A Crash Course in Airbnb Long-term Rentals for Your Property

Due to COVID-19, Airbnb long-term rentals are becoming a popular hosting alternative to bring in rental income. Because of travel limitations, the demand for short-term rentals has dropped. Many hosts have had to introduce mid or long-term stays in order to keep their businesses afloat. 

These types of stays are gaining popularity with domestic travelers, and people working from home but looking for a change of scenery. Longer stays can help Airbnb hosts boost occupancy and generate consistent rental income.

Read on to discover what long-term Airbnb rentals are and what benefits they can bring to your vacation rental business. 

What is the Difference Between Long-term and Short-term Rental Stays?

According to Airbnb, a regular short-term stay is fewer than 28 days. A stay that becomes 28 days or longer counts as a long-term or “monthly” stay by Airbnb. Not all rentals on Airbnb offer long-term bookings, as hosts decide whether to make their properties available for longer stays.

The reasons for renting might also differ between short and long-term stays. Short-term renters usually look for a quick break or vacation. They generally return home once their booking is over. 

Airbnb long-term rentals tend to attract people who are traveling for work (like medical professionals) or study purposes. People who have been at home for months due to the pandemic might also book a long-term rental for an extended break.

What Changes Have Been Introduced for Long-term rentals on Airbnb?

To help guests find long-term rentals, Airbnb now allows guests to select and book longer stays in the “places to stay” section of their site. Rentals that offer longer stays will appear for bookings that are 28 days and longer in length. The listings of these long-term Airbnb rentals will also be marked as offering amenities suited for longer stays.

Why Are Airbnb Long-term Rentals Becoming Popular?

For guests

The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted daily life, including traditional vacations. With international travel paused in most countries at the moment, many people are looking for alternative ways to holiday. “Nearcations” or “staycations” are a popular solution. They still allow guests to enjoy a vacation within their own country.

The pandemic has also affected businesses and the housing market. Many people are currently working at home and will continue to do so in the long-term. Work-from-home professionals are booking vacation rentals that offer a “home office”. 

This allows them to work while still enjoying a change of scenery. College students and interns may also book Airbnb long-term rentals, as they offer more privacy than hotels and private dormitories.

For hosts

Long-term and monthly rentals provide a reliable income stream for hosts experiencing a drop in bookings. Although hosts can usually earn more from short-term renting, it can become a problem if bookings drop.

Long-term renting can solve the issue of a lower occupancy rate. Many guests who book longer-term rentals are looking to stay for at least a month, if not longer. Airbnb long-term rentals can help hosts sustain their business during their quieter months.

Longer rental periods can also reduce hosts’ workload, as they won’t need to spend as much time and money on marketing their rentals and cleaning.

Airbnb Long-term Rentals: The Pros and Cons

Pros

• A consistent stream of revenue (even during low season and slow months). A benefit of long-term renting is that your revenue is likely to remain steady throughout the year. This can help support your earnings if you’ve been experiencing a drop in bookings. 
• Fewer management responsibilities. Tasks like guest communication, check-in and check-out, and online marketing reduce when you are only renting to one guest at a time, compared to short-term renting. Generally, once the guest has checked-in and settled into the rental, you will only need to communicate with them if an issue arises.
• You can choose whether to furnish (or partly furnish) your rental. With short-term renting, it’s necessary to have your rental fully-furnished, but this is not always the case with Airbnb long-term rentals. Many tenants bring their own furniture when they are looking for a longer lease. This can save you the cost of buying extra furnishings for your rental.
• Different amenity requirements. The competition can be quite intense in the short-term rental industry. This is because the guest to rental ratio often swings in favor of guests, who can take their pick of rentals. Hosts will often spend extra money on necessary amenities to help their rentals stand out. This is not as common for Airbnb long-term rentals, as guests have different amenity requirements. Guests looking to rent for longer will be in search of essential amenities such as a dishwasher rather than a hot tub or firepit.

Cons

• Less freedom to manage your rental as you like. Long-term renters are paying for space and privacy. This means you can’t arrive at your property to do maintenance or inspection work without calling ahead. You also won’t be able to use your Airbnb long-term rental on a weekend or a holiday if you have guests staying in it. 
• Less potential to maximize profit. When it comes to short-term renting, you can adjust the price to maximize your earnings during high-season periods and lower it during low-season. You’re generally not able to do this when you rent your property on a longer basis to guests for a fixed monthly fee. While this can be good, because you can earn more during the low season, you’re also likely to earn less during your high season.

