2. cleaning
Cleaning will be the most important part of running your hosting business. You may want to start by doing the cleaning yourself to save money, if you have the time. You can also start by hiring an individual or cleaning service.
The problem that many hosts run into with cleaning services is flexibility. In order to maximize your revenue, your unit needs to be available for booking within 24 hours, and you should ideally be able to offer same-day turnaround (you can check a guest in on the same day a guest checks out).
Providing your guest with a clean, well-organized space is one of the keys to running a successful hosting business. You can have a beautiful rental filled with amenities and extras, but if it’s not clean, your business will not thrive.
Unless you are completely booked months in advance, you will not have a rigid cleaning schedule, which can make it difficult to find a cleaning service willing to work at a moment’s notice and be flexible when guests want to change their departure or arrival dates. For this reason, hosts should be willing to clean their unit at least once in a while. Fortunately, many cleaning services are adapting to the short-term rental market, offering same-day service for reasonable prices.
Sometimes, it may make sense to pay more for cleaning than what you are charging your guests, at least to start off. We’ll discuss cleaning charges in the next section, and basic cleaning principles in section V.
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If you are going to outsource your cleaning, speak to at least two or three services, get quotes and keep them in your address book.
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If you are going to do it yourself, make sure you are realistic about your schedule and how much time it will take you to clean the entire unit.