hello youtube this is richard founder of
short-term rental secrets.com and
Airbnb super hosts today we're doing
something kind of cool and new and I'm
really excited about it turns out one of
our subscribers on our YouTube channel
has been following a lot of our videos
and reached out to us to get personal
feedback and attention and a critique of
her own listing you're going to get
purely unscripted unrehearsed first look
impressions good bad indifferent so
she's been listing on Airbnb for about
45 days her first month she did about
eight hundred dollars in revenue the
second month she did about eighteen
hundred and in the month of May
she's already increased over the
eighteen hundred and still has nine
vacant days first I want to congratulate
her because she's doing remarkably well
and on her way to multiple listings and
really growing a Empire of short-term
rentals which is super cool her comment
really is resulting in this video and
we're answering her requests directly
for everyone so without further ado I'm
going to go ahead and post this in here
and let's see what we think okay so the
very first thing woops sorry about that
the very first thing I see here is a
huge photo of a bedroom really nicely
decorated and colorful very reasonable
price I don't know the area looks like
it's in Canada okay so I assume that
that's a low price point I see 15
five-star reviews which is amazing and I
also see that they have the ability to
do instant booking which is also great
so I'm going to just scroll down and
learn a little bit about this listing
and I think they've done a really nice
job of putting together some keywords
that I think will attract certain people
like eco-friendly they're being direct
and transparent lower level suite is
located and then talks about the area
this historic neighborhood it's a short
stroll away
it's impeccably decorated
fresh romantic and airy bustling with
eco features such as LED lighting
tankless water heater and cycled
furniture so it's clear to me that they
care about sort of the environment and
they're looking for like-minded people
and I think that that's what you want to
do is get the same sort of guests in
there because they're going to be most
compatible and happy now I see a couple
of things here which I think there's
room for improvement I think the
cleaning fees way too low at $26 I mean
cleaning this place is going to take
hours to do it properly so it seems to
me like that's being subsidized it's
very clear that there's one queen bed
which is nice and they've got their
house rules no smoking no pets no
parties and also the check-in time I
love this golden rule we respect you so
we please ask that you treat the home
away from your home with care we're not
a hotel so please leave it the same way
I think that that's good and a strict
cancellation policy one night minimum is
encouraged if you're really trying to
maximize your number of rentals so
that's good and then you can see here
all these five-star reviews which is
amazing and you can also see that
they've got responses which I've
suggested are really helpful it's my
experience it's my best experience with
Airbnb the hosts were great it's how an
Airbnb place must be I would definitely
recommend it and then the response from
the host oh my goodness we're over the
moon you had a wonderful stay I mean
this is just so warm and welcoming you
read that and you want to stay with them
the next one the place is just perfect
and completely exceeded our expectations
that's exactly what you want to do
exceed expectations is very clean these
reviews from their guests are much more
important than anything that the hosts
right so like view this as marketing
right you want that and then the
response like I've suggested and they're
actually doing from every single one Wow
thank you for the glowing review that's
amazing
here's one this is interesting they have
a wonderful little suite it's perfect
for two it has ease of access easy to
get too close to the clubs and they
really do a great job only minor
drawback is that the wife
sub-par for watching TV are using
Netflix but it's fine for your phone and
then I think they did a nice job I think
we could improve this they wrote we call
the internet company it happened to be
spotty during your stay sorry about that
however they will let us know that they
will be fixing it I think a little bit
more empathy might go a long way in this
regard such as you know we contacted the
Internet company they did inform us that
there was some work being done during
that period of stay I wish we had known
in advance we would have loved to
communicate that to you earlier but we
were unaware so sorry that it disrupted
your enjoyment of our place I know how
important Netflix is after a long day or
something where you put yourself in
their shoes and you know really explain
it to them and you did a nice job with
the apology so I don't want to be too
critical but I think that you have the
opportunity to empathize with people and
again if you view that as marketing
that's a really important place where
you can show people that you really do
care one last thing before we turn to
the photos I'm not a huge believer in
the weekly discount or the monthly
discount I think it's a personal
preference I've never used it and I have
no intention of using it I rent all of
my properties fairly and I want to
maximize my income and it's never been a
deterrent so I use dynamic pricing as
you know beyond pricing in particular
and I've never had a need to to reduce
it when you reduce or you discount like
that you're basically taking money out
of your own pocket and that's fine if
you need to do that for the number of
nights that you want to book per month
