You Provide the Home; I Do the Work! Airbnb Launches Its Co-Host Network

This Wednesday, October 16, Airbnb launched a new project called the Co-Host Network, officially translated into Chinese as 房屋管家汇.

According to Airbnb, anyone looking for a co-host can use the Co-Host Network to find and hire local partners providing high-quality service.

Prospective hosts, new hosts and experienced hosts alike can hire a co-host.

What Is the Co-Host Network?

Put simply, the Co-Host Network is a group of experienced co-hosts willing to help other hosts.

They can handle daily management, save hosts time and energy and even help them earn more. Whether a host is busy with work, wants more family time or hopes to manage several listings easily, the Co-Host Network can provide tailored support.

What Can a Co-Host Help With?

Co-hosts can handle specific tasks or help rent out a listing, including:

Creating a listing

Setting prices and availability

Managing booking requests

Communicating with guests

On-site guest support

Cleaning and maintenance

Listing photography

Interior design and furnishing

Licenses and rental permits

Co-hosts may also provide other services, such as landscaping, business analysis and hosting guidance.

How Do You Find a Co-Host?

Enter your listing’s address and search the Co-Host Network for nearby co-hosts. You will see local profiles ranked by factors including location, engagement and service quality.

Select a profile to learn more, including the co-host’s experience, past reviews, hosted listings, prices and other details.

Message several co-hosts you are most interested in. Introduce yourself and describe your needs.

Consider asking further questions and discussing your expectations for the rental business.

How Do You Hire a Co-Host?

Decide whom to hire and consider documenting the cooperation details in a formal agreement.

Go to your listing on Airbnb. Send your new partner a co-hosting invitation and set their listing-management permissions. They have two weeks to accept.

Choose to share a portion of the earnings from each booking through Airbnb.

After hiring a co-host, you can also:

Message them directly.

Invite them to host your listing.

Set their listing-management permissions.

Share booking earnings with them.

Requirements for Becoming a Co-Host:

Providing all these services also means a fairly high barrier to becoming a co-host. Airbnb requires the following:

You must host an active listing or be a co-host with full access or calendar and messaging access.

Over the past 12 months, you must have hosted or co-hosted at least 10 Airbnb stays, or at least 3 stays totaling no fewer than 100 nights.

Over the past 12 months, the average guest rating across all listings you manage as a host or co-host with full access or calendar and messaging access must be at least 4.8 stars.

Your booking cancellation rate must be below 3%, except for certain valid reasons beyond your control.

Your Airbnb account must be in good standing. You must pass identity verification and meet name and photograph requirements to appear in the Co-Host Network.

With many years of short-term rental management experience, the Snowball Rentals team meets all these conditions. We will therefore join the Co-Host Network as soon as possible to help and serve more people as co-hosts.

Overall, Airbnb’s Co-Host Network may aim to lower the industry’s entry barrier, attract more people to become hosts and encourage newcomers to join when they cannot compete, greatly reducing the cost of trial and error.

For experienced operators, competition becomes fiercer. Excellent hosts will stand out as co-hosts, while ordinary hosts will have a harder time. When guests look for accommodation, they will surely prioritize quality listings managed by co-hosts—right?

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.

As the weather gets cooler, Seattle’s short-term rental low season is approaching again.

Short-term rentals in peak season and mid-term rentals in low season: this is the new strategy we have repeatedly emphasized and tried this year! Some recent large bookings have been like a ray of sunshine. Homeowners, let us support one another and face the approaching low season with confidence.

For the following detached home in Medina, Redfin shows an estimated long-term monthly rent of about US$11,834.

With the owner’s trust and support, we carefully furnished the home and immediately began short-term rental operations. Fortunately, because the home’s condition and location are both good, short- and mid-term bookings have continued to come in.

As shown in the booking screenshot below, a guest recently booked this home through Airbnb from November 1 this year to January 15 next year, a total of 75 nights.

The average monthly rent during this period is about US$16,900.

In summary, after Snowball Rentals operated this detached home, monthly rental income rose from the long-term rental figure of US$11,834 to US$16,900, an increase of more than 42%.

Securing such a large booking in low season is no easy feat!

As mentioned above, this 75-night booking runs from November 4 this year to January 15 next year, covering more than 2 months of the short-term rental low season, which runs from September through March of the following year. We believe we can achieve even better results when peak season arrives.

For homeowners, combining short- and mid-term rentals in this way can earn more in peak season and help them get through low season smoothly. Even if the low-season rental figures look less dramatic, they still outperform long-term rentals and give homeowners a strong sense of financial security.

More importantly, the owner does not have to worry about maintenance or cleaning. When something needs to be discussed with guests, we also help with communication and oversight.

Here, we again thank the owner for placing trust in the Snowball Rentals team!

After nearly two years of Airbnb’s downturn, we at Snowball Rentals hope to help owners make steady progress in low season, navigate the challenges safely and lay a better foundation for next year’s peak season.

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!

Here is the before-and-after comparison for the detached home above, following our careful furnishing:

When choosing a short-term rental on Airbnb, would this home’s appearance attract you?

If you would also like to make your home more attractive and earn more rent, please contact us at any time!

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.