|
Post by catchafire on Oct 23, 2015 4:54:12 GMT
We started in sept 2012, at the time there was less than a page's worth of listings for our area. Now there is 7 pages worth, but getting in early was a godsend for us, we have three times the reviews compared to our closest "competitor" and we market our listing as "Number 1" in the area.
So how long have you been hosting?
|
|
|
Post by High Priestess on Oct 23, 2015 5:29:45 GMT
HI Catchafire --- I actually began preparing to do AIrbnb hosting in 2012, right around October 2012. BUt I knew I couldn't start until I had gotten a lot of things done at my house, to make it nicer. I had to refinish all the hardwood floors, paint all the rooms & redecorate, as well as update the bathrooms, do upgrades in landscaping, and more. It took me 2 months to get the first part done, and 4 months to get everything done, and then I started having short term guests in Dec 2012, and started on Airbnb in Feb or March 2013.
In my area, which is a dense urban area, there are about 30-40 pages of listings for each city -- more for some --- and I find that staying in first place isn't really necessary. I think anyone on the first few pages does okay, and really, because there is so much demand for housing of all kinds in my area, even those who are far down in the listings tend to do pretty well as long as they are offering something nice and reasonably priced.
|
|
|
Post by lambada on Oct 23, 2015 21:11:33 GMT
I started in September 2012 as well! And there was only one other listing in my area. There are now 93 of us - the 3 are mine. And probably about 83 are superhosts (I am not one of them, thankgod), a few with as little as 5 reviews. And yes, I was lucky to start early enough and got many 5-star reviews compared to the new ones. But I'm sure there will be more new ones show up now and they price their rates really low. But I'm selling my house next year so would be out of the race. For a while, anyway.
|
|
|
Post by maggie on Oct 25, 2015 7:58:43 GMT
Started August 2010
|
|
|
Post by High Priestess on Oct 25, 2015 10:31:55 GMT
I think Maggie wins!!! That is quite a long time. Considering Airbnb only started in 2009 really. Anyone starting in 2012 and earlier was really ahead of the ball, because Airbnb didn't start getting really popular until 2013 and 2014.
|
|
|
Post by fleur on Oct 25, 2015 10:57:35 GMT
July 2012! But yeah Maggie wins
|
|
|
Post by nycsherbear on Oct 25, 2015 20:06:58 GMT
I started in August of 2010 as well. I had friends who hosted on Homeaway and they suggested I rent a 2 bedroom apartment so I could rent one out when I was returning to NYC after being gone for 10 months. It has paid my rent from the beginning, although I do list on one other site as well.
|
|