FAQ: Agency.CapeHolidays Management Services
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FAQ’s Today I want to make a bold statement! We can moan and groan, we can accuse and curse. But as you know it’s useless. We prefer to look for solutions rather than waste time fighting the madness of the past. Even if the future has its risks only the most pessimistic amongst us will not agree when I say the clouds have a silver lining. Let me stop dreaming… Today we received a note from a guest who booked one of our homes, saying, Current guests, mostly foreign, moan and groan as the lights go out. But it gets worse. Read what this host had to say and the consequences. And Airbnb’s response…. You may think Airbnb has gone wild. They should not have given a refund. Well, yes. They are in control. They do these kinds of things. And while they have no real opposition they will continue. So, let’s not focus on what is out of our control. We have to fix what we can fix. We have a choice to eliminate guest’ objections; remove the disruption caused by load-shedding. As load-shedding fears get televised more and more guests will decide on staying where there is very little disruption. I recommend we fix it as soon as possible and in the most cost-effective way possible. What can we do about load shedding hassles as Airbnb Hosts and Owners? What is meant by the most cost-effective power backup for limiting the frustrating load shedding to your Airbnb accommodation? Guests want to be distracted watching TV, working on their phones, watching a streaming sports channel. And one light would be great. But take the power away and they look for a scapegoat. One way to release frustration is to give your home a negative review. Now, I can hear you may say, “they are on holiday and should be out and about, they can do social media back at home!” Forgive me but, after very many years, listening to these kinds of jokes I am not really interested in countering this objection. It’s a dumb argument. Guests vote with their money. And if this is how some owners feel then you’ll feel it in your pocket. 😳 Now that I have that out of the way let’s continue…… I’ll suggest a solution to limit frustrations. It’s not a green off the grid solution. Those are 4 or 5 times more expensive. We need backup power to cover at least 3 hours in a 24 hour period. We suggest power to the following only: To limit the investment further we suggest a power back solution to our Airbnb accommodation as follows: How much will such an Airbnb power backup system cost? Allow me to set the scene before I tell you the cost. If we get a two-week cancellation when someone arrives due to the lenient Airbnb allowing it due to load shedding you will potentially lose a lot more than the investment in a power backup system. An investment to not only protect your income but potentially increase it (more on this later). With that out of the way….. There are very many options and you can do your own homework. I can share with you two simple options. Installed at your home with a dedicated manual on how to use it. For example, you do not want the ditsy one to stick a hairdryer in there and stuff the kit up. At the above costs. Obviously prices may fluctuate a little. Let’s have a look at the inverter and batteries. Silver-Calcium Deep Cycle batteries They may look exactly like car batteries – but car batteries simply could not stand up to the requirements of load shedding. Only a heavy industrial battery will last. You can get Lead Acid Deep Cycle batteries – but if their charge drops below 50% when you use them, you damage them – and the damage is cumulative each time it dips under 50%. Even if you don’t damage them, all you’ll get is 200 to 300 uses and that’s it for the battery. This is why the experts only use Silver-Calcium Deep Cycle batteries – they keep on going-and-going – electricians predict for thousands of recharges. Inverter: 1.4 Kva (12v) or 2,4Kva (24v): Pack the good looking inverter out of the box, plug it into the wall, plug your media center and other electronics into it – and… VOILA!! Just like that, load shedding becomes a meaningless non-issue. Not only do guests have no more objections, but Airbnb also has no reason to refund them and most importantly…. Your home will stand-out, for now, amongst the darkness called load shedding. I did a google search “Airbnb Loadshedding” and it’s no surprise two Airbnb listings in Cape Town advertise their accommodation as free from load shedding. As And if guests have to choose will they choose your Cape Town Airbnb with a load shedding unhasseller or the quiet and dark house next door? You bet they will choose your home. And potential not only protect your income but increases it. Did I say this before? In these dark times, we don’t cry. We do what we can. Today. Not only does the backup power supply insure you against costly refunds you are a winner amongst the blind others who lag behind. Sounds familiar? Good things can be repeated 😁 This is not the question you should ask CapeHolidays. We suggest you read what our guests and owner have to say about us. But, when we list your