Pricing Tips to Get the Most out of Your Short-Term Rental

It will take some time to get good at pricing your Airbnb—and your price will vary widely depending on the month and season. When you first start out, search for similar Airbnbs in your area (look for location, number of bedrooms and baths, etc.) and see what their numbers are. You may have to price your place on the lower side until you build up a few good reviews

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Okay, on to brass tacks. You’ll want to ask yourself about your own goals and desires for your Airbnb. Are you wanting to book it solid? Do you clean the unit yourself? Would you rather have shorter stays so you can clean more often and make more money per stay? If so, one-night minimums would be a perfect fit for you. With two-night and three-night minimums you will clean less often and also create “orphan” nights in between bookings that cannot get rented. 

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If you want to book as many nights as possible, in times like low season, less popular weekdays, or just in general, offer the lowest price you are comfortable with. Don’t price it too low, however, that you attract the wrong crowd or don’t cover your own expenses—this is a delicate balance. When I first opened up my Airbnb (and clearly this was before I had a kid), Airbnb was my life for the first year. I did all the cleanings myself, and I had a lot of bottom-rate nights during low season just because I’d rather make a little money than no money at all. My devotion and constant price tending gave me a pretty successful first year. It worked for me then, though you might have different priorities and circumstances. As a general rule of thumb, it’s better to have a higher occupancy rate with reasonable prices than a lower occupancy rate because of high prices. But you’ll have to do your own math.

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The absolute best advice I can offer you in your day-to-day pricing tests is to aim lower in the short-term (the next few weeks) and aim high farther out. If your listing goes live and you are booking many months out, your prices are too low and people are snatching up nights for that reason. When I first listed my Airbnb, I immediately booked my upcoming four weekends. I read this as a sign that I was doing really well. Then a Superhost friend told me, “You priced weekends too low.” Oh, right. Weekends high high high, weekdays lower. I found my grove. You will too.

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Contact us today to learn more about how to become a short-term pro!

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