How To Manage Your Airbnb Remotely

Dreaming of a vacation but cannot go because of your Airbnb baby? Well, that will no longer be a problem after reading this article. Here is all that you would need to know about how to manage your Airbnb remotely.

Airbnb is a real estate business you run to make easy money, but what is the use of it if you can’t use that easy money and fulfill your dreams of being boundless? Or have you invested in real estate property in a different state to make it a source of income by renting it out as Airbnb?

You can manage your Airbnb remotely and without stress with simple solutions.

Table of Contents

How You Run An Airbnb Remotely

Airbnb requires a lot of attention to detail. Therefore, it is important to impress the guests as a host. Giving your property to someone to live for a short period and expecting them to take care of it is simply unrealistic. You are the only person who would take care of your property correctly.

Remotely managing the Airbnb property means that you will have to make means to keep your property in its best condition possible without you being there to do it. Is it possible? Well, yes. It is possible and very practical.

Most property owners, especially during and after the pandemic, have shifted from self-management to operating their businesses remotely. For this, you can undertake several tools that guarantee safe management.

By managing your Airbnb remotely, you can still give your guests an experience to cherish for the rest of their lives.

Use An Airbnb Management Company

Airbnb management companies often help many clients that own Airbnb and live outside of the state or don’t have the time to prepare the property. It can be challenging for a property owner that has an Airbnb located in Fort Lauderdale and lives overseas. If this is the case looking for an Airbnb management company located in Fort Lauderdale or an Airbnb management company in Miami would be a wise solution. They will create all the management agreements for your Airbnb property. Removing the stress. While this will be a more costly solution, these companies will manage all aspects of your Airbnb.

What Guests Expect from An Airbnb

While the guests are away from home, one of the many reasons they chose an Airbnb service instead of a hotel room is the homely feeling. Getting an Airbnb rental gives them the freedom to live as they would at home.

What does a guest expect? Well, the answer is indefinite. There are unlimited options, but the most obvious expectations are:

Clean place
Fully functional
Secure
Updates about the stay and payment
Modest living facilities
Prompt support in case of a mishap
Guidance about the locality.

All these are basic and common expectations. An Airbnb real estate owner living close to the Airbnb will be able to take care of these and more, but will an owner be able to do it remotely? Let’s find out.

How To Run Airbnb Property Remotely Successfully

Considering the guest and host relationship, there is a lot of stuff that needs to be taken care of. To run Airbnb real estate remotely and successfully, the owner should understand the dynamics as a third party.

The task of remotely managing an Airbnb is easy but needs research and a reliable and loyal team of on-ground staff. Here are the top 8 things that the Airbnb owner must do.

Have on-ground staff
An email and WhatsApp messaging system
Replenish the necessities seamlessly
Understand the locality to guide the guest in the best way possible
Comprehensive and clear house rules
Safe and smart locks
Security cameras
Build a relationship with the guest and get reviews

On-ground Staff:

While you will not be able to keep a check after every guest, it is extremely important that you have a reliable and loyal team of on-ground staff. The staff list includes; a cleaner, handyman, plumber, electrician, laundry service, etc.

All these should be able to serve at odd times as you never know what might go wrong. Flexibility and availability are the two key factors when choosing your team. There are a few ways to select your team; all these professionals may not be related in any form; you might have to select everyone individually, so be ready to invest some time in it.

Companies: many local companies provide services like cleaning, handyman, plumbers, etc. But they are not flexible with timing, you may need a person to perform a certain task, but you will have to wait till the next availability.
Word-of-mouth: you will have to ask around. The locals can give referrals for the best people you can get related to each field. This is reliable but will take longer than just signing a contract with an already established company.
Someone you know: if you are from the same area, you might know someone who can help you in this matter. This will mean that the person will be more dependable for you personally.
All these ways are possible in every state and locality. After you make your team, it is important to stay in contact with them. You will have to get a reliable messaging system like WhatsApp group or email them for their tasks and set reminders for them. With something like Prempoint, you can train your staff in an hour about your preferences and how you expect them to work when you are not around.