home, under our Flag – CapeHolidays, your home is seen as a SuperHost home immediately. Our GOODWILL becomes yours. To be SuperHosts: We must maintain a 4.8 star rating with positive reviews (more on criteria). Something we have achieved: As you can see we score 4.9 out 5 for every of the nearly 600 guests who reviewed us. Designed for success from 2009. For this reason, we are SuperHosts and very proud of it (see our profile at Airbnb). Obviously, we can, with confidence, say we are a successful professional Airbnb Agency in Cape Town. Because of this Badge of Trust, we share it with owners who are willing to work with us and have remarkable accommodation. Unfortunately, choosing remarkability is not that easy. Why? Because the final judge is the very critical guest who paid to stay and have earned the right to review your home. These guests come with high expectations. If your home fails at the first booking it will be uphill to recover. When we choose, the owner and/or the home, incorrectly we could lose our SuperHost status. Therefore, we must be supercritical before a holiday home is added to our portfolio. In other words, SuperHosts attract more business because of established trust. This overcomes the lack of trust you have when you list your home from ground-zero. It takes time and lower rates to attract guests when you are new and competing with the masses out there. I have said it: We are a team working together and the sky’s the limit. And there is nothing like reading reviews from happy guests. Wait. You’ll see. It’s fun to bank good money while everyone is happy! The short answer: NO! This is a common concern for new owners. As we implement our trust-building phase we use competitive rates to attract reluctant guests to stay and get reviews at the new accommodation. The Consequences of AirBnB’s Commoditization On Rates It’s only after new owners become familiar with the painful reality and impact of AirBnB’s commoditization of the short term accommodation market, that they change their mind about our rate setting philosophy. After this introduction let me address the concern about low rates equaling bad guests. When we talk about low rates to buy trust we are talking about competitive rates only and not Rock-bottom rates. As you know, we don’t have the accommodation seeker’s trust yet, and we must use our only effective driver, namely rates, to overcome resistance to book. The guests who book initially are the same guest who may pay premium rate tomorrow. But with no reviews (trust) forget it. Only a remarkable holiday home at a bargain will do. In the market we operate, guests are not poor. Let me make a statement based on experience. Even if the rates are competitive you still get great guests. Now let me share why I say this: The real risk is not bad guests but rather uneducated guests. With today’s social media profiles guests cannot hide any longer. We started our business in 2009. This was before social media. And many people left homes untidy as there was no recourse. Even owners got away with shoddy offerings. Today Your Social Profile Is A Valuable Asset. When a guest book and stay they review us. And these positive reviews made us SuperHosts. Trust! As guests depart we review them. And they establish trusting profile overtime. Today we all know the consequences of a bad review for both parties. Let me repeat: Even if the rate is competitive no guests will risk getting a bad review knowing other hosts will not approve them with a bad previous review. The only risk for us is first time users on Airbnb. Unfortunately, they are not familiar with the implications of getting a bad review and how it impacts their future ability to use Airbnb. And some of them, ignorantly, will not leave the property in the same clean state they received it. When they get hit with a bad review they never again treat any Airbnb place poorly. And if they do they get blocked. Our challenge is to make it as difficult for new guests to book without first qualifying (See Forbes article above) them and then we educate them on what we expect. To answer the question: No. Competitive rates are not the cause of bad guests. Bad guests are mostly new guests unfamiliar with their responsibility. Many owners want CapeHolidays to manage their accommodation in Cape Town, Simonstown etc, list it with Airbnb and other; the problem is they may wonder if their home will make the grade. Some owners may have an inflated perception of value and expect the ultimate; obviously, when our knowledge of the market does not meet the owner’s expectations we sit with unnecessary conflict. It’s therefore not only the accommodation but includes qualifying the owner. Read more here on how Agency.CapeHolidays.info does business getting 4.9 out of 5-star reviews every time. Instant Booking is one of the features hosts don’t really have an option with. Airbnb gives you another option where guests can first discuss a booking. But still, you cannot decline if you don’t have a very good reason. And guests don’t like being rejected when your calendar shows availability. And if we cancel the hosts will never keep their status as