For the last couple of years, more and more people with extra rooms or empty houses have embraced the Airbnb concept. The idea that an empty room in your house can make you some great additional cash has made Airbnb attractive for homeowners and Kenyans are now embracing the concept as well.
Airbnb the company was founded in San Francisco by two young roommates who could not afford to pay their rent. In an attempt to salvage their situation, they put an air mattress on the floor and hosted their first clients and thus begun a tradition that became a USD 30 billion dollar tech startup.
Kenya is one of the countries where the service has made inroads with tens of private properties on offer. An article published on the Standard indicates that there were about 1800 listing in Kenya and 1000 of them are in Nairobi. In 2015, the company conducted research in Kenya and conclude that in Kenya, the typical host earns enough from Airbnb to cover over one-third of the average annual household expenditure. The task, however, continues to be on the registration of such a business for your home and security for the people you let into your house.
If you are considering to put out your extra room or house for Airbnb, you should know that:
- Airbnb makes it simple and secure to host travellers. You’re in full control of your availability, prices, house rules, and how you interact with guests.
- To keep you, your home, and your belongings safe, Airbnb covers every booking with $1M USD in property damage protection and another $1M USD in insurance against accidents.
- Airbnb always requires guests to provide certain information before they can make a reservation—such as a confirmed phone number and email address.
- For added control, you can require guests to also provide recommendations from other hosts and a verified ID.
To start hosting on Airbnb you need to:
- List your space online. This is absolutely free. Use pictures and vivid descriptions of the space you have to let including everything in between like bathrooms, living room and everything of importance.
- Decide on how you would like to host guests. This includes the schedule, the prices, the requirements for any guest that might be interested. The website helps you along the way by offering recommendations on information that could be important.
- You are ready for your first guest. Once you have your profile set up, qualified guests can reach out and you can initiate conversations with them before they come over for the stay.
Image from https://i0.wp.com/moneyleftfortravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/img_airbnb-apartment-nairobi-kenya-bedroom-2.jpg Should you host an Airbnb or not?
There would be very specific questions you would need to ask yourself before answering this question. The first one is whether or not you have spare space in your house. Most people probably need just a few parts of their home – a spot to watch TV, a spot to sleep, and a spot to eat and cook. Any other space would fall into the category of extra space.
Next would be whether or not you need the money. Many Airbnb hosts worldwide use this facility to make a little extra money for themselves to help pay the rent and for utilities. If you have such a need for money then you should definitely consider doing it.
Airbnb has very particular advantages like:
- It would be way better than a full-time roommate. With a roommate, there is no flexibility, and at no single point is your house entirely yours.
- More money in a very short time. Guests are charged per night and that charge could be from KSh. 1,000 to any amount you as the host decide.
- Overhead is low if you’re renting out a room in your home. There’s very little extra utility use, at least not enough for you to notice any real difference in your electricity or water bill.
So should you join the Airbnb business? For more information, here is All You Need To Know About Airbnb.
