golden mean will be found.

The ridiculous pillows had to be thrown out, like so much more ... Photos from the personal archive.

My AirBnb: Game Rules

Regarding the rules that make illegal short-term lease. I understand both sides. On the one hand, as a homeowner, I suffer at the weekend when bnb-shnik “run over” and my quiet apartment with windows to the pool turns into a nightmare. Jumping from the side of the pool, children's cries, drinking beer and, as a result, screaming young people - who likes this? No one, except the owners of the rented apartments. But the neighbors do not sleep and write letters to the management company. I do not condemn them at all, this is not squealing. If your rights are violated, then the desire to restore order is completely normal.

From the very beginning I decided to follow the rules., and in my ad it is written in black and white: the minimum rent of 30 days. I fill out the form, indicate the name and surname of the tenant, the length of stay, contact phone number and sleep well. Honestly, even if the rules allowed, I would not rent a day. My apartment is in excellent condition, I absolutely do not want the frequent change of tenants to “kill” it as soon as possible. Therefore, I have another condition - a maximum of two people. The apartment has one bedroom, and people should be comfortable. Yes, I also told my neighbors that the apartment is rented via airbnb and gave my phone if any problems arise.

Costs

• payment of the service company ($ 300) includes water, gas, garbage collection, cleaning of the entrance, the territory, etc. - in general, everything except electricity;
• electricity - depending on the weather, from $ 50 to $ 170 (these were the accounts in August-September, when the heat in San Diego was incredible and uncharacteristic for this city, and the air conditioner worked for me 24 hours a day, well, I I like it when it's very cold at home);
• Cable TV + Internet + Netflix - a mandatory set for me and for potential guests - $ 130;
• real estate taxes are paid twice a year, constitute 1.5% of the cost of the apartment, it is $ 3200 per year, that is, $ 270 per month;
• cleaning and buying everything you need (bath accessories, cleaning products, coffee capsules, etc.) - $ 100;
• Special Renters Insurance (Civil Liability) - $600 per year or $50 per month;
• insurance against equipment breakdowns costs the same - $ 50 (I pay $ 60 for calling the master, this year there were two calls - repairing the air conditioner and a chain in the toilet).

Well, like all. We do not pay rent tax in San Diego, as airbnb does it for us and lists it to local tax authorities. Our responsibility is to pay income tax at the end of the year, the amount of which will depend on our total income.

Calculate? The average cost of maintaining my apartment in San Diego is $ 900 per month. It is safe to round up to 1000, as unforeseen expenses occur. Yes, friends, it is expensive to own a property in America. Imagine that we would have to pay a mortgage for this apartment, it would be an additional approximately $ 1200-1300 per month.

Profits

My first guest (a law professor from Chicago who came to lecture at a local university) booked my airbnb for a month and a half - half an hour after I posted An ad on Airbnb, it was in the middle of December. And from this time (5 in January) the apartment was almost completely rented - between the first and second tenant there was a 3's weekly break, which I spent in San Diego, now until the middle of next week I have a photographer from Australia. Yesterday I rented an apartment until the end of July, an employee of a company serving the sea base, and then, until mid-September, I will have a couple from Germany. The average rental period is one and a half months.

Now, about income - keep records very convenient. Airbnb makes the payment the day after the guest arrives and pays monthly, not the entire amount of the rent.

I set a competitive price, a little below average, since I am a new person on the site, and I need to build a reputation. My price is, on average, $ 75-80 per day. I have the opportunity to book without my prior approval, I am not afraid of anything, since I have the opportunity three times a year to deny potential tenants who did not like me without explaining the reasons. Given my turnover, this is more than enough. But people still write in advance, and twice I gave a small discount.

• My payments from the Airbnb site from January to today amounted to $ 7800.
  
• May-August I will get $ 8100.
• Total for 8 months, income will be almost $16000.
• After deducting maintenance costs, real income from January to August will be $8000.

If we paid the mortgage, we would be in the red. This is mathematics. As for me, I am happy! My main task was to “pay the apartment for myself,” and I achieved this goal. In the future, when I get super-host status, I can raise prices by about% 20. With daily delivery, income may be higher (although this is questionable), and there is much more work, I am not talking about a possible rout. Another plus is that I bought an apartment at a great price, people sold after a divorce, were in a hurry, and since we were buyers who didn’t have to go through a long procedure for obtaining a loan, the conditions were excellent - from the moment of purchase in July my airbnb increased in price 15 thousand.