3 Ways to Grow Your Property Management Business

James Svetec, the founder of BNB Mastery Program and co-author of Airbnb for Dummies, shares his expert advice on scaling an Airbnb business.
By
James Svetec
in
Hosting Advice
Calendar icon
September 3, 2020
5
min read
3 Ways to Grow Your Property Management Business

Whether you’ve considered being an Airbnb host or you’re already one and you are looking for ways to expand your Airbnb revenue, you have plenty of options. Scaling your Airbnb business to be able to take on more properties and still offer the same high-quality property management services is a goal of many in your position.

What are some of the best ways to grow an Airbnb management business?

A piece of paper with the word "Welcome"

1. Reach Out to People with a Long-term Rental Property

How does switching from long-term to short-term rental benefit a property owner? They’re able to make more money. Of course, short-term rentals sometimes carry more risk, but many believe it’s worth the trade-off when they can earn far more than they would when committing to one tenant for months or years at a time. And in most cases, the risk is minimal.

Owning a long-term rental property has its advantages, but they are often outweighed by the benefits of renting short-term. Returns with long-term rental are fixed, and the property owners are left with little control over their property and a great deal of headache if they select the wrong tenant.

It’s reliable, but it’s not the best option for many. In a lot of cases, property owners would like to take advantage of the other opportunities out there, but they lack the time or ability to do so.

That’s where you come in. As an Airbnb property manager, you make it possible for property owners to take advantage of the opportunities available to short-term rental owners, while avoiding all of the additional workload.

One of the biggest advantages of having a professional manage your space is the additional income that can result from properly optimized pricing. For example, an owner might have a property in an area that’s popular during the summer season. If they are renting to long-term guests, chances are the rate stays the same year-round. But for short-term rentals, nightly rates can be adjusted based on the season. The same is true for events. If there’s a special event happening nearby, short-term rentals allow owners to earn more during those dates.

Often, the only reason they haven’t taken advantage of this opportunity yet is that it can be time-consuming monitoring the changes. But this isn’t the case when there’s a property manager involved. You allow property owners to make the transition and enjoy the benefits of switching from long-term to short-term rentals.

People shaking hands

2. Reach Out to People Who Are Struggling on Airbnb

When you reach out to current Airbnb owners, you’re dealing with people who are already “in the game.” But oftentimes, they are struggling. You can add value to them and save them time. You can also help them improve their performance.

Here’s the thing: Airbnb hosting can be time-consuming. To do a really good job and meet the standards expected by guests, an owner needs to put in a lot of effort. Not all owners are able to do this. That’s where you come in.

With the right systems in place, you can take properties that are struggling to succeed on Airbnb and turn them into profit-making machines. You remove a great deal of burden from the property owner and improve the experience of Airbnb guests. You’re growing your management business by taking something that is barely hanging on (or simply leaving a great deal of opportunity on the table) and turning it into something great.

The great thing about using this approach to grow your Airbnb management business is that you don’t need to do a lot of the legwork that’s involved when you’re beginning from scratch. You already have a foundation on which to build and you’re able to elevate existing properties to generate more revenue.

This isn’t to say you won’t be working hard and investing time and effort into the work. Of course you will. But you don’t need to do a lot of things that must be done when you’re getting started with a brand new property listing on Airbnb. All of those things are already in place and you’re just finetuning everything to make it better.

Tiled wall with the message "We like you, too" on it

3. Expand Your Business through Referrals

Like all good business people, you probably already understand the value of a large number of referrals. The more happy customers you have, the more they talk about you and the more your business grows.

You can get a referral the same way you would in any other type of business: exceed your clients’ expectations and deliver a really great service. Your goal should always be to make the experience of working with you completely headache-free. You need to keep control of any issues that arise or ensure they don’t happen at all.

This also means putting the right systems and tools in place to help you manage your business effectively.

Minut home sensor

Using tools, like the Minut Home Sensor, means you’ll be able to prevent issues that could otherwise cost you potential referrals and in some cases, even lose you clients. Not only do tools like this make your job easier, but they also make it possible to do a better job. You’ll be able to handle noise complaints with ease and deal with common problems that arise in the Airbnb industry. Keeping everything in order and under control is an essential part of managing a successful Airbnb business. When you have the right systems working for you, you’re able to focus on improving other aspects of your Airbnb property. This means your work exceeds expectations and you’re helping an Airbnb property owner grow their business. It’s a win-win for everyone, including you, the property owner, and your guests.

About the Author:
James Svetec is the founder of BNB Mastery Program, where he teaches students how to earn a full-time income managing other people’s properties on Airbnb. In addition, James is also the co-author of Airbnb for Dummies, and co-runs the popular Airbnb blog LearnBNB.com.