a SuperHost (see more). Instant book has two possible aspects: Let’s get to the details: Read Why Are You Not Keeping Us Informed On The Pipeline Of Bookings? What the above means is that everything works extremely well if the agent can ensure 100% calendar integrity. As agents or hosts, we cannot do our business best without instant booking. Here’s a typical email from a worried owner. Just one question. With instant booking, how do we vet the client? I would first like to find out who they are etc. I have heard nightmare stories of houses being let and then the owners not being able to get the short term tenants out again. Can I opt out of the Instant Booking option? Guests who can book instantly must: Guest Requirements If you turn on this requirement, you’ll be able to see guests’ profile photos after a booking is confirmed, but not before. It’s turned on. Require guests to submit government ID to Airbnb in order to Instant Book. If they don’t meet this requirement, they will send a request instead. You can decide to restrict guests with children from booking if there are features that are dangerous for children or there’s a risk of property damage. Learn more You can limit guests from bringing pets, but you must reasonably accommodate guests that might bring an assistant animal. Learn more Win Unhassles Airbnb eBook & Plus Advice Worth R10000 The obvious question is- how many bedrooms should my Airbnb ideally have? My quick answer is that the number of bedrooms is a driver when trying to make money with Airbnb. But! If everything is not equal; then other drivers are more important. Like The Following Airbnb Success Drivers: Location: Critical. We have two beautiful apartments against the mountain. The two-bedroom is royal but seventy steps up, with spectacular views. The one-bedroom is as great but at 15 steps only, also with views. However, income is not really different. Interior and outside living: Guests pay premiums for funky or modern places with sun-filled light and inviting living areas. Imagine sun-loungers and a deck. It sells. Water: I mentioned beach location; if you cannot bring the beach to your Airbnb accommodation then try a pool or hot tub. And it does not matter if the sea is just 50 meters away. Airbnb guests will pay a premium for water. Marketing Philosophy and Rules: You cannot measure your Airbnb success until you have learned by failing. Going in with an attitude of…. “why do they need a pool? Can they not see the sea?”, or “who wants to watch DSTV on holiday?” or guests “must pay high rates; I pay high rates at hotels!” or “they should stay a minimum seven days!” These comments are shortsighted and show ignorance. And will cost you dearly. It matters only if they look exactly the same, at the same location, with a similar interior. If not, then most of the drivers above are critical. For more on investment advice: Airbnb Cape Town Airbnb success drivers, I suggest you complete our free questionnaire. The questions we ask will assist in getting a better idea. And you may be surprised to know that your Airbnb rule sets may be a killer driver. After you completed the questionnaire our calculator crunches “numbers” and sends you a report; automatically emailed to you. More below. P.S. One bedrooms have a disadvantage as the change over costs for a one-bedroom Airbnb is as much as it is for a two-bedroom and even three bedrooms. Two-Bedroom change-over costs nearly as much as a 4 bedroom but if you give me two two-bedroom apartments next to each other then I take two x2. I’ll rent them as a 4 bedroom or 2x two bedrooms. But, I suppose this is not the only way to look at it. Now we are opening-up flexibility as a driver. See FAQ on flexibility here. But let me stress: we should never focus on cost. Cost should be driven down but be careful. Cost is a negative concept. If your one bedroom has everything I mentioned above and via the questionnaire then a one-bedroom can beat the best. Win Unhassles Airbnb eBook & Plus Advice Worth R10000 Excellent question: How Do You Setup An Airbnb In Cape Town? Today I just want to discuss flexibility. Let’s kick off with this quote from the FAQ “Why Are The Number Of Bedrooms Not That Important?” Great question. If you can list your accommodation on Airbnb and manage it yourself then it’s best you do it yourself because; On the other hand an Airbnb Agent in Cape Town like Agency.Capeholidays may assist you better if the following are important? After all that is said and done; we believe it’s better for a Cape Town homeowner to try to become a SuperHost if they believe they have the time and attitude. If not, they may always feel a bit of resentment and that will not be ideal for our Agent & Owner relationship. We have been there. It’s not ideal. But when we have mutual trust we make a winning team. Let me qualify: When is the best time for an owner to stay at their property if they want to maximise income? Obviously, if you are not interested in a high return then it does not matter when you stay. Let me pack it out for you: Let’s start with what is maximise income?” Maximising income is quite simple if you follow a