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Maximising your Airbnb property’s performance requires exceptional management skills. It demands commitment and dedication to meet guest expectations and deliver impeccable service.
Property management involves several tasks like marketing, communication, maintenance and cleaning. It also involves compliance tasks like meeting financial, tax and legal obligations. Balancing all these tasks can be challenging but it gets easier with Airbnb co-hosting.
Having a co-host means choosing a trustworthy person to share responsibilities with. It involves getting extra help to streamline rental operations and ensure guests are satisfied with their experience staying in your Airbnb.
In this article, you’ll discover more about Airbnb co-hosting and how you can use it to your advantage. You’ll learn how to successfully choose a co-host to maximise the earning potential of your property so you can enjoy significant returns, positive reviews and high occupancy rates.
What is Airbnb Co-Hosting?
Airbnb co-hosting is a partnership between the primary host (property owner) and a co-host (an individual) or host team (a third-party company). It involves sharing responsibilities in managing a property on Airbnb. The extent of the responsibility would depend on the agreement between the partners.
Some hosts look for hosting teams through property management companies like City Relay to fully manage their Airbnb. This requires a legally binding partnership to protect the primary host and the company.
Others look for a more casual partnership with a co-host or a trusted individual who could be a family member, neighbour, or seasoned Airbnb co-host. They are tasked to manage the property partially or in the absence of the primary host.
Only the primary host is allowed to set up the co-hosting partnership on Airbnb. This extra help eases the burden of managing Airbnb properties and allows property owners to focus on other matters. The co-hosts share the responsibility of helping guests check-in and check-out, scheduling cleaning and maintenance, marketing the property and communicating with guests to ensure a great experience during their stay.
With the right co-host or hosting team, you can improve the property’s performance and increase rental yields.
What can Airbnb Co-Hosts do?
Airbnb allows 3 different permission levels for Co-Hosts.
The first is Full Access to the property’s profile. This gives the co-host access to the calendar, messaging and transaction history of the property. The co-host can access the management of the listing including co-host permissions and any reimbursement requests (in the event of damages filed in the Resolution Centre or under the Host damage protection).
The second is Calendar/Messaging Access. As the name implies, this permission level allows the co-host to message guests on behalf of the primary host. They can answer inquiries and make clarifications to encourage bookings and boost occupancy rates. For the calendar access, this is only for viewing. The co-host is not allowed to edit the calendar.
The third is Calendar Access. This is the most limited permission level and only grants the co-host viewing access to the calendar. They are not allowed to edit it.
Other details of the co-hosting partnership will depend on the agreement between the primary host and co-host. Among the tasks include the following:
- Ensuring the property is well-maintained and conditioned to receive guests.
- Taking care of damages and repairs.
- Replenishing amenities and basic stocks (e.g. toilet paper, coffee, tea, etc.)
- Communicating with guests (inquiries, concerns, etc.)
- Arranging cleaning and maintenance services between bookings, during emergencies or as requested by guests.
- Checking on guests during their stay to ensure they have everything they need.
- Welcoming guests during check-in or sending them off during check-out.
- Collecting guest reviews to boost the property ratings.
- Monitoring nightly rates to keep the property competitive.
- Taking care of cancellations and extensions.
While co-hosts are authorised to do several tasks, they can’t access the payout details and taxpayer information of the primary host. They also can’t access the latter’s history as a guest on Airbnb.
What is the Co-Host payment scheme in Airbnb?
Co-hosts can charge fees depending on the responsibilities they’re carrying out. It could be between 10% to 25% of the booking fee. The more responsibilities they have, the higher the payout. It’s also possible to have a flat fee for services rendered like cleaning and maintenance.
According to Airbnb’s co-host payout guide, there are specific payouts that can be shared with co-hosts. This includes the cleaning fee (sometimes with an additional percentage), percentage payouts (may or may not include cleaning fees) and fixed-amount payouts.
