Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About This Book -- Foolish Assumptions -- Icons Used in This Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Part 1 Getting Started with Airbnb -- Chapter 1 The Lowdown on Airbnb, Just the Basics -- Looking at the Big Picture -- The sharing economy - putting underutilized resources to use -- Understanding what short-term rentals are -- Knowing what you need to host -- Understanding How the Pandemic Changed Airbnb Hosting -- Answering Common Questions That You as a Potential Host May Have -- Why would I allow strangers into my house? -- Is it safe to host on Airbnb? -- Is my property suited for Airbnb? -- Is it legal to host? -- Am I suited to host on Airbnb? -- What if a guest gets hurt? -- What is the difference between Couch Surfing and Airbnb? -- Chapter 2 Hosting on Airbnb: What It Really Means -- Having a Hospitality Mind-Set - What It Takes to Be a Host -- Opening your heart and your home to guests -- Establishing trust through transparency and dependability -- Keeping your place clean and well equipped -- Delivering on (rising) expectations -- Setting up systems so your guests have a unique stay -- Adding a touch of personal magic -- Before Becoming an Airbnb Host: What to Consider -- Being aware of your hidden expectations -- Inviting strangers into your home -- Making the commitment -- Time commitment -- Money commitment -- Energy commitment -- Looking at how technologically savvy you are -- Being aware of how your decision to host affects others in your life -- How your hosting will impact others -- How your decisions in life affect your guests -- Determining the type of host you want to become -- Chapter 3 Buying or Building a Property for Airbnb -- Understanding the Opportunity Today -- Renting Versus Buying or Building -- Renting to explore a market.

Buying or building to realize full long-term profit potential -- Choosing the Right Market -- Searching for Airbnb Hot Zones -- Understanding and Securing Financing -- Sources of financing -- Considering Other Investment Factors -- Accounting for additional time -- Chapter 4 Determining Your Profit Potential -- Decoding How Much You Can Really Make on Airbnb -- Starting with national averages -- Your location mostly determines your Airbnb profit potential -- Researching Your Airbnb Market: Earning Statistics -- Finding the crucial market statistics -- Understanding the market deeper -- Determining the Size of Your Pie -- Factoring operating expenses -- Estimating time commitment -- Comparing the Big City versus Rural -- Earning a profit in any market -- Adding more Airbnb listings without purchasing property -- Determining the Legality of Hosting in Your Market -- Being aware of the potential risks of Airbnb hosting -- Finding out what laws or restrictions apply to you -- Part 2 Putting the Spotlight on Your Listing -- Chapter 5 Preparing Your Property for Airbnb -- Creating Profit Potential with Your Property -- Maximizing the potential of your listing by optimizing your space -- Starting your listing off strong -- Ensuring the maximum is as high as possible right now -- Having the appropriate amenities -- Steering clear of money wasters -- Determining the Amenities Guests Want in Your Market -- Identifying the types of amenities to include in your listing -- Looking at your competition to better gauge what guests want -- Focusing on Which Amenities, Furniture, and Appliances to Include -- Focusing on the must-have amenities -- Remembering the often forgotten -- Stuck between a must-have and a nice-to-have -- Providing a bonus: The nice-to-haves -- Surprising with the outstanding -- Avoiding the wastes of money.

Figuring Out What Space Is Accessible to Guests in Your Listing -- Bedroom and bathroom -- Kitchen -- Access to living room, outdoor spaces, and other rooms -- Managing Neighbors' Relations -- Being a good neighbor: Why doing so is profitable -- Investing in neighbor relations before you start -- Communicating with your neighbors -- Managing Landlord Relations -- Being aware of the risks of hosting without consent -- Asking your landlord if you can host on Airbnb -- What landlords want to know when it comes to hosting -- Pitching your landlord -- Getting Proper Insurance Protection -- Grasping the importance of being properly insured -- Understanding AirCover for Hosts and not relying on it alone -- Buying your own insurance to ensure you're fully protected -- Being a Guest First to Better Understand Hosting - Walk in Your Guests' Shoes -- Chapter 6 Building the Perfect Listing -- Making a Strong First Impression -- Creating a Listing That Gets Attention -- Winning at Airbnb search engine optimization -- Identifying the most important pillars when setting up your listing -- Understanding how to play the long game to perform better -- Writing a Strong Headline -- What makes a great headline -- What you need to know to draft a top-notch headline -- Writing your own headline -- Drafting a Great Description -- What to include in your listing description -- Organizing your listing for success -- Keeping the goal in mind (more bookings) -- Setting House Rules -- Knowing what to cover and why -- Enforcing your house rules successfully -- Choosing a Cancellation Policy -- Identifying the six cancellation policies -- Selecting the policy that's right for you -- Determining Appropriate Fees -- Cleaning fees -- Security deposit -- Additional guest fees -- Turning on Instant Book: The Pros and Cons -- Chapter 7 Making Your Listing Shine with Photography.

