The most successful Airbnb Hosts approach hosting like a business; they focus on reputation, keep costs low, and find ways to increase revenue.
Once you’ve optimized your listing, pricing, and reviews, it might feel like you’ve hit a wall on earning potential. Pricing above an optimal value will reduce occupancy, so at a certain point you’ve ‘maxed out’ what you can earn from your property. You could purchase a second property to continue to earn more, but that’s tough for many people to afford, and even if you can, the additional work might be more than what you’d like to put into your Hosting business.
We recently came across a company called Sharespace and we’re excited to be one of the first to describe how you can use Sharespace with your listing to get a big bump in hosting income without much additional work.
Do you have extra space that is just sitting empty?
As Airbnb Hosts, you’re renting out properties with bedrooms and bathrooms and accommodating overnight guests. You’ve put time and money into decorating the spaces, maybe upgrading the bathroom, getting a nicer bed and linens, and creating a hotel-like experience. This helps you get the five-star reviews that keep new guests excited to stay at your place. But you probably also have a garage, a room without windows, or a backyard studio without plumbing. And while you’d love to earn extra income from these spaces, they would take a lot more work to be up to your standards for an enjoyable overnight guest experience.
Wouldn’t it be great if your extra space could earn you some extra cash every month? They’re probably perfect for storing things. In fact, that might be what they’re being used for right now. Here’s where the best combo comes in – by hosting with both Sharespace and Airbnb, you can earn income from spaces that don’t make sense on Airbnb.
Self-storage is a huge industry with a number of publicly-traded companies making billions a year (check out Public Storage). These companies provide warehouses for people to store things while they’re moving, traveling, or just wanting a bit of extra room. Although the service they provide is simple – a clean, secure, dry space – billions of dollars a year change hands for this service.
Hosting with Sharespace is similar to hosting with Airbnb, which makes it easy to do both at the same time. Unlike Airbnb with guests coming and going at all hours, storage guests move their items in and leave them for months, so there are significantly less time and effort you put into earning your storage income.
How does Sharespace compare to Airbnb?
Here’s a breakdown of how your hosting business might look for an in-law unit on Airbnb and the garage on Sharespace:
|
Airbnb |
Sharespace |
| Earnings per month |
* $1500
* $100 a night at 50% occupancy |
* $500+ for a 2 car garage
(or about $200+ per car-sized space) |
| Upfront investment |
* Towels – $50
* Bedsheets – $100*
* You’ll want to deliver a good night sleep which might require buying a new bed – $100 |
Nothing |
| Monthly expenses |
* Toiletries – $50
* Utilities (Extra Water/Electricity) – $100*
* Welcome kit snacks & coffee – $100
* The essentials can add up |
Nothing |
The neat thing about Sharespace hosting is, given the very low costs associated with the income, it’s essentially all profit that you get to add on to your Airbnb income. The time commitment is also much lower, with storage customers staying for multiple months instead of just a weekend. This means less coming and going, less coordination, and less vacancy and cancellation.
| Task |
Airbnb |
Sharespace |
| Prepare space |
* Organize and decorate
* Purchase furniture, linens, and supplies |
* Sweep space |
| Before rental |
* Keep calendar updated
* Answer questions |
* Keep calendar updated
* Answer questions |
| Arrival |
* Greet guests
* Explain House rules
* Help get WIFI working
* Key exchange |
* Greet renters
* Lock space |
| During rental |
* Respond to problems with plumbing
* Ask loud guests not to disturb neighbors
* Respond to lockouts at 2am
* Fix the WIFI |
* Nothing |
| Post rental |
* Strip beds
* Wash towels, bed sheets, etc…
* Restock toiletries
* Collect and throw away trash
* Clean dishes |
* Sweep space |
| Typical rental duration |
* 2-3 days |
* 6 months |
With short-term rentals, there’s work you – or people you hire and manage – have to do for every single guest on average every 2-3 days. With storage, there’s only work to do once every few months.
Make more money with less effort using Sharespace
Putting it all together and looking at the bottom line of your ‘home hosting business’, for this example:
|
Airbnb |
Sharespace |
Combined |
| Income |
$1500 |
$500 |
$2000 |
| Ongoing Expenses |
$250 |
$0 |
$250 |
| Profit |
$1250 |
$500 |
$1750 |
How Sharespace works
Sharespace Hosting has a lot of similarity to Airbnb Hosting, all the best practices you’ve learned to be a 5-star Airbnb Host will make you a successful Sharespace Host.
Like Airbnb, the process starts with preparing your space. A good storage space on Sharespace is a garage or an empty room. You want to make sure you have:
- A clean, dry space where water won’t damage renter’s items
- Wide doorways that are easy to bring furniture through
You’ll take pictures of your space to create your Sharespace account. Make sure to highlight the doorways and if there are any stairs or hard to navigate areas to reach your space. This will help ensure you’re only matched with customers whose items will actually fit in your space.
Once you’ve created your account, Sharespace will connect you with potential renters, who will share photos of the items they are needing to store. You’ll get to approve any request for storage, then you’ll agree on a time to meet the customer and open the space for them to move in. You don’t have to carry the items in, you’re just providing the space and the lock, the customer is responsible for moving the items in or hiring movers to help them.
Once all the items are placed in your space, you take photos of the items, send them to the customer, then lock the space. You’re done until the customer needs to access their things, and you’ll get payments deposited into your bank account each month.
Get Started
Sharespace is actively seeking a limited number of hosts across the United States to begin listing their space and start making money. Get on the waitlist before it fills up! As a special gift to you, LearnAirbnb has partnered with Sharespace to give our readers a special pre-launch sneak peek. Learn more at joinsharespace.com/host & if you sign up with promo code “LEARNAIRBNB”, you’ll get a $100 deposit for your first approved space. Find out how you can use Sharespace to make your hosting business even more profitable.
