Is Being an AirBnB Superhost Worth the Effort?
If you use AirBnB, chances are you may have come across the shining “Superhosts” that the AirBnB platform awards to hosts for outstanding hospitality. An extra badge is no harm but the work behind getting the badge is serious.
Everyone wants to be a Superhost but does the time and effort versus the cash-flow generated actually make sense? But first we would need to see what are the requirements in becoming a Superhost.
AirBnB Superhost Requirements:
4.8 or higher average overall rating based on reviews in the year
90% or higher response rates
10 completed stays minimum in a year or 100 nights over 3 completed stays, which ever comes first
Less than 1.0% cancellation rate
So far, this doesn’t seem too bad and should be easy to achieve, and you wouldn’t be wrong to assume this. I can say with confidence that the last 3 requirements are very easy to fulfill if you own a cottage rental. However, the first requirement is often the trickiest to fulfill. You see, many customers who drive up to the Peninsula for a nice cottage vacation are often times from the city and chances are they will be picky about their stay. In my personal experience, a guest gave a 3 star review because there were not enough wine glasses but went on to say everything else was perfect. As a host, you can’t even complain to AirBnB because perhaps those wine glasses were the highlight of that guest’s stay! Therefore, that one 3 star rating would take you potentially 3-4 months to work yourself back up to 4.8, that’s if you don’t get any more of similar incidents.
So how can you satisfy guests so you can achieve that 4.8 minimum rating, I will have another blog outlining more details for a higher rating, but really, there’s two things. One, try your best and Two, hope for reasonable guests. The latter you certainly cannot control but in the former, you can try your best to make sure the cleaning is totally pristine, some decorations to make the guest feel homey, and be as diligent as you can when it comes to guest communication.
If you live 4 hours away from your cottage rental, this might seem difficult to accomplish. But it most definitely is possible if you have spare time and not a lot of other commitments.
Now comes the questions, what perks do Superhosts have? Because if the reward is just a badge then what’s even the point! Superhosts are promoted to guests in AirBnB’s promotional emails, they will also have a specific search filter, priority AirBnB support, early access to new features, a $100 USD AirBnB coupon if you achieve Superhost status consecutively 4 times, and more! But honestly, in terms of cash flow, superhosts will generally have higher booking rates and when translated to revenue is definitely higher compared to those that do not have the badge.
However, since you own a cottage in the peninsula, a place where demand is much higher than supply, the revenue difference isn’t significant. A Superhost may only earn a few thousand more a year than a non-superhost, so if it’s going to take 15 hours a week of your time, it may not necessarily be worth the effort. Just another perk of owning a Cottage rental in Ontario is that you will not need to worry about occupancy rate!
If you have any questions or interests, do not hesitate to send me an email or give me a call, and I will gladly discuss or give out advice completely free.