strategy that works. This means you should focus on occupancy and not setting high rates, and on getting more reviews (trust) and eliminating all resistance to book . Read the FAQ (1) where I discuss high rates and time-to-action (demand). To set prices on Airbnb it depends on the number of reviews we have and the established demand. Assuming we list a new property with no reviews and the owner wants to maximise income annually; we go through the following with the owner: Airbnb Pricing Strategy Philosophy Part 1 Airbnb Seasonal Rate Calculator Part 2 Let’s consider the following email from a new owner with a lovely 4 bedroom accommodation in Simonstown. She would not be able to manage her home or market it. This is what she told me after I asked her for her annual income expectations: New Owner The financial data was as follows for the period May 2018 to June 2019 – 12 months. The loft room was booked for 191 nights at an average of 752 rand per night and generated 143697 rands for the year. The garden suite was booked for 181 nights and had an average nightly revenue of 1419 and generated 256921k for the year. Total revenue after booking sites costs was 400618k. New Owner This is really an achievement. Agent CapeHolidays Interesting. And your logic makes sense. Obviously we need to see the home. And I believe if it gets foolproof remarkable interior with lots of flexibility like 8 single beds (can be made in Kings), for example, then it should exceed our own expectations. These are the homes we prefer. Looking at the figures you shared the owner is doing 50% occupancy during the year for both properties. Excellent. And a good sign. This means even higher occupancy/rates during summer as winter is relatively dead. The average Airbnb occupancy for this area is much lower. Obviously ours are on average 20% higher and winners a lot higher. But it took about 12 months of building trust with each property to get there. New Owner I would consider this a benchmark to use and hopefully surpass as the entire house would now be available at time that we are not there, this obviously also depends on when we plan to use it too. For now my view is that we should be able to add a further 200k to the value above. To answer your question we would expect to achieve a minimum of what has been achieved historically and add up to 100k on top of this after costs and achieve a gross 550k before your 20% costs. This is a view based on the data we have, I am sure you will have a view, please could you give us your opinion and experience. Reasonable! Who would argue? Agent CapeHolidays Due to various issues (like meeting expectations) we only start off a new home if we can achieve the owner’s goal at 35% occupancy. This does not mean we will not try and beat it. But agreeing to a new house where 50% occupancy is required, to achieve the R550 000 goal, then we may disappoint you before we start. And that’s not fair on you. Agreeing at the kickoff stage to higher occupancy than what is our norm will cause pressure to maximising rates rather than working on getting trust, and adjusting rates to address occupancy based on supply and demand during the first 12 months.[/su_highlight I must say that I am confident we can achieve 50% and higher occupancy to meet and exceed R550 000 but why make a promise just to keep the owner happy? Why not rather exceed expectations after 12 months? Our Motto We don’t have to be the biggest accommodation agency in Cape Town or Simonstown! No. We only want to be the best! This implies that we can walk away; as we are not trying to win a deal at all costs. No. We rather shake hands and walk. Ensuring we will always look the owner in the face knowing we did what was best for both parties. The simple answer is that we manage all unique and remarkable Cape Town accommodation (see the areas we cover here). We never said it must be luxury. Not necessarily. All we want is for guests to say Wow. Like these reviews (more here). But back to your question: If we consider peak rates ; our large homes rent for as much as R45000 per day, while small two-bedroom apartments about R2000 per night. You can see the rates vary a lot. But let me just warn you; don’t get too excited looking at R45000 per night. Outside of peak this home will rent for a lot less. And very few homes will ever rent for R45000 per night. You can read more on how to qualify your home here. It’s not science. You cannot fail. Just go with your gut. P.S. We are not real estate agents who want to make a quick buck. Our relationship must last for years. We received this email from one of our owners asking if we can accommodate other agents who want to share our Cape Town accommodation: We have a friend (from Austria ) who specializes in renting properties here in Mauritius to a close network of German and Austrian clients. As you have 100% sole mandate and control over the calendar if she booked via you at BNB rates, would you share a small portion of your commission with her? She says they also like Cape Town. Excellent question, “how much can I make on Airbnb?” when you intend to list on Airbnb. But what about the Airbnb