Learn How An AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town Maximse 5 Star Accommodation
Ideads to maximise your Airbnb Short term rental income With Respectful Guests
Brought to you by Agency.Capeholidays.info And Superhost AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town
You know that Cape Town is popular. Extremely popular. Airbnb's total self-catering listings in Cape Town is more than the second largest Airbnb country in Africa. And growing fast. In South Africa Airbnb grew by 163% in one year.
You may think this is good news. But is it? In the past owners could dictate. Now everyone with an internet connection is listing online. It can still be profitable but the game has changed forever. Those who do not compete on price will win the game. Instead we are in the business of creating experiences.
And I am sure that you want to tap into this profitable opportunity, but where do you start? One option is to use an Airbnb Accommodation Agency in Cape Town.
1 to 9: How To maximise Airbnb rental income
On order to win this Airbnb game we need to play by the rules. But that does not mean we can play to our advantage.
Let's try and make this read as easy as possible. We will be covering the following topics. You can skim through all our just click on a topic that may interest you. At the end of this read you'll know how we manage and market self catering accommodation in Cape Town. Hopefully you will learn how to do it yourself if that's what you want to do. Let's start......
AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town Quick Content Guide Menu
1) Where to List Your Cape Town Holiday Home?
Today Airbnb dominates the market. But that should not stop you from listing with Booking.com. There are many listing sites like Tripadvisor and it's affiliated sites; unfortunately these are insignificant. As an Airbnb Super Host Agency in Cape Town, we recommend Airbnb first and a distant second Booking.com.
Note: AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town we don't recommend Booking.com. It's a personal choice; two reasons:
You cannot verify guests via their personal reviews.
You cannot review guests on Booking.com
It's great to have your own direct booking accommodation website and Facebook page. Again your website can never compete with Airbnb or Booking.com. Your website will be a great brochure for reference on your business cards and marketing material. You can also advertise using Facebook, Google and Instagram but this is not for the faint hearted as these options are designed to take your money. And we don't recommend this if you are a novice.
Collaboration With An AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town
Most great Cape Town Airbnb management agencies pool their "stock". We have a joint database were we upload all our properties and other Cape Town management agencies can book these homes. Instead of paying a service fee to Airbnb we pay the booking agency the fee. We tend to book many exclusive and large properties via this channel.
Advertise Your Website or Facebook Page
You can use Google and Facebook etc. You are competing with the big guys when you do. For example Airbnb and Booking.com advertise on Google. You either pay Google or you pay a fee to your listing sites. We prefer to pay Airbnb etc when we have done a successful booking. Let Airbnb and Booking.com worry about Google ads.
2) Will Your Cape Town Airbnb Accommodation Qualify?
Let my say that if you want to list (market) your own Cape Town accommodation; you are the boss, you have the time and skills then do it. And we will not be the judge. But when it comes to our portfolio we choose only the best.
Only Remarkable holiday Accommodation Will Make Good Money
Airbnb has commoditized the market. Even though many homes will make money few will excel. And we need to find that unique and remarkable home. The effort to maximise the income of a remarkable home is similar to that of an average home. But the income will be many times more for the unique home.
First, I will list some of the most important criteria then share a short list of things we consider before we list a home.
How many of the criteria above can you find in this Airbnb review?
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"We have just returned from a 5 night at the French Breeze and it was the perfect ending to a wonderful holiday. The house is on the outskirts of Cape Town. We certainly didn't mind, because the tranquility of the house makes more than up for the driving time. French Breeze is equipped with every little gadget one can imagine: a huge kitchen with tons of appliances, a TV room, a jacuzzi, a little outside pool and even a trampoline. A very special "thank you" to Janene, the property manager who did not seem to mind that our arrival time became later and later, due to a flight delay - in the end it was 5 to midnight when we met. Even more, she went out of her way to buy a birthday cake, some candles and balloons for my daughter, who celebrated her 15th birthday in Cape Town.”
Klaus and family
How many of the above criteria can you find in this image?
3) Will You, As The Owner, Qualify?