Setting Your Photo Strategy -- Understanding why photos are so important -- Analyzing which photos perform best and worst -- Hiring a professional photographer: Why doing so is a smart decision -- What a pro can do for you and your listing -- Why shooting your own photos is a bad idea -- How to hire a pro -- Staging Your Property for Photos -- Realizing why property staging is key -- Staging your space like a pro -- Getting All the Shots -- Mixing it up: From wide to detailed to closeup shots -- Examples of wide-angle shots -- Examples of medium-wide shots -- Examples of closeup shots -- Using a photography checklist -- Working with Your Photographer to Get Great Photos -- Lighting the shot -- Composing the shot -- Getting the proper exposure -- Identifying Tips and Tricks Used by Top Listings and Superhosts -- Part 3 Uncovering Important Pricing Essentials -- Chapter 8 Setting Your Listing Pricing -- Focusing on Baseline Pricing -- Studying your competition: Gather comparable market data -- Choosing a baseline pricing strategy -- Ramping Up to Baseline Pricing -- Understanding and Adjusting for Seasonality -- Factoring in Temporality and Special Events: Going from High to Low -- Using Dynamic Pricing: Yes or No? -- Underperforming with Airbnb's Smart Pricing tool -- Aligning incentives with third-party dynamic pricing tool -- Setting Other Types of Fees -- Setting the cleaning fee -- Charge nothing -- Charge in line with competition -- Charge for average length of stay -- Charge what your cost is to clean -- Setting the extra person fee -- Charging an extra person fee: Why to do so -- Charging an extra person fee: Why not to do so -- Calculating the extra person fee -- Setting the security deposit -- Charging the security deposit: Why it's a good idea -- Calculating the security deposit -- Lowering the barrier to booking.

Chapter 9 Increasing Your Profit Potential -- Leaving Money on the Table -- Picking the Low Hanging Fruits First -- Having a great listing profile -- Delivering five-star guest experiences consistently -- Reducing Operating Costs -- Recognizing where to take special care when cutting cost -- Strategizing your cuts -- Spending Smart: Best Purchases That You Can Make Now for Profits Later -- Increasing Booking Revenue -- Boosting occupancy rate -- Raising average nightly rate (ANR) -- Expanding listing availability -- Doing all three: Yes or no? -- Considering the four scenarios of Airbnb listing performance -- Clearly underachieving listings -- Clearly overachieving listings -- Price-dominated listings -- Occupancy-dominated listings -- Charging a premium over competition -- Using dynamic pricing to take out the guesswork -- Maximizing Overall Revenue Potential -- Improving your offering to increase revenue potential -- Increasing occupancy capacity -- Creating Additional Revenue Sources -- Chapter 10 Going on Cruise Control and Still Making Money -- Choosing Sanity over Profits: Steer Clear of Burning Out -- Figuring out what you can handle -- Minimizing your time and stress is just as important as maximizing profits -- Thinking about your hosting like a business -- Identifying What You Can Eliminate -- Automating to Make Your Life Easier -- Automating check-ins -- Smart lock -- Door code -- Lockbox -- Which one is right for you -- Automating pricing -- Outsourcing Different Tasks -- Outsourcing guest communication -- Outsourcing guest reviews -- Hiring a pro for cleaning -- Hiring a professional property manager -- Chapter 11 It's a Bird, It's a Plane. . . No. . . It's a Superhost! -- What Makes a Superhost: Putting the Guest First and Foremost -- Meeting Superhost Requirements -- Becoming a Superhost -- What you can do to reach Superhost status.

Stay at your own property.