income calculator? You get some great Airbnb profitability calculators; they tend to only use your property address and the number of bedrooms to calculate your Airbnb profitability. Well, let’s look at…. Airbnb’s own free calculator. For example; look at a two-bedroom in Cape Town. Airbnb suggests a monthly R26 531 (or +R300 000 or $22000 per annum). This is optimistic, to say the least. What about occupancy? I see the norm is a low 37% occupancy. Did they calculate this income at 100% occupancy? I just have too many questions. And you should as well. Personally, I believe the calculators may be designed to lull you into listing your accommodation as very few people in Cape Town would not list their accommodation on Airbnb if they can get the above. You may even consider buying a property because of the high potential Airbnb income. Mistake. We believe you must crawl before you run. And let’s rather be conservative. And consider other factors as well. Your potential income cannot be based on your neigbourhood and number of rooms only; yes, it’s a good start but what about the host’s attitude towards guests, your rules (minimum stays, cancellation policy, discounts, etc.), your location in relation to the beach (or related major attractions), pool, jacuzzi, features, willingness to invest in staging and professional photos? And the list of critical Airbnb income drivers grows. It is for this reason that we developed an in house Airbnb quiz to try and determine if your Airbnb accommodation will make money. No bull. The quiz, obviously, depends on your honesty. But the verdict will be better than using an Airbnb profitability calculator. It may not answer your question; How much can I make on Airbnb? Calculator. No. But when you get the results from the Airbnb Profitability Quiz you will know; if your Airbnb accommodation will make money or not and what you need to correct it. Maximising Airbnb accommodation income is “shorthand” for our focus on (long term) profitability over a year. Instead of focusing on maximising daily rates we ensure with our philosophy to: Maximised income depends on trust; high rates depend on high demand. As a Cape Town Airbnb accommodation agency; How to set prices on Airbnb, within reason, maximise income is quite simple if you follow a strategy that works. This means you should focus on occupancy and not setting high rates, on getting more reviews and eliminating resistance to book. Read the following FAQ where I discus high rates and time-to-action (demand). Read FAQ (Will I Make Money Setting High Rates On Airbnb) To set prices on Airbnb depends on the number of reviews we have and the established demand. Assuming we list a new property with no reviews and the owner wants to maximise income annually; we go through the following with the owner: Airbnb Pricing Strategy Philosophy Part 1 Airbnb Seasonal Rate Calculator Part 2 Load-shedding affects us all negatively. And Airbnb guests are frustrated. Obviously we can see load-shedding as a curse or we can do better than our Airbnb host next door in making guests happier than they ever expected. Unfortunately, the load-shedding curse has consequences; if you are not interested in fixing the issues it will negatively affect your income. It may even cause your house to burn down. And we had such a close encounter yesterday. Luck was on our side. Even though this could have been a major disaster; quick action by many roleplayers prevented a calamity. And it was great to get the owner sharing the following with us: Elmarie,
You should invest in Netflix, DSTV and other streaming applications. This assumes you have invested in uncapped Wi-Fi . Uncapped fast internet is non-negotiable. What streaming apps should I have for my Airbnb? How do I get Netflix on my TV? The best choice is a smart TV (more here) with built-in streaming functionality. If you don’t have a fancy smart TV then you need to see if you have a HDMI slot on your TV. Click here to see what an HDMI slot looks like.
If you don’t have an HDMI slot on your TV then rather buy a smart TV. However, if you have a spare HDMI slot on your TV then either get an Apple Box or Android Box (we recommend this Android box. It’s more expensive than some but reliable and you can add DSTV). How Do I Install DSTV on my smart TV or Smart Box? How to install DSTV is not always that simple. Most boxes come with pre-installed DSTV, Netflix, and others. But if it not then it may be a bit of a problem. Unfortunately, the Smart Boxes or Smart TVs are limited as to what you can download and install. These limitations on Android boxes/TVs are due to Google. Why? I don’t know. On the Smart TV or Smart Box, you can access Google Play where you should be able to get Netflix and DSTV Now and install it. See how to install DSTV Now, here. What is cool is that you can add your Home DSTV account credentials to your DSTV Now application and watch DSTV on this device for free. You don’t pay extra. Ideal for guests and excellent for reducing costs . This means you don’t need to pay DSTV at home and at your Airbnb. If you want to be a scrooge you can even leave it for guests to use their