Collect Your Annual Rental Income by October – Airbnb Business Update

First a little background…

Since 2011, I’ve updated you on my efforts to find ways to dramatically increase your rental income.

All that research has led to me to believe:
1 – Traditional landlording is the LEAST PROFITABLE way to operate a rental property

2 – Corporate housing CAN BE the most profitable way to operate

3 – Running an Airbnb business is an easy pathway into corporate housing

But I also warn landlords to manage their Airbnb business differently than what’s typically discussed.

A Warning to Airbnb Landlords

If you try to compete with people who share their homes, you will likely run yourself ragged and end up making less money than a traditional landlord. And that would be tragic.

SIDE NOTE: Nearly any landlord can net more income by using my Airbnb for Landlord home study course to attract and house business travelers.

Now that You’re Up to Date…

Here’s what’s going on.

All my college boy talk about how landlords should use Airbnb doesn’t matter if I can’t get it to work at my rentals – right?

And when I say, “If you own a multifamily rental, you should consider making at least one unit a short-stay rental” that would be a bunch of baloney.

So I’m walking my talk. At the beginning of this year, I set aside one of my apartment units for a short stays experiment. I’m documenting, in real time, my failures and successes. Now we will see if my recommendations really lead to a larger net income.

With all that said, and without further ado…

Here’s My March Airbnb Business Update

March went as expected. It was uneventful!

Since I focus on “long-shorts” … attracting guests that want to stay just for a few months in a long term airbnb rental, I didn’t have much work to do at all.

I did field several queries from people wanting to book future dates, but that only took a few minutes. What’s new is that I’ve started using apps on my iPhone to corresponded to queries … It’s super fast and easy.

Today I signed a short term lease that runs through the end of July and has the potential to be extended though October.

I found this business traveler through TripAdvisor.

I credit my tactic of syncing all my calendars together with giving me confidence to manage listings on multiple sites.

This particular traveler will be moving in and out to accommodate my previously booked guests. This means he will actually be filling ALL the gaps in my schedule. Oh yeah!

He’s doing this because I’ve offered him an unbeatable value package at an unbeatable price. My offering appeals specifically to travelers on extended business trips. That’s the magic formula that landlords need to use. More on that later…

My actual and projected numbers

Take Aways

Ready for some insight fresh out of the oven? Here we go:

1 – My Airbnb business will produce a full year’s worth of income $10,200 ($850 market rent x 12 months) by October. Meaning I will be 17% more efficient than a traditional landlord. And remember, I’m paying myself for time spent.

Whatever I collect in November and December will be icing. Money for my family’s vacation and Christmas gifts too!

I have some ideas for spiking income during those months and blowing this experiment out of the water. Stay tuned for that…

2 – Keeping your rental filled with quality customers should be your #1 priority. And my tactic of posting on multiple sites and pricing for long term travelers is proving to be a money-making strategy. I’ve plenty of customer flow. So much so that I wouldn’t hesitate to bring another short-stay unit online.

If I would have known this before now, I may not have had such a lousy January.

Anyway, I’ll walk you through all these strategies when you get my Airbnb Landlord course.

I knew my concepts were valid, but actually starting from scratch and stress testing them has surprised me. I’m surprised that my principles ring so true for me and so many others Airbnb Landlords as well.

Success Story – J. Martin

J. was one of the first subscribers I shared my DocDorm (long-shorts) strategy with. He adjusted his Airbnb strategy and is now killing it. Check out his BiggerPockets post about how he’s retiring at 31 years old!

Martin says,

“When Al Williamson first told me years ago that I could make 3X the profit on furnished rentals, I thought he was a little out there. When I did it myself over and over, I became a true believer! Recently bought Al’s Short-Term Rental Course to improve my Airbnb business more.

Probably would have made another $100K and retired a year or two earlier if I would have listened to him a few years back! Thanks Al!”

– J Martin

Take a look at some of my articles on lucrative landlord ideas:

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