But how on earth do you rent out an apartment or house on Airbnb? We explain the whole process in detail!
You’ve finally decided to take the plunge and offer your apartment or house for seasonal rental on Airbnb. Unfortunately, you don’t know where to start. In the series of articles in which we teach you how to rent a room on the platform, this second part focuses on apartments and houses. How do you create a rental ad for an apartment or house on Airbnb? Follow the guide!
The steps described below assume that you have an account with Airbnb. You can create a Host account on the dedicated page. Then simply select the « become a host » option from the home page.
#1. Choose a general category
The general category of a rental property is none other than the type of property you wish to offer for rent on Airbnb. The platform recognizes 6 in France:
- Apartment
- House
- Adjoining or nearby dwelling
- Unique housing
- Bed & Breakfast
- Boutique-hotel
Once you’ve scrolled through the list and selected your options, you’ll need to choose a general category. It is important to note that this general category cannot be modified. As a result, if you choose the wrong general category and your apartment/house is registered as a room, on the one hand this will lower your Airbnb rating, and on the other you’ll have to delete the listing and start all over again from scratch, this time taking care to choose the right general category.
#2. Choose a type of accommodation (apartment/house in this case)
We’re talking about selecting a type of accommodation. Because whether it’s an apartment or a house, Airbnb needs to know what type of property you’d like to rent, in order to better help you in your business. So, if you choose an apartment as your accommodation, here are the types you’ll be offered:
- Apartment
- Residential apartment
- Casa particular (Cuba)
- Loft
- Apartment with hotel services
If, on the other hand, you’ve selected a house as your accommodation, here are the types you’ll be offered. The purpose is the same, however:
- House
- Bungalow
- Cabane
- Casa particular (Cuba)
- Chalet
- Cottage
- Cycladic house (Greece)
- Dammus
- Dome house
- Organic house
- Barge
- Hut
- Headlight
- Pension (South Korea)
- Shepherd’s hut (UK or France)
- Micromaison
- Town house
- Trulio (Italy)
- Villa
Same rules as for the general category. If you get the type of accommodation wrong (apartment or house in this case) you’ll lose precious Airbnb host points, lose in terms of referencing and you’ll have to delete the ad and renew it, taking care to choose the type of accommodation carefully this time.
#3. Characterize the apartment or house for rent
This part is also rather tricky. You’ll need to enter the number of bedrooms in your apartment/house. Another important detail is whether you’re renting the whole property or just part of it. Just one room? Is the room private or shared? Let Airbnb know so that it can refine the characteristics of the listing.
#4. Clarify rental conditions
The next step is to clarify the rental conditions. Here, it’s a matter of selecting :
- The maximum number of guests that can stay in the apartment/house,
- How many bedrooms does your apartment/house have?
- The number of beds available in the room(s) and usable by the traveler,
- The presence or absence of common areas,
- Type (private or shared) and number of bathrooms.
The last step in this part is to give your exact address so that Airbnb can locate the accommodation. The same goes for information about the country, city and so on. When everything is OK, Airbnb asks you to confirm the accuracy of the information you’ve provided. All these steps are summarized in these screenshots:
#5. Housing contents
This section looks at the contents of the property you are offering for rent. Does it contain furniture? If so, which? What equipment is provided? This is a checklist that you’ll need to fill in before moving on to the next stage:
#6. Spaces for travelers
This is the final step in the creation of your ad. At least as far as its basic features are concerned. You’ll need to select the common areas (if any) that can be used by travelers renting out your apartment/house. This only applies to properties that are not rented out in their entirety:
If there are no common areas to share, or if you don’t wish to rent any common areas in your apartment, simply leave the boxes unchanged. Otherwise tick all the boxes.
#7. Set the tone for your apartment/house
This part is essentially about the ad. You’ll need to propose a title for your ad, and a grand description of your apartment/house for rent on Airbnb. You’ll also need to upload photos of your rental property to the platform:
Please note that you can download the photos later. If you don’t yet have any professionally taken photos of your rental property. All you have to do is click on Simply click on « Later » as shown in the screenshot below:
The next step is simply to provide information about the property and its surroundings. In other words, the title of your ad, a description of the property, an overview of the quality of life in the surrounding area and information on nearby stores and addresses or good deals:
#8. Get ready to welcome
This part essentially concerns the availability of your apartment/house for rent. This is where you set the days on which you wish to rent your property on the Airbnb platform.
A calendar allows you to select in greater detail the days when your property is available. To optimize your return by increasing the number of reservations, among other things :
What’s more, you’ll learn about the Airbnb platform’s rules for renting out your apartment/house. These include, for example, the information your tenants must provide to ensure a safe stay. You’ll also learn about Airbnb legislation and the taxes applicable to your activity on the platform:
Now that your ad has been created, don’t forget to add photos and use theAirDNA metrics tool toimprove your bookings and multiply your revenues and profits wherever possible.