Airbnb - Your property can make you 300% more????

So today when I trekked around my normal dog walking route, I saw loads of neighbourhood cars had flyers stuck underneath their windscreen wipers................

....................These flyers were saying such things as, 'Boost your property rental by 300%'.

Firstly; ..................I would just like to comment - Boost your property rental by 300% of what???

And secondly................. Do these people who actually stick these flyers underneath car windscreen wipers actually know what they are promoting?

The flyers were from 'Airbnb'.

'Airbnb' is the biggest hospitality letting agents in the world and yet it does not own one single property.  A lot of people seem to be jumping on the 'airbnb' bandwagon.  I've seen jobs advertised for people to hand out keys, meet and greet, do property maintenance, etc, etc, etc.

Renting out a property short term is not easy.  ..............Well, it's not if you do it properly...................... 

..............And I'm not talking 'Airbnb' here.

You need proper building and house insurance in place, you need to check with your local council what rules they have re letting a property, you need electricity/gas checks in place, you need a TV licence, you need public liability for guests in your home, you need wifi, who books a property without wifi these days?, you need so many things, that to be honest, if you then have to pay some random person who is putting flyers around your local area................... is it going to be worth your while to actually rent out your property?

Holiday makers always think that people who rent out their properties in seaside towns or prime locations are making an absolute killing.  That honestly is not the case.  Yes, on paper, the holiday let home you have rented seems like a ridiculous price.  But lets just look a little closer at this............

Ie, - Two bedroomed property in a popular  South West seaside resort....................Price £1,000 for one week...........  Sleeps 4?

Letting fees - 20%   =               £200
Cleaning fees           =                 £50
Laundry fees            =                 £50
Council tax pw         =                £40
Electricity/gas pw           =          £25
Water pw                  =                £8
Landlords building ins pw =       £7.00
Landlords house ins. pw =          £7.00
Public liability ins. pw =             £7.00

Total expenditure - £394

Net income - £606 for one week. 

..............But then one still has to pay for a TV licence/netfix or sky or some other super duper extra TV service and a wifi connection and a window cleaner, electricity/gas check and various other things that I can't even think of at the moment.  And because people are paying £1000 for one week they will expect a hospitality tray which will include wine or flowers or tea/coffee or a welcome hamper full of high class locally sourced goodies.

So in reality the 'holiday let property' that you think is really expensive and is costing you £1000 a week is probably only going to give the owner about £450pw and that's before you take into account all the wear & tear that your kids have inflicted on the property.

£450pw = about £16 pppn.  Not exactly a lot is it?

£450 = about 62 hours pw of work at minimum wage.  A lot of people in the SW in the hospitality industry work much longer hours than this.

And before you say that your kids are really well behaved and would never, ever, think of damaging anyone else's property................... do you really know what your kids are doing at all times?

I have spent years living in the SW and for years my nephews & niece came to visit me in my house every summer.  They're very well behaved kids with responsible parents, but after each visit there was always damage to my property.  And at this point I would just like to say that any damage wasn't deliberate..........................  But that's the problem with renting out properties.

99% of the time, damage isn't deliberate but stuff happens.....................

Ie,:

1)  My niece used to slam the kitchen door so hard that the kitchen clock fell off the wall every time - until it ceased to work.  Obviously it had to be replaced 'at my own cost'. - £20.

2)  My nephews/niece used to sleep on a z-bed in my spare room but rammed it into the wall so often that it left indents in the wall.  Obviously the wall had to be re-plastered 'at my own cost'. - £40.

3)  My niece left my sun lounge cushions out all night and the following morning it was soaking wet and couldn't be dried out.  Obviously it had to be replaced 'at my own cost' - £30.

......................So that's another £90 added onto a one week stay.

Obviously the above is just an example of my own experience.  It was my sister and her family that were staying in my home and I'm sure if my sister knew that her kids had caused this damage she would be mortified.  But the fact is; that she didn't, because I didn't tell her people with kids don't actually know what their kids are doing..........................

But the point I'm trying to make is.................. 'holiday letting'??? -  your property will not turn you into a millionaire.................................

....................And 'Airbnb'....................  I still don't understand your flyers????

...........'Your property can make you 300% more???

300% more of what???'

.................Can anyone enlighten me??????????????????????