Help! My Airbnb Income Is Dropping

Is your Airbnb income dropping and you don’t know how to fix it?  Let’s help you out!

We can help you improve your Airbnb Income

You’ve probably been a host on Airbnb for a year or more and your rental income and occupancy rate have been consistently doing earning you the income you like.

That was until this year…

Now you’re seeing fewer bookings even though you’ve been lowering your pricing and even adding some extra amenities.

But still…your Airbnb income is dropping.  What’s going on?

Well, let’s look at a few of the common causes and what you can do about it as an Airbnb Host.

Your Airbnb Income Is Dropping And It’s Your Fault

This is actually a good scenario here.

If it’s something that you’re doing (or not doing) that is causing your Airbnb income to drop, it means it’s something within your control.

Now let’s identify some solutions…

You may have been lucky

Yes, if you were in a market where you didn’t have many competitors but travel demand was high, you can get away with quite a bit.

Maybe you’ve gotten away with subpar photos, listing descriptions, and even the overall experience you gave your guests.

But, as competition began to come into the market, and as guests on Airbnb start to have higher expectations due to their stays in better listings, it’s catching up to you.

To increase your Airbnb Income

Here’s the good news? You can easily fix this and increase your Airbnb income.

You can go after the low hanging fruit such as improving how your Airbnb photos look, how well your Airbnb listing description reads, and give your guests a 5-star Airbnb experience going forward.

Now digging deeper, you have the ability to add more value to your listing and keep it at similar pricing.  Guest LOVE value so any one-up on your competition is helpful.

Airbnb Pro Tip: Only add amenities and value-items that your GUEST values.  Something they will get a lot of utility out of is more important to them.  A more comfortable mattress is more important than a new set of drinking glasses.

Your Airbnb Income Is Dropping And It’s NOT Your Fault

Here are two scenarios that could be causing your Airbnb income to decline due to no fault of your own:

Scenario 1: Your Airbnb market has tougher competition

As Airbnb hosting continues to grow in popularity, it means you’re likely seeing more competition in your market.  Thousands upon thousands of listings are added daily!

Simple Airbnb economics 101: If more listings become available given the same travel demand in your area, the more you’ll see downward pressure on the rental rates and the more vacancy you’ll see.

It means you’ll have to stand out and beat your Airbnb competition just to keep your income up.

If you’re doing all that you can to stand out already, then there’s not much else you can do other than to increase your listings exposure by listing on other platforms as well.

One secret I will share with you is that there are many metrics that Airbnb does use to rank your listing.  Two important metrics are the response time and response rate.  We HIGHLY recommend that you use a service like SmartBnB to help you improve your Airbnb search rank.

Is your Airbnb income dropping due to lower travel demand?

Scenario 2: Your market has less demand

While not common, some markets can experience a sudden, permanent loss of demand, which different from having low seasons due to seasonality.

This abrupt change in travel demand is more common in attraction driven markets–for example, being next to a tourist attraction that is permanently shut down would lead to a permanent loss of demand.  You also may have noticed that Paris saw less travel demand after the attacks.

If that is the case for you, then there’s not much you can do after making your Airbnb listing the best it could be.

You really need to understand this…you CANNOT magically create travel demand.  You can only succeed in Airbnb if there is enough demand in your market to begin with.

But one thing to make sure of here is you’re not overcharging your guests.

With decreased demand paired with the same or growing supply of competition, you’ll need to lower your prices.  It is better for you to fill up your Airbnb calendar at a lower rate than to sit empty earning nothing.  If you need help with pricing, then check out Wheelhouse Intelligent Pricing.

The underlying problem here is that there is a fundamental shift in the economics of hosting in your market.  It may be that your market is just no longer profitable for you to host on Airbnb and there’s not much you could do to improve your Airbnb income.  If this is the case, just be honest with yourself and cut your losses.

Which Airbnb Income situation are you in?

It’s easy to find this out…just simply compare your Airbnb listing with your competition in your market.  Look at listings similar to yours and see what their rental rates are and how booked up their calendar is.

Another idea is to get some friends and have them compare and contrast competitors listings without them knowing which listing is yours.  Getting feedback is a great way to spot opportunities for your Airbnb listing.

To do this comparison with friends, you can just show them pictures or the listing descriptions pasted into a Google or Word Document.

Also, go get an Airbnb market report for your local neighborhood, if you really want an accurate assessment of where it’s at and how your listing is doing relative to your competition.

You’ll quickly be able to tell if it’s just your Airbnb listing underperforming or if your area has just gotten more competitive.

If you’re already among the elite in your market and it’s not making what you desire, you may need to consider shutting down and starting up again in a new market with higher Airbnb income potential…or you can change your income expectations.