When Airbnb guests book your property, they expect a home that is clean and accurately portrayed by the Airbnb listing. They also expect an easy guest check-in process and important information at hand. This seems fairly straightforward. Well, when you’re trying to manage an Airbnb remotely, it may be even more complicated.
What complicates all this is being physically away from your property. This brings up the question – how can you manage your vacation rental from a distance? The answer lies in setting up a business process that makes it possible for you to manage your Airbnb rental remotely.
Regardless of where you are physically located, you’ll need to attend to all of your guests’ needs. By doing so, you will deliver a flawless guest experience. Follow these 10 rules on how to manage an Airbnb remotely to run your Airbnb business smoothly, even when traveling.
1. Offer Self-check-in
To ensure your guests can access your property without meeting you in person, think about arranging self-check-in. You can either opt for a solution such as a key lockbox or consider installing an electronic or smart lock. These technologies can also make check-out much easier for you and your guests.
Key management services can be a great idea too. There are several solutions available to help you manage key handoff, including Keycafe and Everydoor.io.
Key Management Services
- Keycafe, which integrates with iGMS, allows you to manage key exchanges with multiple guests and cleaners. You’ll be able to manage access to keys for all your properties from a single account. You’ll receive real-time SMS updates whenever the keys to your property are accessed.
- As another option to help you manage Airbnb remotely, Everydoor.io provides keyless self-check-in for guests and staff through smart locks. Smart locks provide better security for your properties. They allow guests to access your property only when a wireless signal from a smartphone verifies the guests’ entry.
If your property requires a PIN code to access the building, you can also use the Everydoor.io app and give your guests a PIN code to enter into the intercom’s keypad.
With Keycafe or Everydoor.io, you can automatically send access instructions. This means that your guests have all the information they need to enter your property right at their fingertips.
Managing entry to your rental remotely via an app also means that help is readily available if your guests need it. You’ll get instant notifications if your guests are having trouble gaining access to your property. Also, you’ll know immediately if there is an unauthorized person attempting to enter.
With Airbnb key management apps and host tools, you will stay in full control of all entries, check-ins, and checkouts. They will also help you avoid inconvenient scenarios such as the cleaning company entering the property before guests’ check-out.
2. Manage Airbnb Remotely With Vacation Rental Software
Managing your business remotely can be quite a challenge. However, thanks to automation, you can be sure your business is under control even if you are away, traveling the world.
Vacation rental software such as iGMS allows you to control all guest communication, bookings, and alterations. Also, you will be able to monitor and manage day-to-day property management operations. With iGMS, you can:
- Managing multiple accounts and listings on the top OTAs from a single interface
- Synchronizing reservations across multiple platforms to eliminate the risk of double bookings
- Organizing messages into a single feed with a unified inbox
- Improving communication with automated templates and triggered messaging
- Creating essential reports on your business results within minutes
- Adjusting your pricing in a smart way through integrations with PriceLabs, DPGO, and Wheelhouse
- Automating the process of guest reviews
iGMS allows you to stay in full control of remote team management. You will be able to manage, add, and monitor cleaning and maintenance tasks assigned to other team members. All of this can be done remotely, from the web software or a mobile app.
3. Hire a Professional Cleaning Service
Hiring a professional Airbnb cleaning service means you don’t have to be on-site to handle each guest turnover. A professional cleaning service can handle routine tasks after a guest leaves, such as disinfecting and cleaning. In the meantime, you can enjoy your vacation or concentrate your efforts on strategic tasks.
In addition, a cleaning service will also take care of commonly overlooked areas. Professional cleaners will take care of all the hard-to-reach places to ensure your rental is sparkling clean.
Provide a personalized cleaning checklist for the cleaning company to ensure high levels of cleanliness for your vacation rental.You may even be able to find cleaners who ensure that essentials like toilet paper are fully stocked and ready for every new guest!
4. Find 24/7 Maintenance Vendors You Can Trust
If you are trying to be a remote Airbnb host and manage Airbnb remotely, one of the most important aspects of your business is your maintenance vendors. You need trustworthy maintenance professionals, who are ready to respond to any request, at any time of the day.
All the following vendors should be on your speed dial in order to manage your Airbnb effectively remotely:
- Backup cleaning services
- Plumber
- Handyman
- Electrician
- HVAC repair services
- Landscaping services
- Pool cleaning service (if applicable)
- Pest control
Maintenance issues at a property always seem to pop up at the worst possible time. No matter what happens, your guests will expect you to take action immediately.
