Getting started in the world of Airbnb can feel like a minefield to navigate. And I would know.
I had precisely 0 Airbnbs in 2019 and was left scratching my head on many occasions on how best to start.
Look at the problems in the early days I needed to solve. If you're also starting out on your serviced accommodation journey, I'm sure you can relate:
Would I buy an investment property as a holiday let, or go down the path of rent to rent (also known as Airbnb arbitrage)?
I knew very little about my finance options to raise mortgages for holiday lets and short term rentals such as an Airbnb
What are the best locations to look for Airbnbs to buy? What about regional licenses for Airbnb and local compliance laws?
How about building regulations and insurance implications for Airbnb?
Was a property suitable for serviced accommodation, did it have the necessary amenities?
How to set up the business legally, what about tax and finding the right accountant?
However, when I had 1 or 2 investment properties under my belt making revenue, the number of problems remained but they had morphed into new challenges:
how best to advertise my short term lets across multiple OTA booking platforms?
what strategies could I employ to maintain or improve the occupancy rate?
what was the right price to charge, particularly across Airbnb and Booking.com?
how to find and retain good cleaning, maintenance and management staff?
what about investments into technology and software? what were the larger players doing?
Fast forward 4 years, I now run 12 successful Airbnbs.
How did I learn what I needed to get the job done and do it to the high, consistent standard required in this business?
I remember how tempting it would have been at the start of my journey to reach for the wallet and spend large sums of money on courses and seminars that promised to make me a successful Airbnb entrepreneur overnight. Ones that can tell you how to be set up for success as well as tackle problems you won't encounter for years down the line.
But, personally, I had limited startup capital and could not justify the expense as much as I wanted to. In addition, I wasn't convinced of the value of the majority of the paid courses out there. Being spoon-fed all the information at the start without actually being able to experiment with it in practice didn't feel like the best way for me to learn.
In hindsight, I was fortunate. Around this time I realised there were huge swathes of FREE TO ACCESS information and content out there about the Airbnb craft. About the business of hospitality. About getting a small business off the ground in the UK. How to grow my network.
This would be my open university course. I could dip in and out of resources about specific problems I was facing or due to face in realtime, and be armed with fresh knowledge when solving it. And I could explore all the many facets of the business at the right pace & time for my journey - across strategy, finance, accounting, software and how to grow it etc.
The plucky, determined individual back in 2019 with big gaps in his knowledge about the industry would have been shocked at how much I've learnt along the way... and for free.
Images from my first Airbnb property being refurbished and getting ready to host short stay guests. Before and After of the kitchen and the bedroom.
So, below I've compiled some of the free resources I utilised and continue to use to grow my Airbnb business. And the latter is key here - continue to use. The challenges that you face evolve over time, and you have to keep upskilling yourself and stay abreast of the latest changes in the industry. It's a dynamic business model and part of the reason we love it so much. I have as many challenges now running 12 short term rentals as I did with zero.
While the resources are below are certainly not all I used, they should cover many of the core areas and they offer a variety of different ways of learning. I would recommend you find the ones that engage you the most.
And remember to be an active learner - apply what you learn on the job, and even sit down and take proper notes as you listen or watch or read.
So before you spend hundreds and even thousands of pounds on that 3 day seminar offering "everything you need to get rich from Airbnb", try these out and hopefully you'll find the right guides for you.
Free resources for new Airbnb hosts #1 - Airbnb for Hosts
This is the place to start your journey - Airbnb itself. The platform is a rich source of information to help new hosts get off the ground and set up the listing on the platform. And it should remain your first port of call for questions thereafter. It remains the most popular of the OTA booking platforms for serviced accommodation in the UK and more importantly it invests a huge amount in resources for its Hosts.
Try their guide on How to Become a Host on Airbnb as a starter for ten.
Free resources for Airbnb hosts to grow #2 - Airbnb property podcasts
We are in the age of great podcasts, and thankfully the world of Airbnb and how to be successful in the short term rental business is well plenished with lots of entertaining and useful content here.
I used podcasts as an easy way to educate myself on certain areas and pick up (read: steal) ideas from other successful / experienced hosts. When you hear the same PMS software or dynamic pricing tool being mentioned consistently by Airbnb hosts with double or triple your revenue, it's time to check it out.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, try some of the below to see which resonate with you. You can easily search the episode history to find the ones most relevant to your specific problems. This list of podcasts is by no means exhaustive but gives you a good flavour of the variety out there.
Get Paid for your Pad: There are 500+ episodes here covering everything you need to know about running a successful Airbnb business, including the pros and cons of buying existing Airbnbs to how to stop guests smoking in your home.
Boostly: We like this one from Mark Simpson because it has a strong focus on building your own brand and eventually taking more direct bookings. There are great interviews here with other innovative hosts and lots of relevant business insight.
The Property Podcast: While not specifically Airbnb or short term rental related, this remains one of the most popular property podcasts in the UK and the subject of short term lets often comes up in their discussions. Plus, with their UK focus you can get a general sense of the property markets especially when it comes to finding good deals across the country for properties to buy.
