76 | How to Close Down Listings Efficiently and Ethically Without the Overwhelm | with Tracey Northcott

Naturally, every host is concerned with starting and running their listings. But what do you do to efficiently—and ethically—close down a listing without all the overwhelm?

Tracey Northcott has been an Airbnb Superhost for nearly a decade and a guest experience specialist consultant for the last two years. She’s a writer, a speaker, a mentor, and she lives in Tokyo, Japan. She’s had to really look at her short term rental business as a business and focus on the properties that are going to give her the biggest bang for their buck while closing down other listings. So what do you need to keep in mind to do this safely, effectively, and legally?

Regulations

You need to be aware of the regulations in your zone. Regulations may dictate which listings you have to close down, but it can also inform how you have to handle the process. The most important thing is honoring the contract that you have with your guest. 

You’ve decided to close your listing… now what?

If you have guests who have booked that property and you’ll have to close down before their visit, the best thing you can do is reach out as early as possible and offer them alternatives. Look at the needs of your guest and try to match them as closely as possible. Try to make sure whatever you switch them to is an upgrade, if possible, and if not, give them a break on the price. You can even partner with other hosts in your town to make sure the guest gets exactly what they need. The last thing you should ever do is cancel on your guest!

What should stay and what should go?

Here’s Tracey’s rule-of-thumb for things to consider keeping or getting rid of when closing down a listing:

Keep:

• Solid, good condition furniture
• Space heaters
• Interesting artwork
• Good bedding
• Cutlery, dishes, kitchen items (if they’re a full set)

Donate/Sell:

• Large furniture (if you don’t have a place to store it)
• Fast furniture
• Curtains
• Sheets, towels, and pillows

Everything else can be “free to a good home” with an open house or yard sale. Whatever’s left from there can be donated.

Handle the headache of packing

Tracey likes to outsource her packing as much as possible (and honestly, who wouldn’t?). Label everything in the property with sticky notes for “keep,” “donate,” and “sell.” Then, you can pay someone (Tracey pays her cleaning staff extra) to go through everything so much better than she ever could.

Resources:

• tracey-northcott.com
• @traceynorthcottconsulting
• Closing Down Checklist
• 7 Critical Tips for Closing Down Your AirBnB Short Term Rental
• Wholehearted Host Club: traceynorthcott.podia.com
• @tokyofamilystays
• tokyofamilystays.com
• #STRShareSunday: @belonghere.co