Airbnb Pricing Secrets: What Booking Lead Time Data Reveals!

Airbnb has long become a preferred source for people seeking authentic experiences and good-value vacations.

In an earlier article, we proposed a basic Airbnb pricing principle: higher further out and lower closer in. In other words, dates further from today should have higher prices.

As the date approaches, gradually lower the price.

Fatal Airbnb Pricing Mistakes: One Error Can Cost You More Than 30% in Earnings!

Making these fatal mistakes, such as offering early-bird discounts, will cost you at least 30% in earnings. A reader sent us a message: “How many days before an unbooked date should I consider lowering the price?”

If you have the same question, today’s article contains the answer.

First, let us introduce Booking Lead Time: the number of days before arrival that a guest books a property, or days booked in advance.

A Booking Lead Time of 15 days means your guests book an average of 15 days in advance.

Why is this figure useful?

First, Booking Lead Time varies greatly according to the guests your Airbnb attracts, its location and property size.

Let us use real data, assuming two types of Airbnbs, A and B.

Type A is a small condo near a well-known downtown attraction, mainly serving tourists, and looks approximately like this:

Type B is a detached, 3-bedroom home in a residential neighborhood, mainly serving families, and looks approximately like this:

Hosts, how different do you think their Booking Lead Times are? Which guests book further in advance?

We will reveal the answer using actual operating data.

Pink represents Type A, the tourist-oriented condo. Its average Booking Lead Time is 60 days and can reach 87 days during the summer peak season.

Green represents Type B, the family-oriented detached home. Its average Booking Lead Time is 11 days.

60 days versus 11 days: a difference of almost sixfold. Hosts, does that gap surprise you?

In other words:

If you operate a Type A tourist condo, guests book an average of 60 days in advance. Low occupancy in the next 60 days therefore means your current price is definitely too high.

If you operate a Type B family-oriented detached home, low occupancy over the next 60 or even 30 days is normal and not a reason to worry.

Only if occupancy remains low within the next 14 days should you worry that your price is too high and lower it. The reverse also applies: if you operate a Type A tourist condo with an average 60-day lead time and are nearly full even 90 days out, your price is far too low.

Booking Lead Time is a very important measure used in hotel pricing.

How can you find the correct Booking Lead Time for your own Airbnb?

Interested hosts are welcome to send feedback and questions. We will write a detailed tutorial based on them.

Thank you for your support.

As a homeowner, you may now be wondering: my home is quite good, but how much could it earn on Airbnb? Would it earn more than a long-term rental? Would it involve a lot of trouble?

Contact us right away! We will evaluate it for you free of charge.

If you:

Hope to increase rental income through short-term rentals;

Cannot spare a great deal of time to handle the small details;

Occasionally need to use the home yourself, making it unsuitable to empty out the furniture for a long-term rental;

Then:

Snowball Rentals’ management team is your best choice.

From pre-launch vacation-rental styling, big-data analysis and online marketing to tenant screening, dynamic pricing, customer service and sales, cleaning and repairs, Snowball Rentals provides everything as one complete service for your home.

This Week’s Booking Results

Through long-standing relationships with insurers, assignment companies and technology companies, Snowball Rentals rents homes for medium- and long-term durations at short-term rates, then gives owners a rebate of 5% in management fees to maximize their income.

Winter is the low season for Seattle’s short-term rental market, especially in 2023. Some recent large bookings, however, have been like a ray of sunshine, giving us high hopes for Airbnb’s performance this summer!

For the following detached home in Kirkland, Zillow shows an estimated long-term monthly rent of about US$3,366.

The owner placed considerable trust in the Snowball Rentals team and entrusted us with short-term rental operations, with good results arriving repeatedly.

Rental income surged from US$3,366 to more than US$9,557.17!

As shown in the booking screenshot below, the guest booked 30 nights through Airbnb. This booking’s rent plus cleaning fees totaled US$9,557.17!

In summary, after Snowball Rentals operated this property, rental income for 30 nights rose from US$3,366 to US$9,557—almost three times as much.

The owner also avoids worries about guests falling behind on rent or the home needing regular maintenance and cleaning.

After Airbnb’s downturn in 2023, we at Snowball Rentals hope to help owners regain ground in summer 2024!

Once again, heartfelt thanks to our homeowners for their trust and support. Whether the market is strong or weak, Snowball Rentals will stand with you and look for ways to increase your income!

Some homeowners will surely ask the hard question: was a large booking like this just a stroke of luck? What if the home does not rent? A long-term rental is more stable—even earning less is better than earning nothing!

Our answer is: the outcome depends on what we do.

Vacation-Rental Styling

Competition on Airbnb is becoming increasingly intense. The days of piecing together secondhand furniture, taking phone photos and earning easy money on Airbnb are over. Airbnb hosts have moved toward professional operations.

Careful design and furnishing before launch, followed by professional short-term rental operations, will be the only choice for a rental that continues to generate high income.

Here is another of Snowball Rentals’ core services: vacation-rental styling!

Using the vacation rental above as an example, the rooms personally furnished by our stylist are exceptionally refined and attractive!

We also share practical vacation-rental styling plans and creative ideas to help you achieve more with less spending!

Keep rental income growing!

Referral Rewards

If you are already a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$500 referral fee for each referral.

If you are not yet a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$250 shopping voucher for each referral.

Snowball Rentals Management

1. Full service — We provide pre-launch rental design, furniture procurement, furnishing, professional photography, online marketing, copywriting, tenant service and sales, cleaning, supply purchasing and property repairs. You only need to be a hands-off owner; we handle the rest.

2. Multi-platform promotion — We promote the home on Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway and other mainstream platforms for maximum exposure.

3. Dynamic pricing — Using big data, we adjust prices every day according to seasonal demand, holidays, last-minute vacancy offers, weekends and local activities, maximizing the owner’s income.

4. Income-improvement SOP — We follow 44 secrets for maximizing short-term rental income, optimizing each property’s online marketing, on-site operations and other aspects to work toward maximum income.

5. Flexible owner stays — Owners can flexibly choose when to stay themselves. This is especially suitable for owners with multiple residences around the world.

6. Terminate at any time — Management does not require an annual commitment. The owner can end the agreement with one month’s advance notice.

7. Corporate housing — In addition to nightly rentals, we work with insurers and assignment companies to provide executives with hotel-style managed accommodation for stays 30 days or more.

8. Transparent fees — For rentals 30 days or more, we charge 15% of accommodation revenue. For nightly rentals 30 days or less, we charge 20% of accommodation revenue.