I am sure you may think this is an arrogant question. It may be. But let's use this opportunity to discuss expectations. We do understand that owners are protective of their homes. And they should be. Let's look at a few issues.....
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"We must say that we are so happy to have met you. Agency.CapeHolidays.info is so professional and responsive. Everything about your accommodation management business we like. We did not even consider another Cape Town agency. The key is yours.”
Simon and Debbie - Owners
4) How do you protect your interest?
Let me start by saying that the Cape Town self catering market is massive. As an management agency in Cape Town we have the ability to offer 3000 homes and counting. I am saying this to show that many people are making lots of money already and they would not be in the market if it was a bad risk. But that does not mean we should not reduce risks....
AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town:
Now for a the big one.....
5) What Income Can You Expect From Your Cape Town Airbnb Holiday Accommodation?
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"We have to learn to crawl properly before we start running. We rather decline now than disappoint you later!”
CapeHolidays
This is the question! The real question.
And it will depend on a lot of factors. Our experiences over time have helped us develop our own accommodation marketing philosophy.
We start off by asking the owners what annual income they expect. Many owner say to us, "but you are the experts! You should tell me!"
Yes. We are and we will use our expertise to maximise your income but before that we must know if this relationship will work.
Asking the accommodation owner what he expects is not intended to trick the owner. The only intention is to establish if we can work with the owner. And if so how will we work with the owner.
If the owner's expectation is way too high then we know we will have a problem. On the other hand if the owner's expectation is too low then we can correct it.
We believe we have a good idea of what you can get depending on the features of your home, the location (on beach or not), the luxury finishes, the number of bedrooms and the suburb.
Get Your Free Cape Town Profitability Evaluation
In Cape Town we have three seasons we focus on as an AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town:
Winter: 1 May to 30 Sept
High Peak: 20 To 5 Jan
Summer: All other
Summer after peak tends to be more popular than before peak with February the most popular of the summer months with the Mining Indaba, and foreigners escaping the winter for a month or more. (People can enjoy a holiday with less kids around and the wind tends to be better during Feb).
As a very general guideline you can use the number of bedrooms, the suburb and the season to get an idea.
The further you move away from Camps Bay and Clifton, the lower your rates get. Let's say you have the exact same home in Camps Bay/Clifton, City Center, Southern Suburbs and Southern Peninsula.
Our Philosophy When Maximising Income
If we believe it's possible to generate the annual amount you expect, at an occupancy of between 33% and 40% during year one, then we will be interested in assisting. If the occupancy must be above 50% or higher to make the target then we may not be able to meet your expectations. We must learn to properly crawl before we run. And we rather say no now than disappoint you later.
6) Managing Your Cape Town Accommodation!
The goal: Get 5 out 5 stars all the time. Anything less than 5 out 5 is not good enough. All management tasks must focus on this.
Management involves liaising with your guests from booking to pre-arrival to post departure. Ensuring your home always improves and that costs don't escalate. These are some of the crucial management tasks to ensure you get 5 out 5 stars all the time.
New owners, and mostly owners who make their homes available for high peak and other holidays think they can get the money from the guest, and go sit on the beach, switch off the phone and hope the guest survives the broken geysers, power outages, appliances breakages, flea attacks, etc.
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“Management hassles and more hassles. Do you want that? Accommodation Management will cost money, but pay for it and have peace of mind so you can enjoy your holiday and your investment.”
CapeHolidays
If things can go wrong- they will. And it will turn your holiday, your home, your investment into a disaster. You may have no idea how one negative review can set you back.
We are scoring 4.9 out of 5 on Airbnb. This is great. But not good enough. To maximise income we must work on maximising the experience.
We have discussed how to set your home up for guests arriving. If you have done the basics well, and ensured your home is up to date with any and all maintenance issues your guests will have few problems.
Managing Accommodation is to be on call 24 hours a day. The hassles get less with excellent maintenance free homes, an owner willing to re-invest and unforgettable experiences for guests.
