Not Relying on Airbnb with John & Wynde Williams

November 3, 2021 melissa Real Estate Comments Off on Not Relying on Airbnb with John & Wynde Williams

Not Relying on Airbnb with John & Wynde Williams

We’ve given so much credit to Airbnb on this series with short-term rental specialists, John and Wynde Williams, but is this platform the last piece of the puzzle to your success? You’d be surprised to know that you can get more by doing things on your own! Curious to know what’s about? Continue reading!

The points below are from the fifteenth episode of the Real Estate JAM, where John and Wynde talk about their first dip into real estate, figuring out how Airbnb worked, their model of focusing on the customer, the management side of short-term rentals, and COVID’s impact on the business. Hop on the short-term rental train before it leaves! Tune in on the full episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.


 

It’s a Marketplace, not “the” Marketplace

As that phrase suggest, Airbnb is only a marketplace among many others. You’ve got HomeAway, FlipKey, TripAdvisor, and many more. While this idea might suggest that you should list on multiple “marketplaces” (we could call them “platforms” too), there’s one thing that these have in common.

Whether it’s through fees or commissions, they charge you money.

Your guests on Airbnb are paying a 20% commission. Imagine if you got the 20% too! That’s a huge increase in earnings! Of course, we’re not saying this commission is unjustified, as Airbnb is doing tons of work in the background (providing you means for marketing, automation, messaging, etc.) and using their platform also entails “riding” their famous brand.

 

If it Works, Why Go Out of Airbnb?

We’ll make it clear, there’s nothing wrong with continuing with Airbnb and all these other options, but John and Wynde strongly suggest establishing a presence for your local residents! These online platforms are great for reaching an international market, but not necessarily a local market. Especially with the virus messing up freedom with travel (at least at the time of writing), there’s a need to go back to the roots. The “guerilla stuff”, as John calls it, like posting on social media, referral marketing, and other strategies that local businesses are doing, are needed to stay afloat!

Think about doctors, chiropractors, or restaurants. Usually, their market would be people that are close to them! It’s essential to have an influence on the people around you. If someone’s relative comes over, where do they recommend for them to stay in? You need to reach people organically.

In John and Wynde’s experience, ALL their bookings for March 2020 was CANCELLED because of you-know-what! However, because they’ve got a good grip on the local market, the next month, April, was their most profitable year ever!

 

People Need a Place to Stay

Housing is a prime need of man. That’s why real estate and hospitality will never go out of style! Even in times when a deadly virus is floating around in the streets, there are many that might need your help. That’s what business is all about, right? There could be people that just lost their home due to a fire! Those who have insurance, where will they be staying the night?

Are they going to stay in a hotel with a bunch of people who might have you-know-what? And what if they have pets? You know how hard it is to find a place that allows pets? They’re looking for you, but they won’t have your number if you’re only on Airbnb.

 

Want to learn more from John and Wynde? You can listen to the full episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

 

Outline of the Episode:

  • [01:34] Getting into real estate, becoming “accidental landlords”.
  • [03:31] Discovering Airbnb. The second guest stayed for three months! How much did they get for the first few months?
  • [08:49] John and Wynde’s model for the business. It all starts with the customer!
  • [12:06] You can do short-term rentals WITHOUT owning the property! You can “own more basements”.
  • [16:53] The proper mindset to equip when talking to a landlord. What do you do when you get rejected? What if they’re hesitant about Airbnb?
  • [23:22] The management side of doing short-term rentals.
  • [29:36] The shift of focus to a local and regional market versus an international one (due to COVID). You influence and network are going to be crucial here!
  • [31:29] The impact of COVID to reservations and how they came back around. Even if people “ban” short-term rentals, people are still going to need a place to stay.

 

Resources:

 

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