Is My Basement Suitable for Airbnb Short-Term Rentals?

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

Many homeowners with unused rooms who hope to earn extra income through short-term rentals have a question:

Is my basement suitable for a short-term rental?

A homeowner may think: it is sitting empty anyway, and renting it out would generate extra income, so why not?

Yes, that was Airbnb's original purpose. From that initial idea, it has become a publicly traded company worth more than US$100 billion.

But Airbnb today is very different from when it was founded. Homeowners may have heard only about the extra income, without considering what extra problems it may bring.

Today, we will reveal what you might encounter when using your own spare rooms or basement as a short-term rental, and whether it is worth doing.

First, after the pandemic began, short-term rentals involving shared rooms or partially shared spaces were effectively declared “dead.” During those three pandemic years, nobody dared share living space with strangers.

That has become a habit. Even after the pandemic ended, shared-space listings remain scarce on Airbnb, mainly because there is simply no demand anymore.

Guests with any budget to spare will not choose a short-term rental with shared spaces. Conversely, what kind of guest will still accept shared spaces? Only one kind: those with insufficient budgets.

The chance of encountering poorly behaved guests therefore increases substantially, including property damage, smoking, loud noise and other problems.

Returning to the question: if your basement has no shared spaces, is it worth doing? Following the reasoning above, whether it is worthwhile comes down to the rental income relative to the effort required from the homeowner.

The key question, then, is whether this basement rental can achieve higher revenue.

We know basements have two main disadvantages: less natural light and easily audible footsteps from upstairs. Basement short-term rental prices are therefore generally not very high.

But there is another critical point few people mention. Without this feature, I would directly advise homeowners not to run a short-term rental.

That feature is a kitchen: does your basement have one? Can guests cook? Yes, this is something most homeowners have not considered. Why does a basement kitchen matter so much?

There are two main reasons. First, a kitchen is the biggest difference between a short-term rental and an ordinary hotel. Without one, it is hard to win against hotels, meaning you can only rent cheaply. Low prices bring more hassles and less value relative to the effort.

Second, without a kitchen, it is relatively difficult to find guests willing to stay for the medium or long term. Everyone knows restaurant dining in the United States is expensive. For stays of several weeks, many guests prepare simple meals in their rental; they are unlikely to eat out for every meal.

Without a kitchen, your basement rental will therefore have both lower prices and greater difficulty finding medium- or long-term guests. Most guests will stay only a few days.

Hosting more guests increases the likelihood of encountering smoking or late-night noise.

So homeowners considering a basement short-term rental: without a kitchen, I advise against it. If it has a kitchen, plenty of light and good finishes, it is still worth doing.

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!

On Rentometer, we can find that the average long-term monthly rent for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom property in this part of Lynnwood is approximately $1850.

Today's property is a fourplex in that area, containing four units. The owner is a designer and commissioned us to begin short-term rental operations immediately after furnishing the rooms.

Fortunately, shortly after listing, two units—described in the source as “one bedroom, one room”—received large bookings!

First, let us look at the first unit:

As shown in the booking screenshot below, a guest rented through Airbnb for 34 nights.

The rental income plus cleaning fee for this booking reached $3897.84!

Now let us look at the second unit:

As shown in the booking screenshot below, a guest rented through Airbnb for 31 nights.

The rental income plus cleaning fee for this booking reached $3347.42!

In summary, with Snowball Rentals operating these two one-bedroom, one-bathroom units, monthly rental revenue rose from the local long-term average of $1850

to $3800 and $3300 respectively, nearly doubling.

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 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!

But these two units are special. The owner is a designer and personally designed and furnished the entire property. The style and level of detail are impressive. Let us take a look!

The first unit:

The second unit:

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 👇🏻

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Snowball Rentals

Snowball Rentals

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Snowball Rentals

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

Keep rental income growing!

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Xiao An’s Vacation-Rental Styling

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.