Our Cape Town Airbnb management Philosophy
Some Airbnb agencies base their money making model on management costs. They ask for all kinds of monthly retainers. We don't. You pay a fixed management rate per incident. If there's no incident you pay nothing. If the house is maintenance free you pay no cost. If we arrange laundry we don't add money on top. You pay for the cleaning incident. (We can discuss the incident costs in detail when we meet)
Note 1. Although we provide a Cape Town Airbnb accommodation management function we only provide it if we have exclusive agreement to do marketing as well. Therefore we don't provide management if the owner is doing their own marketing.
Note 2. For every booking we receive the guest pays a management fee that covers most of the direct management costs. Therefore your guest related management costs are reduced significantly.
7) Marketing Your Cape Town Accommodation
Every one can cook. But their are very few chefs.
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"I have said it before; you can market your own home. Airbnb has made it simple. Very simple. And you can do it. But.......”
The question is if you can beat Pareto?
You know this guy? He said 20% of all houses on Airbnb earn 80% of all income generated.
Well. He did not say that exactly as he quoted the 80:20 principle in 1896. But the idea is applicable. Read more on Pareto here.
You have to ask yourself if you are willing to make a little money with the 80% or make proper money with the top 20%? This will depend on your love making skills with Airbnb as your partner. You can read more here.
Note: Some owners are happy with little money to cover costs and then you design your marketing plan accordingly. Obviously this then depends on your lifestyle rules.
When Can An AIRBNB Management Agency Cape Town benefit you?
A short term rental agency can assist you (1) when you don't want to get involved, (2) when you are not present and/or (3) when you believe an agency can in any case generate more income than if you did it yourself.
Marketing is a skill and if you love online marketing, social media, setting up your own website, answering client enquiries then go for it.
But as you may know; marketing is more than just listing it on a few websites; you need to know your rates, seasonal minimum stays, having terms and conditions, tax implications, indemnity, and third party insurance.
Are you looking for the cheapest way to market?
Note: If you focus on primarily on what our costs are and not on net income we can generate you then you should not work with CapeHolidays. Capable agencies are supposed to maximise your income while reducing costs.
In other words; although a Cape Town agency will cost you money to market your home, the great ones should make you more money than if you did it yourself.
Okay......
You will save yourself 20% on commission if you do it yourself. And if you know the business then do it. But will you get into the top 20% earners that made Pareto so famous? If you rank on page one on Airbnb then excellent. If you have 40 or more 5 star reviews then excellent. You are excellent. If not, remember we must crawl before we run.
Airbnb Money Making With Marketing
Agency CapeHolidays: Rate Setting Philosophy
You make money because of your many (+40) top reviews and your focus on increasing occupancy.
8) Why Give Exclusive Rights To Your Availability Calendar To Ensure Maximising Of Income?
This is a very simple question to answer.
If you want to do your own marketing you would not need an agency.
Why not?
As an Airbnb Agency CapeHolidays create happy experiences guests will never forget. We are not an e-commerce interface. Therefore we are not an advertising outlet. We are responsible from ground zero to lift-off and return.
Airbnb Agency CapeHolidays gives priority to our exclusive homes. These are the only homes we manage.
This means that we send all enquiries to sole-mandated homes first and when they are full or do need meet the guests needs we send business to non-sole mandated accommodation.
Why Is The Exclusive Rights Important To You?
You Can still Book Your own House
- This does not mean you cannot block dates off for yourself; obviously you can and you should, but you need to do it well in advance and only after you have checked availability with us. Our bookings always comes first.
9) How To Set Your Cape Town Accommodation Up?
We need to add more value than expected. We need to captivate them and create a 5 star experience.
First impressions are lasting. Your guests may be tired when they arrive, they may be critical; they have spent a lot of money - now they want to get fair value back. If you fail on the first impression test you are in for a nasty ride.
- Here's a document we prepared for you. Read it, print it and do it.
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“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Abraham Lincoln
Thank you for reading
Airbnb Agency.CapeHolidays thrive not because we want to be the biggest. No. We only want to be the best Short Term Rental Agency in and around Cape.
Brought To You By The Agency.CapeHolidays.Info Experience Creators
If are not yet convinced about us why not spend a few minutes reading what our owners and guests have to say about us.
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