50 | The REAL Challenges of Hosting… Are you up for it?

Listen Now:

Hosting is a challenge, and we want to know if you’re up for it!

We want to prepare you for what we call “hosting fatigue.” There are going to be challenges to deal with, but if you know they’re going to come, you can prepare for them.

Here are some of the challenges you can expect to face when you dive into the world of short term rentals:

• Owner/Co-Host: Owners will expect you to take care of everything, but occasionally there will be problems that only they can deal with. You will have to explain to them in a compassionate way that this is a partnership.
• Guests: You are on call the entire time you are renting, so be ready for that, and block time (or find external services) if there are times you need to be off the grid. Guests also may not treat properties the way you would, and that’s okay. 
• Platform: Regardless of what platform you go with, you will occasionally have to deal with technical problems. 
• Property: Things may break, the weather might cause issues, so be prepared for things that could go wrong with the property.
• Vendors: This won’t be on purpose, but there will be issues, delays, or internal challenges with vendors.
• Family & friends: Make sure your friends and family are aware that you are “on duty” while you are out so that you don’t seem rude if you are on your phone. Unless people have run short term rentals themselves, they won’t understand what it is you truly do.
• Yourself: You are going to mess up. You also have to deal with all of these individual problems in a productive way.

Resources:

• #STRShareSunday: @tokyofamilystays