I am officially a superhost, The decision to turn our rental property into a fulltime Airbnb, How to get the best return on your investment, side hustle, passive income, becoming a superhost

 


https://airbnb.com/h/northlandpeacefulriverfront


Today I became an AirBNB Superhost!  Yay!  

As someone who has never before worked in hospitality at all, this is a great achievement.  Check out the link above, if you would like to give me any tips or tricks I am more than happy to take them on to improve our offering in that space.

It wasn't easy, took a lot of work and attention to detail.

The journey to get to this point was interesting to say the least.  I thought, today I would share it with you.   I never expected this to go as well as it did and continues to.   Maybe others will be inspired to do the same, or at least consider other options for your investment, even for rooms in your home.

When we purchased this property, it was an investment but it was also to help out our aging parents as it lent itself to being a lovely little home for elderly people.  However, for a variety of reasons that didn't happen so we rented it out for a number of years.  

Last year after giving notice to the world's most horrific tenants, we had to almost rebuild our little two bedroom rental property.  It looked so lovely once we finished in November, we decided to furnish it and turn it into a BNB over the summer.  

We had thought about doing this before but decided to give one last try at finding a good tenant.  This is a small house, like a small retirement unit, located in a tiny northland town but has the most magnificent vista overlooking the river.

After paying lots of attention to detail and stocking the cupboards and fridge with the makings of a lovely continental breakfast we listed the property.  The expenses of doing this were minimal as a lot of things we already had and were surplus.  We also used a lot of reward points to purchase the new things we required with the exception of linen and the washing machine.   

  • We already had heaps of spare beds so that wasn't a problem
  • We had a few beer fridges that we didn't use anymore so cleaned one up and took it over there.
  • We got a microwave and pots and pans from some flybuys points I had
  • We purchased all new quality cotton linen, duvet covers, duvets, quilts, towels, hand towels, bathmats, facecloths, mattress protectors, pillows and pillow protectors
  • We found five matching plates, cutlery, cups, glasses, wine glasses, handles
  • We had an extra toaster and jug (not sure why) so cleaned them up and popped them over there
  • I bought a large vase for the flowers I always pick from my garden, I was thrilled that I would have somewhere to put them.
  • We bought two really cheap lounge chairs, brand new of the market website
  • Nice doormat and rubbish bins
  • We purchased, new, the smallest washing machine we could find
After setting this up, we have some consumables that we purchase on an ongoing basis, including breakfast.  Each day we need to have stocked:
  • Shampoo and conditioner, body wash, hand soap, moisturiser, toothpaste
  • Laundry Powder, Cleaning products, Dishwashing liquid
  • Breakfast, vogels toast bread, butter, a variety of spreads, fresh eggs, yoghurt, tinned fruit, a variety of cereals including gluten free products, milk, tea, coffee, sugar, cooking oil, salt and pepper.
Every time we change guests we need to clean the whole place and all the linen, but we charge for that to pay the cleaner, who is amazing (thank you Karli).

You may wonder if all of this is worth it, it really is!  

Since  listing in December it has been constantly full (except for a cancellation in the cyclone and another during the Auckland floods).  We have had wonderful feedback which is surprisingly important.  

We have had a variety of guests, families wanting a break from Auckland, international tourists, people wanting a stop over on the twin coast discovery highway, people staying in the area for special events, people wanting a place close to the beach among many others.

The difference between how a tenant treats a landlord and how a guest treats a host is incredible.  Guests are incredibly thankful for all you do and tenants......... not so much.

Don't get me wrong, I have another facility that is helping with the housing crisis, and provides emergency housing, but we have taken a different path with this investment.

As far as money goes, we are getting twice the return on investment than we did on the rental.  

Providing accommodation is treated very differently taxwise than providing a rental property.  

It is a very different agreement between guest and host, than that between tenant and landlord.

All in all, the bnb is a great investment for us.  We have hired a cleaner but I control the food and the quality of the property, and do all the administration.  

Psychologically it is a surprisingly different feeling, knowing people are happy with the quality of what you provide.  Every stay we get feedback, always positive, sometimes with a few suggestions that we try to fix every time, but everyone is really appreciative of what we are providing.

I have now also listed the property on the other sites of 




I have aligned all four calendars so we never double book, it has been an absolute learning experience to me that is for sure.

As a friend told me the other day "this bnb was an absolutely genius decision on your part" and I tend to agree with that statement.  

I guess the point of this blog today is:  you can do anything, you can learn anything, you can set your goal and achieve it, no matter what it is!

Be an entrepreneur, you never know where it will lead.  

Comments

  1. Maree4 April 2023 at 19:19

    Yay… another thing you can coach us on! 😁

    ReplyDelete
  2. Grannie Sarah's Solutions4 April 2023 at 22:41

    Bring it on, its great fun once you get started! Thanks for supporting my blog, feel free to share it.

    ReplyDelete

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