These payouts can only be set up by the primary host for co-hosts with permissions on their property listing. Once it’s set up the co-host has to confirm or decline it within 14 days. Declined payouts will have to be renegotiated. For confirmed payouts, co-hosts should assign a payout method so they can receive earnings (usually within 24 hours after guests check-in).
How to Identify the Right Co-Hosts
Choosing the right co-host is crucial to the success of an Airbnb property. You have to choose a co-host that’s trustworthy, reliable, efficient and cooperative. They should also be willing to communicate frequently – especially if the primary host lives far from the Airbnb.
If you plan to give the co-host several responsibilities, it’s better to choose one that’s physically near the Airbnb. This will make it easier for them to visit the property and ensure guests have everything they need.
It’s also ideal to look for someone who has experience in property management – maybe even customer service. This will ensure that guests are cared for and your property well maintained. Check if they have a network of service providers so you can conduct due diligence on them. You can use them to help with the upkeep of your property. Damages can easily be attended to if the right professionals are on speed dial.
How to add/remove Co-Hosts on Airbnb
To add a co-host on Airbnb, log in to your account, go to a property listing and click “Manage Listing”. Go to “Listing Details” and choose “Co-Hosts”. Click the option to “Invite a Co-Host” then enter their email address. They have to accept the invitation so you can assign specific roles and responsibilities to them.
If you want to remove them, go to your accounts and choose the property listing you want to change. Click “Co-Hosts” and choose the person you want to remove as a co-host. Choose the option “Remove co-host”. You can also add a note for the co-host then choose “Yes, remove”.
Tips to Make Airbnb Co-Hosting Successful
Working with a co-host is a great way to improve your rental revenues on Airbnb. It increases the efficiency of the property management and guest services. This also improves the property’s rating on Airbnb leading to more booking inquiries and occupancy rates. It can even help you become a Superhost – giving you more perks and incentives.
How do you make Airbnb co-hosting successful?
Start by setting the right expectations and responsibilities. Be clear and upfront about what you expect them to do before adding them to your listing. Provide detailed instructions and document them so they’re clear about their daily tasks. Allow them to share their expectations as well to avoid miscommunication and mistakes. Discuss their skills so you can assign the right tasks to them.
Communication is also important. Choose a tool or channel like Slack that’ll allow you to communicate in real time. Weekly check-ins and meetings should be done to ensure that you and the co-host are still on the same page when it comes to Airbnb management.
Use technology and find the right tools to streamline property management tasks between you and the co-host. Have a common calendar that lists scheduled maintenance checks. Set up a document you can both access to record cleaning and repair fees. Use tools like Asana or Trello for task management and delegation. You can also look for a dynamic pricing tool to keep your property fees competitive.
Money management is another area that should be discussed. Be transparent about how payments are handled and divided. Have a system in place to process reimbursements, maintenance expenses, etc. Set up clear financial arrangements to avoid issues in the future.
Finally, pay attention to the guest experience. This should be a priority because it’ll affect the property’s rating. The more you or the co-host can provide a positive guest experience, the higher the ratings. You’ll get more positive reviews and it’ll attract more bookings. Talk to the co-host to set ground rules in terms of property cleanliness, high-quality amenities, response times and other hospitality services.
Find the Right Co-Host for Airbnb Properties
Airbnb Co-Hosting can transform your experience as a host – but you have to find the right partner. Choose an individual who can be trusted and has the skills needed to manage a rental property.
If you don’t know anyone, there are experienced co-hosts on Airbnb. Conduct proper due diligence and read reviews about them so you can see if they’re capable of helping you. Look at properties they’re currently managing and see how the properties are performing. If they seem promising, you can connect with them and discuss how they can help manage your Airbnb.
You can also partner with a property management company so you’ll have a hosting team managing your Airbnb. City Relay is an experienced Airbnb management company in London. We have a long-standing reputation as an Airbnb host and your property can benefit from that by association.
Give us a call to discuss the services we provide Airbnb properties. Let’s work together to improve the earning potential of your property and portfolio growth.