If it takes you too long to respond to an urgent situation, your guests will give you bad reviews. Consequently, this will result in decreased revenue.
When choosing the right vendors, search for trusted companies. You will need someone you can rely on and who can take proper care of urgent repair tasks right away. A 24/7 service from your team of vendors is essential to effectively manage Airbnb remotely.
5. Compose a Comprehensive Guestbook
Provide your guests with all the important information upon their arrival. This way there will be no need for them to contact you with any additional questions during their stay.
Welcome guests arriving at your rental with an informative guidebook for the exceptional guest experience.
- Your Airbnb welcome guestbook should contain information about local places to visit, public transportation schedules, etc.
- Place it in an obvious place, such as on the kitchen countertop, to be sure your guests will spot it.
- It is highly recommended to mention your check-in and check-out procedures on your Airbnb listing. In addition to this, include them in your welcome book.
- Finally, WiFi codes and troubleshooting tips should be sent to guests automatically via Airbnb after their bookings are confirmed. Also, be sure to include this information in your welcome binder.
Keep a physical copy of your house manual somewhere that guests can easily access. Your house manual should be comprehensive enough that the guests will need it on a daily basis so ensure it is easy to find.
6. Install Safety & Property Monitoring Technology
In order to manage your Airbnb property remotely, you’ll first need to establish safety and access controls. As a remote host on Airbnb, the threat of squatters or illegal tenants is reasonably high.
Installing external security cameras, electronic window locks, and even security beams, if you so desire, is a good way to secure your property and ensure that your Airbnb rental remains secure.
You can find safety and monitoring technology recommendations on forums and Facebook groups for Airbnb hosts. There are even groups for remote Airbnb hosts!
7. Consider Hiring a Local Co-Host
Managing Airbnb remotely, whether it’s one or multiple properties, is a complex process. You can have the longest list of Airbnb host tips and still fail to manage an Airbnb remotely and turn a profit.
A remote host, an area that the host is not familiar with, and nobody there for on-the-ground support is a recipe for disaster.
Hiring a local co-host is a really simple way to ensure that your property is managed to a professional level, even when you’re managing your Airbnb remotely.
Having a co-host allows you to rest assured that any issues that pop up will be remedied quickly and your guests won’t be affected by it.
8. Use Dynamic Pricing Services
Most Airbnb hosts have had some form of pricing issue in the past. Whether it’s failing to update last year’s prices or pricing your peak-season dates too low, hosts managing their Airbnb remotely often run into pricing issues.
Seasoned remote hosts have long since cottoned on to the dynamic pricing idea and seen the benefits firsthand.
Dynamic pricing allows you to input pricing Airbnb rules and let the engine manage pricing updates independently. That takes a substantial workload off your plate.
Other Airbnb hosts might find themselves bogged down in price management and you can optimize your pricing with one of our dynamic pricing partners. These partners include PriceLabs, DPGO, and Wheelhouse.
9. Guest Screening
Screening your guests is an easy way to put your mind at ease. As you can’t be near your rental property, you need to take other steps to ensure that your property is protected.
Screening your guests allows you to ensure they are who they say they are, and that they understand your house rules and booking process. Always make your house rules clear before check-in.
Make sure the guests you accept bookings from have verified their profile with a government-issued identification document and that they have a couple of good reviews.
Knowing that a guest will adhere to your house rules will make the management of your Airbnb rentals and other types of short-term rental property much easier.
10. Streamline Guest Communication
Your guest communication starts as soon as a potential guest sends a booking query. Before your guests check-in, send them your welcome pack and ensure there is a copy of the welcome pack on-site in your actual property. You can use a business VoIP system to handle customer inquiries.
Even for hosts that use Airbnb as a passive income, welcoming new guests means stepping up their Airbnb management, even if they’re managing an Airbnb remotely.
Being a long-distance host means you’ll need to take advantage of host tools, shop in bulk for essential supplies, invest in digital locks, and work with a management company for short-term rentals.
Conclusion
Creating a complete system to manage Airbnb remotely is crucial for running a business from a distance.
Although it may sound like a lot of setting up, it is necessary for an Airbnb business to be profitable and even more critical for remote hosts. These five tips can help you establish an efficient business flow for easier remote management of your business. And, of course, maintain a passive income.
By ensuring that your system runs perfectly at all times with the help of vacation rental software like iGMS, you will attract more bookings and get more positive reviews. All this will establish you as a trustworthy and successful Airbnb host.
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