own DTSV account login details but this will limit many British and other foreign English speaking guests who like to watch DSTV and DSTV sport. The same is true for Netflix. With Netflix, I don’t suggest you install it with your account details. No. Each guest familiar with Netflix should use their own account credentials. Do This! And you have just invested in more 5 star reviews. I just received this concern from an owner. Basically saying, how do I find my accommodation on Agency.CapeHolidays.Info searching Google? I just type Cape Holidays into my browser. Friends have done the same and have the same experience…i.e. they can’t find my house. I’m sure it is taking me to the old site then. But if so it is taking anyone entering Cape holidays there…this may affect the marketing of the house negatively. My answer is not short but I’ll limit it as far as possible: Thanks for your question or rather a concern. Unfortunately, the way you search or friends search for a specific home, using Google, is no longer the way we try and market accommodation. Let me also say that your inability to find your home as described has a very limited effect on your occupancy. We operate like Pareto. We had to learn to focus our attention where it really matters. It does not help we focus 95% of our efforts on something bringing in less than 5% return. BTW. We are not in the business of leaving money on the table. As you know, there is no reason to plod along a route that is not profitable, not easy, or without unnecessary investment in a loss while trying to conquer Google SEO. Today, our website is like a business card today. It’s a place where we share our listings but don’t expect any massive income or traffic from it. The general competition by big powers like Google, Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and others are severe. And we have to decide which is the most effective and the less evil of the lot. An accommodation-agency-website generates very little sales today. And those inquiries you get are not only not qualified they are poorly informed, and most tend to be cheapskates who are not familiar with Airbnb Booking.com and others. If today and you are not familiar with Airbnb then I am skeptical if you can afford to stay with us. We do SEO but Google rather wants us to pay them dear money to get attention . If you look at a search within Google you’ll see about 50% of the page is taken by Google ads. Trying to win the search engine optimisation game is like a keen school boy trying to play Springbok rugby. Google wants you to play rugby but the dice is loaded in favour of Google. You are competing against Google’s money making goals. The more successful you are with free SEO the less successful is Google. And they are there to squash the daily living light out of you. When you pay Google Ads you get what you want and ask for. We can pay Google on your behalf. But we decided against it. Why? Google demands money irrespective of success. We have taken a conscious decision to let Airbnb and others pay Google. And they do advertise. And we benefit indirectly. With Airbnb, we also pay but it’s controlled. You pay only for a successful reservation. The same for other listings sites. We have focused our attention since Airbnb took over and Google started aggressively selling their adverts, on marketing via listings sites (Airbnb etc). And using our website as a business card. Today we are professionals at it with a success record we can be proud of. Like being SuperHosts managing more than 50 Cape Town Airbnb properties an achieving between 20% and 50% higher occupancy than the norm. Therefore searching for accommodation and finding Agency.CapeHolidays.Info is not really how we any longer try and market your home or any home for that matter. Any enquiry we get from our site is a bonus. If you want to share your home with friends it’s better to visit Agency.CapeHolidays.Info find your home and send your friends a link to your listing (Link here https://agency.capeholidays.info/listings/5-bedrooms-accommodation-simonstown/) BTW if you search the following you’ll see your home in 11 position. Have a look at all the Google ads and other stuff Google adds to make this more and more difficult to market via SEO – as you indirectly suggested. Search via Google for Queens Villa Simonstown. PS. With your home running at such high occupancy shows we are doing it right. And next year with all the additional reviews it will do even better. This house is and will be a mass success. But we cannot not focus too much (any) attention on completing with Google. P.P.S. We prefer to find ways to focus on identifying 20% of any drivers bring us 80% income. Today Airbnb brings us more than 90% of our reservations. Not only is the process simple, and reliable it also brings the best out in guests. Airbnb guests are a different breed than guests from agency websites. This is because of social profiles populated with reviews from hosts where they stayed. This was a great and important question to ask but any Accommodation Agency should be open to new ways and criticisms from owners. And we welcome it. 👍 |