but if you don't then I personally don't
recommend it so let's take a look at the
photos okay so this is the first photo I
think it's really nice it's well lit
they've got the side lights on the bed
is made the pillows would look great
there's art on the walls and it looks
fine I'm not sure that would be my
thumbnail but let's see what else
they've got the same photo okay and
here's probably like the studio kitchen
living room area obviously looks
small small size fridge microwave over
but for what they're charging and where
they're located
it's obviously doing really well and
people seem to love it
there's an interesting mural okay it's
highlighting here the small kitchenette
and one thing I really do love is this
enjoy complimentary snacks I'm not sure
what the basket is on top but it looks
like maybe some notes or some
instructions so let's just keep going
nice little breakfast nook and then
here's some travel materials on the side
of the table it shows that there's USB
charging which is amazing I think that's
really great so people can see what they
can charge and then I see here the
television one thing I think would be
helpful at least in the photos and I
don't have a great solution is to hide
or minimize the cords it looks a little
bit distracting I would much rather
focus on the what appears to me to be
like Indian artwork on the walls but
instead my eyes are drawn just to the
black cord so there are like white PVC
tubes available at Home Depot and stuff
where you can put all these black cords
into one bigger white cord it's like cut
in the middle and you just put it in
there that might actually look better
whether you actually do it for your
guests or not doesn't really matter but
at least for the photo you want your
eyes drawn to the right thing here's the
artwork and they've also done one of the
things that I think is really important
photo 10 of 48 tapestry made by our
talented friend Christine and the half
mandela mural by giuliana I might add a
little bit to that and explain you know
what influence it is or what the artwork
is or just something more than it's made
by a friend just again to draw the
person in to really grasping what we're
looking at now this for instance picture
11 modern kitchen with everything you
need for your home away from home to me
is much more impressive and nicer than
the photo before which was just the
small fridge and the microwave on top it
made the whole place seem really much
smaller than it actually turns out to be
so I would probably reverse the order
this is much more impressive and
comfortable and spacious than the small
fridge I thought it was a little studio
apartment and that was all I had turns
out I have a lot more pantry looks
pretty well-stocked nice area that seems
to go up some stairs a nice welcome
board this is amazing things to do I
love this handwritten Wi-Fi password
this is just you know fantastic it looks
like a it's on a door and welcome and
please enjoy your stay
Bravo well done everybody should do this
I just love that this bathroom is
gorgeous
again as I look at all of this stuff I'm
still looking for your thumbnail photo
because I'm not sure that just the bed
is the right one I think maybe the
kitchen is better than that this photo
looks really nice if I wanted to be
really nitpicky I don't love the way
that the trashcan looks with the garbage
bag and then I don't love seeing the
plunger and stuff but you know I guess
it's nice to know that it's there but
I'm being you know very very particular
let's keep going okay this is really
nice it shows that you've got all sorts
of interesting collectible shells and
hair dryers and so on that you care
that's what this means to me they're
here to help you become spiffy one
little thing there is misspelled sorry
to be so nitpicky but if I'm asked to
review this stuff these are the things
that I look for that other people
actually notice as well this looks very
nice and clean again I see that there's
a place for hanging coats I'm not sure I
would highlight that but I like the
ironing board and all of that I love
this part you know I would be pushing
this guestbook apartment info and city
info forward instead of being at a
twenty-one I would push it far forward
this is the vestibule area this is the
private entrance
I like the Airbnb sticker here's a
organic garden I mean it looks nice and
green and lush
a dog I'm not sure I would be posting
the dog especially if the dog doesn't
live in the unit the reason to post the
dog in the unit would be that people
that are allergic are not going to stay
in your unit so if that's your purpose
then that's great because you don't want
somebody to come and have a terrible
weekend because they're allergic to dogs
and they didn't know what dog lived
there if this is your family pet and the
family pet lives somewhere else no need
to advertise that here because you're
going to lose business as a result of
this same with the cat again I'm not
sure where they live maybe it's written
in your description but I don't have
time to review that right now this is
the first impression just like if I was
searching and my first impression as I'm
searching is I'm not going to read every
single detail I don't have the time or
the energy I'm going to look at the
photos and by page 26
I'm sorry photo 26 or 27 if I'm either
allergic to dogs or cats I'm not staying
at your place so if that's intentional
well done if it's a mistake I would
remove them a lovely church across the
street mural outside of our place we
live in a historic home I would probably
put this photo well in advance of the
mural and the church you know the mural
isn't all that important and the church
isn't all that relevant but showing me
