I just listed my place -- now what?

Something I often hear from newer hosts is, "I just listed my place. Now what do I do?"

What you want to do is take a step back. I suggest getting ready in several ways BEFORE you list your place and indicate that you are ready for guests to start contacting you and start perhaps staying with you. It can be a mistake to jump into hosting before you have gotten your place ready, and thought through some of the kinds of issues that may arise. You'll be better prepared to handle many aspects of hosting if you have done some planning in advance.

"Well," you may be saying, "I'm the kind of person who just dives in, that's my style."

Well that may be your style, but if you dive into hosting before you are ready, your first guest could potentially be your last, and you could put an end to your hosting career before you really know what you are doing. I dont' mean to scare you eager beavers, your excited spirit is great, but consider -- one of the most important reasons for making sure you are ready before you jump in, is that if you jump in before you are ready, you might end up with a bad review. Or two bad reviews. Or two bad reviews and then you cancel on a guest without realizing the cancellation penalties you will accrue, among them an automated message appearing on your profile page saying that you cancelled on someone X number of days before they arrived. And wtih such a hosting history highlighted right on the center of your Airbnb profile, you may find that your inquiries slow to a crawl, then fade and die off.

So if you want to host, please make sure you are ready before you dive in. One good way is by looking at other AIrbnb listings in your area and seeing what others are offering, and how they offer it, and how they describe what they offer. You can learn here -- but dont' plagarize listing descriptions. We have seen several cases of hosts being shocked to find out someone across town or down the street, took their entire listing description word for word and pasted it on their Airbnb listing. Now how that could possibly work for the copycat host is another matter, since unless they have a copycat house a stolen description wont' match well. ( But maybe they just steal the neighborhood attractions part). Anyway, learn but dont' take whole descriptions from others.

Second, get your place ready. See those nice, uncluttered rooms with soft lighting and attractive accents that you see on others' listings? You want attractive photos like those too. Yes, you can use photos taken on your mobile phone, but quality photos will really help, in fact , photos more than anything else tend to first attract guests to a listing. Unless it is an odd name that attracts guests to a listing. I have heard of a host whose listing is named something like "Soggy Gluten and Free Bedbugs." She is a very successful host, which just goes to show that, though you may not have expected it, many guests really go for wet noodles and night-time bites in their arms and legs!. (Big smile).

You want an uncluttered space, as this demonstrates to guests that your house is not only "full of you", but there is room for them there too. In fact you have made space specifically for them. THink of their needs -- not just to sleep in a bed, but a closet and a dresser not full of other people's clothes, but with room for theirs. A bathroom cabinet that isnt' stuffed full of your old prescription medicine but has space for their shampoo and soap, and toiletries.

Have a friend come over, tell her to put on the eyes of a guest. Like she/he was new to your home, had never been there before, and was being invited to stay as a paying guest. What can they see that you dont' see? What are they wanting that you didn't think of? What is convenient, what is inconvenient? What is attractive to them, what looks uninviting? You may need to do some lighter remodeling/redecorating before you have guests come over. You may need to paint a wall that has chipped paint, replace some broken furniture. Move the cat box so that it isn't sitting in the front hallway or smelling up the bathroom or kitchen. And clean up, really clean thoroughly to get started.

Now think of what house rules you need. Feel free to take a look at mine, or those of other experienced hosts (can see by clicking on our profile) and let me know if you have questions. Too many hosts start off with a very sparse list of house rules. You need not have as long a a list as mine, but consider --- what many hosts find is that the most important house rule, is that rule that they left out. They are now kicking themselves because they have "a situation" that they may not have had, if they had stated more in their house rules to start with. "Be respectful" is inadequate. What does that mean? You want to make concrete statements that can be clearly understood. If these new Airbnb groups eventually have a blog board, look for my blogs, I will probably have more info there about house rules and tips for new hosts.

Finally, when you are starting out as a host, it's good to get in the habit of thinking of your neighbors. Your next door neighbor. Your upstairs and downstairs neighbor. Your across the street neighbor. Having guests through AIrbnb is still a phenomenon many cities are grappling with, and you can bet that one upset neighbor's story about your guest who parked in HIS parking spot in front of his house, is going to ripple through your city council like a roar. City councils will grab onto any complaint, no matter how peevish, by a neighbor of an Airbnb host, as they desperately search for reasons to ban, prohibit, harshly regulate short term rentals, if they are in the mood to do that. I've heard such trivial laments in city council meetings -- the neighbor who laments that he can hear a rolling suitcase on the walkway next to his house. Or that someone parked in "his spot" once, and it was probably one of "those Airbbnbers". So, because you want your city to be kind to Airbnb hosts and develop good regulations instead of mean-spirited nasty ones -- dont' give them ammo to shoot you down. From day one plan to be a good neighbor, and more than a good neighbor, to do a little more than you would normally do to ameliorate neighbor complaints and concerns and show that no one ever need worry about your guests causing problems in your neighborhood.

And now --- now that you've done all that and more -- you can hang your shingle.