As you may or may not know, I live a double life. My weeks are spent in a happening music industry environment in downtown Toronto and my weekends (and any other time I can squeeze in) are spent at my home in idyllic Prince Edward County, about a three hour drive east of Toronto. This means two things; life is busy, and expenses are high.
Since my home is located in the heart of Prince Edward County (between Picton and the Sandbanks, if you know the area) and tourism is quite popular, I decided to try a few vacation rentals to help offset the bills last summer. The first time, I posted my home on Craigslist and found a lovely doctor to move in for a couple weeks. All went fairly smoothly, so I posted it again. I had a couple more rentals and then a couple more through word of mouth. I found I didn’t really have any way to manage these rentals and I thought about listing with a property management site.
Enter Airbnb, a social travel site that I found about a year ago. It’s a beautifully designed site where people from all over the world list their homes for rent. Sometime they stay with you and act as a host, sometimes you rent the entire home or apartment. The site was just catching on, so I decided to list my home and see where it would take me. They make it easy, giving me robust online tools and statistics. Here’s a look at my listing on their site. It’s far slicker than I could have made myself, come with social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest buttons, and comes with a hip, web-savvy audience.
Wow. What an amazing tool. The biggest perk to me, and this is why I’m writing about it, is the social aspect. I like that my prospective guests are verified through Twitter and Facebook as it gives me the ability to check them out. Yes, of course the first thing I do when someone requests a stay is Google them. This is my home we’re talking about, I’d be crazy not to. I also like that I can chat with the prospective guest and decide whether or not I’m comfortable with them in my home before confirming the rental. Of course, there are other amazing tools, like an online calendar, a gorgeous profile and smooth payment options, but the social aspect is what has really helped me.
Airbnb allows, well actually it strongly encourages, both hosts and guests to review their stay. It’s almost like the eBay  feedback system. You can give stars on cleanliness, location, price, etc. and leave a written review. I do my absolute best to make sure that my guests feel at home and enjoy their time in the County, and I have been rewarded with very positive reviews such as the ones pictured here.
These reviews are the best advertising I could have. Due to them, I’ve seen my rentals skyrocket, to the point where I don’t think I’ll be at home at all in July or August. This is a double edged sword of course, but since the overall goal is to offset the mortgage, I’ll take it. Of course, there’s always a risk when you allow people into your home, and I have heard a couple horror stories. However, I do my best to gauge the character of my guests and have been lucky so far. Airbnb also recently launched their $1,000,000 Host Guarantee, which gives me more peace of mind. I’ve met some lovely people, my house isn’t empty and I’m getting help with the bills. Thank you, Airbnb!
Airbnb isn’t just good for renting out your home though, it’s great inspiration for trip planning! I’ve found so many interesting places I’d like to stay all over the world. What a great way to, in their words, travel like a human. Check it out here and let me know which places you’d like to stay!