• You may need to screen all potential tenants. With short-term renting, your guests are likely to spend a few days or weeks at most in your property before leaving. Because they pay upfront, there is no risk of payment defaults. Unfortunately, for Airbnb long-term rentals, there is a risk of payment defaults. Before accepting any guests in a long-term rental agreement, it’s advisable to perform a credit check on your guests. This can become time-consuming, especially if you have several different guests interested in your rental property.

Should I Include Long-term Rentals in My Airbnb Business?

Long-term and short-term renting both have their own advantages and disadvantages. When deciding whether to offer long-term Airbnb rentals to guests, you should look at several key factors, including:

• Your rental’s location. If your vacation rental is located in a tourist hotspot, you might want to reconsider long-term renting or offer it for only part of the year. It’s likely that your listing will get a lot of traffic and bookings during the high season. In that case, it might only be worthwhile offering an Airbnb long-term rental during your low season. 
• Your total net revenue from short-term renting over the past year. Looking at the net revenue you have made within the year can help you assess if you are still making enough to cover your monthly overhead costs and meeting your profit margins from short-term renting. If you are falling short then long-term renting could be a suitable means for you to bring in more revenue.
• The maximum net revenue you could make from long-term renting over a year. Once you have assessed your net revenue over the past year, do an estimation of how much you could earn over a year from long-term renting.

To calculate what you should be charging, take a look at what similar long-term Airbnb rentals in your area are charging to get an idea. Then compare this total with what you have already earned from short-term renting to decide if you could be earning more.

If you only want to offer long-term renting during your low season, then only compare your net revenue from your low season to how much you could make in the low season from a longer rental period. 

There is no right or wrong answer on whether you should offer long-term rentals to your guests. It depends on your business needs and your strategy for moving forward. If you’re unsure, you can run a test phase in which you list your rental for long-term occupancy and see if you get any queries or bookings. 

How to Turn Your Property into an Airbnb Long-term Rental

Optimize your Airbnb listing

To market your rental to guests looking for longer bookings, you will need to optimize your Airbnb listing as needed. There are three ways you can optimize your listing to encourage them to book your Airbnb long-term rental:

1. Enable longer bookings for your rental. Ensure that the trip details section in the availability of your listing has been updated, so it can accept bookings longer than 28 days.
2. Set up weekly and monthly discounts on your listing. Offering discounts on your monthly prices will be highlighted to guests in their search results, and encourage them to book with you. 
3. Use a long-term cancellation policy. Any cancellations made for long-term stays within 48 hours of booking, and at least 28 days before the booking date, will be refunded to guests in full. After 48 hours any cancellations will be refunded, minus the first 30 days and the service fee. If guests cancel their booking during their stay, they will need to pay for the 30 days following the cancellation date, or up to the end of their remaining stay if it’s less than 30 days.
4. Ask your guests to sign a rental agreement. To minimize risks associated with extended stays, ask your guests to sign a rental agreement. Make sure to mention this requirement in your house rules so your guests won’t be surprised after they finalize a booking.

Make your rental long-term friendly

1. Make any necessary improvements to your rental. Guests looking for Airbnb long-term rentals opt for properties that offer essential amenities such as a laundry machine, a fridge, and a stocked kitchen. If you would like to attract working professionals, create a workstation, and offer good Wi-Fi.
2. Provide additional instructions and recommendations. It’s important that guests have a detailed manual or welcome book with instructions on things like what days the garbage is collected, the schedules of any gardeners or maids, etc. Updating your welcome book with useful information, like nearby gyms to join or recreational activities to do, can also help your guests enjoy their stay more.

How to Automate Your Rental Property Management

Although long-term renting may not give you the same opportunity to earn as much profit as short-term renting, Airbnb long-term rentals are a reliable alternative for situations where travel is restricted or bookings are low.

Whether you offer short or long-term rentals, using vacation rental software, such as iGMS, will take your rental management to the next level. Offering a full range of functions essential for successful property management, iGMS will set your business up for success by providing:

• Easy management of all your listings and accounts across various platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo/Homeaway, and Booking.com.
• Unified inbox to organize all your guest messages within a single feed.
• Automated triggered messages to keep your guests informed at every stage of the booking process. 
• Reviews automation to simplify the process of leaving reviews.
• Automated cleaning assignment process and team coordination.
• Easy tracking of your results and growth with financial reporting tools.

Many hosts are already using iGMS to set themselves apart from their competitors and provide a better service to guests. Are you ready to give it a try?