what the neighborhood looks like as I
walk and I stroll and I see the
blossoming trees like this is sort of
why I'm selecting your neighborhood much
more so than the mural in the church
there's a nice Park okay again the
coffee shop I would move forward because
I can certainly envision having a
steamed chai latte every single day and
that's painting the dream local coffee
shop the shopping district again I think
you have some really great photos and I
think you're telling a story I think the
order is maybe inappropriate or could be
improved is probably the nicer way of
saying it and so I would definitely
change it around now this is a mixed
blessing the super crawl highly
recommended coming for this event really
draws the crowd you know the good news
is if you're coming to this crowd your
place is a great place to stay
I can almost guarantee you that 99 out
of a hundred years your place is going
to be sold out anyway for this crowd so
I'm not sure you want to advertise for
this crowd because when I look at this
if I was coming for say a getaway or
work trip with my kids I would probably
want to avoid this neighborhood so while
it might be you know unique to your
place realize that you're likely to rent
out be sold out a hundred percent of the
time anyway with this many people so I'm
not sure you need to advertise for them
you might be doing yourself more harm
than benefit another coffee shop what is
this a center great concert venue the
outdoors again I would probably push
that forward that's beautiful that's
unique to the area that's something that
somebody could come and do and have
memories forever this is much more
interesting to me than the concert hall
if I'm coming to the concert I'm going
to stay at your house anyway but if I'm
coming to your place and I want to do
something I have a half afternoon off or
whatever those walks are really cool so
it seems to me that you've got some
really great stuff the photos are really
nice and well lit I think the order is
there's a lot of room for improvement
this sitting area as I look at it again
I think the shape of the room is a
little bit unique or strange and I'm not
sure what the right way to photograph it
is but I would play with it I would try
a few different things and maybe maybe
take the photo from like the height as
if you were seated at the sofa or at the
desk as opposed to being up and it seems
like it's a triangle shape something
about it just makes it seem a little bit
strange and it's probably not that
strange in real person and then again
this bar fridge and microwave I would
definitely put well after the rest of
the kitchen which is just so gorgeous so
let's see if I can get two back here and
see if there's anything you are a pet
owner dogs and cats again it's not clear
to me right now whether you actually
live there with a dog and cat or you
just um like where do you guys
go like if you do in fact live here we
live upstairs with our friendly okay
here we go
so I might put this forward you know
again we want to be really transparent
we live upstairs with our friendly
orange kitty named Kiwi and our tiny
lovable dog named Lulu drop by and say
hello I would remove the photos of those
animals because it's going to confuse
people and I would also indicate earlier
up again some of the things that that I
think are really cool if you're trying
to attract your tribe we're modern-day
hippies we have eco-friendly mandate
we've installed tankless water heaters
we live upstairs it's all about service
these are great things and I think more
important perhaps than we want to
showcase local talent and so on right
forget about laundry or on vacation we
offer door-to-door that's great that's
nice we're human friendly and all sorts
of people are welcome that's fantastic I
think it's evident that you've taken a
lot of time to really detail all of the
things in and around the home here you
indicate again we have a cat and a dog
those who have allergies may need to
take some allergy medication let us know
if you forget some we carry some
upstairs look I think it's evident why
you've done so well I think you have
room to increase your price I think your
room to increase your cleaning fees I
think you should rethink about the order
you're telling a story here and I think
that the order is a little bit backward
in a lot of the photos and also in some
of the commentary and just pretend like
you're starting with an introduction
here's who we are here's where we are
here's our photos and then progress them
into like the meat of the book and then
give them a nice conclusion and I
understand why you're successful I think
it's fantastic that you're onto your
second listing and well onto your third
you've indicated that you have other
properties which i think is super cool
and you're going to be converting more
of them over time as you have success
with this and I encourage all of my
clients to do just that start slowly and
then slowly as it proves that you enjoy
it and that you're doing it well and
that you're making three times the
rental income go ahead and
additional properties and go that route
so I hope you found this interesting one
thing I do want to preview for you is
we're going to do something really cool
something big probably in the next week
or so and I'm going to kind of keep it a
secret but think of it as a
behind-the-scenes best practice guide
how to really excited for it so I'm
going to just pitch that and leave it at
that and hope you found this interesting
thanks so much for your comment and
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I'm going to sign off and we'll cut you
soon thanks so very much for your time
and interest in happy hosting have a
great day
you