The cleaning person should especially be available at all times and should just be a call away. A need may arise for you to get the place cleaned for an emergency guest; you cannot afford to lose good money because the Airbnb property is not clean for the new guest.

An Email and WhatsApp Messaging System:

To stay in contact with the guests, you need to have a system that can be relied upon. Twitter, WhatsApp, and email are all easy ways of communication from far away.

WhatsApp email share is an easy way to share general information and send reminders. There are a few reminders and messages that you should send. The messages need to be crafted with great attention. Once you have crafted messages, the system will work for you.

As an owner of rental property and managing the Airbnb property remotely, you will have to send messages in almost all of the following situations:

Pre-check-in: in this message, the message will sound inviting, and expect the guest to have a good time while staying at the Airbnb rental.
Check-in message: this message will contain all the necessary information. Details about a few things, like a guestbook for all the local information for their stay, a welcoming gift pack awaiting them, etc.
Post-check-in message: it is a message to check on the guests. You will ask them if they need anything or if there is anything they want that you can arrange for them.
Check-out message: it will serve as a reminder to the guests. This message will tell them that the stay is about to end.
Post-check-out message: after the guest has checked out, you will bid them farewell in this message and invite them to return.
Ask for a review: this is an important message for your Airbnb rental business. You will gently ask the guest to leave a review for your Airbnb real estate. The review will serve as free marketing for your remotely managed Airbnb.
Follow-up message: after, let’s say, a month, you can feed the system to message the guest to remind them of how excited you were to have them and how much they enjoyed their stay. The message will refresh their memory and increase the chance of having them as repeat customers.

All these messages will need details and have to be crafted creatively, which will require your time. You can undertake apps like Host tools to be your messaging system.

Replenish Necessities:

Like a good host, you must take care of the necessities to be present in your Airbnb real estate.

Several things should be present at the place before the guests arrive. You need to make sure there is plenty of stock always at hand. You can ask your on-ground staff to help you replenish the things, or you can have vendors deliver the things directly and let them in through your Prempoint smart access.

A list of things needed:

Coffee, tea, sugar, milk packets
Toiletries (soap, body wash, handwash, sponge, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.)
Dishwash soap/liquid
Toilet rolls
Kitchen rolls, tissues
Clean bedsheets
Utensils for cooking

Most of these things will have to be replenished after every guest. If you have enough, the cleaning staff can fill the bottles and replace the finished ones on your behalf if you ask them to. It should be a seamless process so that nothing stops or becomes a hurdle to the satisfaction of your guests.

This will make or break your business. A guest coming to your Airbnb expects a certain level of hospitality. You have to go beyond your comfort zone to make this possible.

Guide The Guest About The Locality:

You are the host, and the visitors are your guests, metaphorically and literally. They have little to no knowledge about the area they are visiting.

It is easier now, with Google and Google maps, to know where to go and the place of your interest. But a guest guidebook adds a personal touch and scores a bonus point for your Airbnb rental business.

Apart from areas of interest and activities, you can tell the guests about the history and other related information about the city/town and the state. You can also add some fun activities and places for kids to do and visit.

Managing Airbnb can present its challenges when you are at a remote location. But this one thing can be done once and forgotten. The history and the activities don’t change often, it is easy to make the guidebook once and the review after 5 years to keep it up-to-date.

Comprehensive and Clear House Rules:

The local real estate may have different rules per the state, but to keep the value of your rental property intact in the real estate market, you have to protect your house. As there will be numerous guests and most of them you won’t even meet, it is better to have a comprehensive house rules guide set in front of them.

There are two ways you can make them read the house rules.

Message or email them the house rules right before they arrive at your place. It is better to send them as near the check-in time as possible to make them at least skim through the rules.
Have the rules printed and visible in the living area so that they pass through it often and have a good look at it.

