A New World
For centuries, the way people set up lodgings when they traveled abroad or vacationed within the country was carried out more-or-less the same way: either they made arrangements to stay with family, friends, or colleagues, or they spoke to the property managers of certain taverns, inns, or hotels. If they ended up needing to stay longer than a couple of nights, they would look into getting their own home or apartment that they would then need to furnish and take care of themselves.
While these old habits haven’t completely gone the way of the dodo, the rise of technology has afforded the more enterprising individuals among us with ways to make some extra cash for not much work at all. The solution: rent out your own house or secondary property for short-term stints.
Thanks to services like Airbnb, more people are investing in second homes and other rental properties to give themselves a source of perpetual secondary income. Utah, especially, has benefited from this practice. Luckily, firms like Rhino Property Management firms are there to help keep the locations looking good and functioning well for any tenants wishing to stay there for a few days.
Pros and Cons
As we go steadily on into the 21st century, this new way of offering and securing rental property is, for all intents and purposes, here to stay. But with it still being relatively new, we are still measuring the Airbnb craze up against traditional long-term renting, and are uncovering pros and cons all the time.
As ones who are heavily invested in perfecting the art and business of rental property management, we at Rhino are interested in weighing a few of these pros and cons for your benefit, here. These are some of the most common benefits of this new method, as well as things for which to keep an eye out.
Short-term Renting
The Pros
The Airbnb market comes with many inherent advantages that make it an interesting proposition for those looking to strike out on a short getaway, or for those looking to break onto the scene as a property owner. These include:
- A wide selection of locales in which to stay.
- Posting a listing on the service is free as is browsing those listings.
- There is a large community of people who post reviews and blogs about the property, property management, and things to do in the surrounding area.
- You can customize your search for specific properties that meet your needs.
The Cons
Short-term renting comes with its own set of disadvantages as well, which should be acknowledged before using the service. These will include:
- The property looking different from the original pictures on the listing.
- A difficult and/or apathetic property manager that isn’t available for help.
- Potential damage to the property before you arrive.
- Airbnb adds additional fees on top of the price agreed between renters and management.
The truth about rental property management is that it is hard — many new and seasoned landlords look to firms like Rhino to help share the load of their responsibilities. With Airbnb, not all property owners will utilize the services of a professional firm, which means that the quality of your experience will be subject to all sorts of factors inherent to the owner. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on the care they put into managing the listing.
If you have questions about how we can help you manage your Airbnb listing, please feel free to contact us today.