A Day in an Airbnb Co-Host’s Life: Coffee by Day, Toilet Repairs by Night!

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Hello, and welcome to Snowball Rentals’ WeChat account, where you can read about recent developments in the US short-term rental market.

To all our new and longtime followers, Snowball Rentals sends a belated Lunar New Year greeting! We wish you good health and happiness with your family!

Do you often hear that Airbnb short-term rentals earn more than long-term rentals, then start thinking: “The home is sitting empty anyway—why not give it a try?”

Congratulations! You are about to enter an industry where you can earn while lying back—but cannot actually stay lying back.

Being an Airbnb co-host sounds like a flexible, elegant and relaxed profession. In reality, it means coffee by day, toilet repairs by night and working every holiday, all year round.

Today, we will reveal the real daily life of an Airbnb co-host so you can judge whether this independent but demanding profession is worth entering.

1. You Are Free When Others Work—and Busy When They Finish

Short-term rental guests generally arrive in the afternoon or evening, so you can leisurely wake up naturally and enjoy a fine brunch.

But when others finish work and start watching shows, your real work is just beginning:

Guest: “I’m here!” (But they are not at the front door.)

You: “Where are you?”

Guest: “Um… I’m not sure.”

You start a voice-guided treasure hunt, navigating while reassuring the guest. When they finally find the door, the next thing you hear is: “Host, the code won’t work!”

While everyone else eats dinner, you are unlocking doors remotely, giving remote instructions and providing remote emotional support.

2. Other People’s Weekends ≠ Your Weekends

Ordinary people go out for fun on weekends. Your weekend has the most guests—and the most problems!

“The toilet is blocked!”

“The neighbors complained about the noise!”

“Host, I can’t find the pot!” (The pot is right there. Really.)

This is when you truly understand: “Others rest on holidays; I repair homes.”

Your time off? Sorry, that is Monday and Tuesday. You have time to relax when everyone else is working.

3. Holidays ≠ Days Off; They Are Golden Overtime Days

Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year, Independence Day… these are not your holidays; they are your earning days!

While others raise a glass in celebration, you raise nightly rates.

While others gather to watch movies, you handle a guest’s complaint: “There’s no Christmas tree in this room!” While others vacation, you repair pipes in vacation homes.

If you do not have a team to rotate shifts, holidays = peak season = overtime. Prepare yourself mentally in advance.

4. Fail to Embrace Technology, and You Earn Less Than Others

Airbnb short-term rental competition is intensifying. People who cannot use tools are destined to work harder and earn less.

Dynamic pricing software: without adjusting prices, you lose money.

Smart management systems: manage everything manually and bookings will overwhelm you. AI customer service: without automatic replies, you still have to get up in the middle of the night to answer messages.

This industry rewards working smart rather than simply working hard!

5. This Industry Never Stops Changing

Short-term rental rules change every year. What you learned last year may already be outdated this year.

2022: “Just accept bookings and you can make money!”

2023: “Competition is too intense; optimization is essential.”

2024: “New policies have arrived. Fortunately, I kept up.”

Can you accept continuous learning? Can you adapt to market changes? If your answer is YES, this work may suit you.

Being an Airbnb co-host combines independent work with a service business on call 24 hours a day. It really is not easy!

Hosts, what painful experiences have you had as Airbnb co-hosts? Share your frustrations in the comments so newcomers can prepare themselves mentally!

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 Bellevue, Redfin shows an estimated long-term monthly rent of about US$7,806.

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 rented this home from February 10 to March 12, a total of 30 nights, at an average monthly rent of about

US$15,970.

In summary, after Snowball Rentals operated this property, monthly rental income rose from US$7,806 to US$15,970, doubling.

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

As mentioned above, this 30-night booking from February 10 to March 12 covers 1 month of the short-term rental low season, which runs from September through March of the following year. We believe performance can be even better 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!

Let us take a look together:

Take the home described above as an example. Before furnishing, it was simply an empty house. After our careful furnishing, its appearance changed as shown below:

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!

This Week’s Short Videos

We regularly update short videos every week.

The content you need is all here.

👇🏻 Homeowners are welcome to follow us 👇🏻

Snowball Rentals

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Snowball Rentals

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

Keep rental income growing!

Xiao An’s Vacation-Rental Styling

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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 longer than 30 days.

8. Transparent fees — For rentals longer than 30 days, we charge 15% of accommodation revenue. For nightly rentals under 30 days, we charge 20% of accommodation revenue.

Author’s tip: Personal views, for reference only. Updated February 7, 2025.