Airbnb co-hosting guide 2019

As Airbnb grows more and more popular, there are a lot of hosts who aren’t sure how the platform works and aren’t sure how to host guests. As we all know, it isn’t easy, and even small jobs can turn out to be surprisingly difficult.

That’s where the co-host comes in. As a co-host, you can help the host with managing their airbnb in return for a cut of the income. Every co-host job is different - some hosts might just want a bit of assistance welcoming guests, others will want you to entirely manage their listing for them. It’s entirely up to you and the host to decide who does what and what percentage you’ll get for helping out.

While Airbnb may have closed the co-host marketplace, it is still possible to co-host. Instead of advertising yourself directly on Airbnb, you can share your services on the Airbnb community forum, in relevant external forums or on Facebook groups. Once a host recruits you, they’ll be able to invite you via your Airbnb-registered email to co-host their listing.

Although Airbnb has also removed the split payout feature, there is a workaround - your host can add two payment methods in the payout preferences and split it there. They can also pay you directly outside of Airbnb.

Here’s some of the things you might be asked to do as a co-host:

• If the host isn’t great with technology then you can create their listing, including taking photos and writing the description.

• You can message the guest directly - in the messages you’ll show up as yourself, rather than the host. If you’re the first point of contact for the guest then you might have to help them out if something in the property breaks, or if the guest has a problem.

• You might have to prepare the Airbnb for the guest. This can mean everything from stocking up on kitchen essentials and bathroom supplies to sorting new linen and towels. You could ensure all of the linen is cleaned yourself, or arrange a turnover service to do it for you.

• You could have to check in the guests - this might mean meeting them in person or, if self check-in is enabled, ensuring the guests can check themselves in using a key exchange service like KeyNest. Using KeyNest won’t just mean your guests can check in easily - it means there’s also easy property access for maintenance staff if something goes wrong.

• When the guest has checked out you might have to arrange cleaning. It will be tiring, but you can do it yourself - or you can use a professional Airbnb cleaning service like Airlinen to deal with it for you.

KeyNest is an Airbnb key exchange service that lets you store property keys to be collected later by guests, cleaners and staff.