Airbuy and Sell podcast: And check out our own podcast too where we interview real Airbnb entrepreneurs and ask all the questions you want to know about their journey to success.
Free resources for Airbnb hosts to grow #3 - Youtube
Another treasure trove of free knowledge and with epic production values in this day and age.
I used Youtube channels in a similar way to podcasts by periodically checking in to learn from other hosts and also get inspired by the beautiful spaces hosts would design for guests. There are even videos about more technical elements - I recently saw this good explanation of VAT and Serviced Accommodation from a fledgling youtube channel for example.
Here's a few popular channels I think are worth checking out and subscribing to but there are many more covering the breadth of this business.
Airbnb Automated: Sean Rakidzich's channel is one of the largest out there and often cited as a must-visit channel by active Airbnb hosts so a great place to start.
Robuilt: This channel follows a successful Airbnb host in their own right but who has focused on tiny homes, and can act as inspiration for how to make the most of what you have when designing your spaces.
Levi Kelly: For a lighthearted touch and more for inspiration, this channel follows Levi on his adventures touring unique holiday homes worldwide.
Free resources for Airbnb hosts #4 - online and offline communities
Ask any entrepreneur and they will tell you how transformative their network is to their success. Whether it's having role models and mentors, or just having peers that you can ask small questions to, it makes the journey infinitely easier.
This is undoubtedly one of the perks of joining a course - to meet likeminded individuals - but I knew there were other ways to create that valuable network.
Thankfully, it has never been easier to connect with fellow Airbnb entrepreneurs, serviced accommodation investors and property managers through both online and offline communities.
Facebook groups for Airbnb hosts & investors: I joined my local and UK-wide Airbnb Host community on Facebook where only genuine Airbnb hosts can be accepted. Search "airbnb host + city/region" and you should easily find your closest and most active groups. Hosts often pose relatable challenges and you can arrange to meet with ones local to you and build authentic relationships. Having seen how effective facebook communities are, I then created Airbuy and Sell's facebook group specifically for hosts to list properties they want to sell to other serviced accommodation investors. You can join that group here.
Reddit for Airbnb hosts: I often explored the /r/AirbnbHosts subreddit to join discussions, share insights, and seek advice. Like the facebook groups, there are active hosts posing interesting challenges here that you can learn from, or indeed you may want to ask your own questions for the community to reply to.
Serviced accommodation networking events: There are lots of free networking events for you to meet other property entrepreneurs as well as industry third party suppliers around the UK. These are a great opportunity to find peers and even potential mentors. Airbuy and Sell is running its next free serviced accommodation networking event on November 2nd 2023 in Liverpool - a great chance to meet other hosts, property managers and suppliers, and discuss what you're seeing on the ground. You can reserve a free ticket to the event here.
Free resources for Airbnb hosts #5 - compliance laws for Airbnb and regional regulations for short term lets
This last one is a bit of a red herring. It will no doubt be a major area you will want to educate yourself on as you start your journey. Indeed, it's the question I found myself encountering again and again, and one that sparked Airbuy and Sell: can I Airbnb this property?
As I grew and wanted to find new properties to add to my portfolio, I realised it was a painful process to easily identify if a home or apartment was suitable for Airbnb. Would the building freeholder consent to the property being used for short term let? What about the mortgage provider? Would the local council permit this property to be used as Airbnb in the future? What is the cost of any licensing required?
Put simply, can I Airbnb this property?
However, there didn't really exist a free resource or one port of call to get this answer. So in this case, I made the free resource and started Airbuy and Sell, the UK's only marketplace to buy and sell active and potential Airbnbs.
The marketplace lists properties that typically have a history of being used as short term lets or holiday homes, but it also shows properties with potential for short let in areas that have a good or flourishing concentration of comparable serviced accommodation homes. And you can speak directly to the owners to get the full trading history and compliance information.
I recommend you check out our introductory guide to the rules & compliance of Airbnb hosting in the UK and there you can obtain further information to ensure you adhere to the guidelines. And of course, browse the marketplace for a selection of homes with a high likelihood of suitability for Airbnb.
There you have it. An ocean of information available to you and a brilliant network at your fingertips to help you on your Airbnb journey... for free.
And this is not to say all paid-for courses and seminars are useless - there will be value in some of these if you choose carefully. There's just so much fantastic free content that's organised in a concise way that it's a great way to get off the ground. And I can vouch for them. And from that point, building your network and learning on the job (often from mistakes!) are part and parcel of every successful Airbnb entrepreneur's journey.
If you liked this article and are thinking of going into serviced accommodation, don't forget to check out the Airbuy and Sell blog for Airbnb investors and hosts too which is structured to help you across the different areas of the business. We have articles about the highest yielding areas to buy a residential investment property in the UK to the best software you need in your property management business.
To get started, read our essential guide to getting started on your Airbnb journey by finding the right property.
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