Is there such a thing as effortless income?
It seems that a number of people who have jumped on the Airbnb bandwagon have made that assumption. After all, don’t you just list a room or a granny flat or an entire house for hire on Airbnb and then sit back and watch the money roll in?
Well, like most things, it’s proving not that simple.
Every year, the total listing number of Airbnb properties in Australia rises at a rate of 20%.
Those who have rushed to become Airbnb hosts have found that there is a time cost to fulfilling guest expectations.
One Melbourne host told a journalist recently that the average monthly time spent hosting a single property is about 20 hours and includes the need for real-time communication with guests.
Then there are the actual monetary costs which include: Airbnb service fees; maintaining fittings and furniture; utilities use; consumables like soaps and toilet paper; and keeping rooms neat and clean.
The key, it seems, is to separate your time from any income stream by working out what is taking too long and what you can outsource.
At Ainslie Laundrette, we see exhausted Airbnb hosts who are completely defeated by their laundry. Crayons, shoe polish, red wine, tomato sauce, biro, and inexplicable linen stains pose huge challenges for the unprepared.
So we decided to offer free linen hire as long as we do the laundry. We supply quality linen that will take harsher detergents if necessary, and come up looking fabulous, fresh and pressed.
We’re in the business of making everyone’s lives easier … including Airbnb hosts.