Instead of making the rules long and boring print (which most would just skip), keep the rules attractive, short, and clear so that the message is sent across in less time. It is better to use pictorials and charts for attention, and this will also make it easier for the kids to understand what is expected of them and this will help you understand how to manage your Airbnb remotely.

Safe and Smart Locks:

Security is the number one concern when managing Airbnb remotely; there can be intruders and thieves. For this, you need to install safe and smart locks. Several options are available for keyless, smart, biometric, and code-protected locks at Prempoint.

The locks use codes. You can insert a new code for each guest. This way, the code will automatically expire when they check out, and they no longer have your permission to use your house.

These locks can be tricky and expensive, but by having a reliable company like Prempoint do it for you, you will have reasonable rates and many options to choose from. There will also be installation and training free of charge.

Security Cameras:

Security is a major concern, so you should continue getting smart locks. A set of cameras can be the most effective way you can manage your Airbnb property remotely. There is a reason, CCTV cameras hold importance for most homes these days. Your Airbnb property is mostly left to the staff and guests. You are not there to take care of it. It is important to have security cameras installed to keep a tab on what is going on, who is coming, who is going, what is the time of check-in/check-outs, etc.

Security cameras are used by the government to have proof of anything that goes wrong. With strict security available through the cameras by Prempoint, managing Airbnb and enforcing security measures is not an issue anymore.

Due to privacy issues, you cannot put security cameras in intimate areas like; bedrooms, washrooms, guestrooms, etc., but the cameras can be placed in the common areas and the outer area of the house.

Some areas you can consider putting the security cameras are:

Front yard
Back yard
Garage
Living room
Kitchen
Backdoor of the home (if any)
Lobby or hallway.

These areas will give you good access to you for getting to know who is at your home. This way, it is easier to notify the guests without your permission if they have an unauthorized guest.

Build Relationships with the Guests and Get Reviews:

Having guests and being a host is just another form of getting acquaintances. It means you can have a positive and nourishing relationship with the guests. It depends on the quality of service they get while staying at your Airbnb.

If you have a positive relationship with your guests, it is easy to have them leave a good word for you. The reviews they leave will impact your customer retention through word of mouth.

The issue is you are not there to do it personally. Don’t worry; there are other ways to stay in contact with your guest and make a positive impression on them.

Make a call: while you have already set a system to send them pre-created messages at regular intervals, it is important to add a personal touch. You can call your guest and personally ask them for anything or any favor they need.
Leave them a review book: a review book is interesting for some to fill. There is a chance to get both negative and positive remarks, but you need to make sure there are more positive things about your business.
Make your staff be there for them on your behalf: in your team of on-ground staff, there should be at least one person who can meet the guests on your behalf. This person will serve as the link between you and the guest.

Final Thoughts On Managing Your Airbnb Remotely

Now you know how to manage your Airbnb remotely. You can manage your Airbnb remotely using the above-mentioned points. Guests are a blessing, but if the blessing is paying you for being your guest, why not make it the most comfortable stay of their life so that they have nothing but good things to say about you and your business.

Enjoy your life and keep earning while you are enjoying. You and your Airbnb business are not stopping once you are set up and ready to go!

FAQs

How is receiving your guests possible when the host is not present?

This is not an issue. The guest at your Airbnb property does not expect to be greeted personally. If you agree to meet the guest personally, then you should make yourself personally available. Otherwise, a staff member can greet them. Instead of being greeted, they can check themselves in with the security passcode you provide for entrance to your Airbnb real estate.

How important is it to have a reliable staff team in your absence?

It is extremely important the staff you appoints performs and makes the stay comfortable for your guest on your behalf. Choose your staff wisely, as it can make or break your business.

What happens if the guest damages your property?

Any kind of damage will have to be deducted from the reserved fund you take from the guest before they visit. Your staff can visit immediately after the guest check-out and check things for any damage or breakage and notify you.