Airbnb - Become a host today

Airbnb makes it easy to put your extra space to work for you. Become a host today, and you can start boosting your income!

Keyless entry- Why not automate the check-in?

There's little that's worse than having a guest show up late on a Friday night while you are trying to have fun with your friends, spouse or partner. Or, you run out to do errands and just then a guest calls to tell you that they are at the house, and can you please let them in.

Be smart and don't deal with this hassle. For less than $60, you don't need to coordinate your comings and goings and those of your guest.

Make your listing photos gorgeous with an inexpensive wide angle lens for your smartphone.

Photos are the easiest way to increase the value of your listing, and a wide angle lens is one of the most effective ways of taking better pictures inside a room.

These lens attachments basically turn your smartphone into a real-estate super camera. Normally, when you take a picture in a small area like a bedroom, bathroom, or any other small room, it's difficult to capture the feeling of the full space.

With a wide angle lens, you can capture more of the room in a single shot- giving the viewers the feeling of a more open space. It's the single easiest and best way to take better photos of your listing.

All the houseware essentials in one easy place

Guests will ask you for an ironing board, a hairdryer and coffeemaker. Don't get sent scrambling for things last minute. Plan ahead and have the basics in place for your first guest.

Before I got smarter about it, I spent wayyyy too many hours fighting traffic, driving around town to get my unit ready. It's pretty much a waste of time.

Fortunately, Amazon has an extremely convenient section called college essentials that has pretty much everything you need for your Airbnb unit. Get a prime membership and they ship it to you for free within 2 days.

Protip: Most of what you need will be found in the "Sleep", "Clean", and "Eat" sections of the link I'm sharing with you.

Roomba. You need this if you do frequent turnovers.

If you want to do the cleaning and turn-overs yourself, efficiency is key. I developed a routine to quickly ready my place for the next guest by starting the Roomba and then going about the other cleaning work. By the time I finish with all the other cleaning and replenishing, the Roomba is done making the floors spotless and I am off doing things that don't involve sweeping or vacuuming.

And yes, it works well on hardwood, tile and carpet. I even run the thing in the bathroom.

Artificial Orchids to add life to your Airbnb rental

OK. What? Fake flowers? YES! These are great for adding a little color to a space. We had two of these- one for the bathroom and one for the bedroom. Zero maintanence, large and attractive. This is truly the 80/20 of decorating.

No one wants to look at boring listing photos or stay in a place that feels devoid of life. Trust me, this will earn you goodwill in the unconscious minds of your guests.

Remember- It's the details that count in both the listing and experience for your guests. Even if flowers aren't your thing, remmeber that what counts is the guest's experience!

Sheets. WHITE ONES. (and lots of them)

Don't make the mistake of having the wrong sheets. Sounds silly, I know. But think about it:

Do you know why hotels always have white sheets? It's because you can bleach them and wash them on high heat without having them fade! Your guests are going to be living in those sheets and doing all the things guests do in them. You need to make sure you can get them really clean for whoever comes next.

Don't reinvent the wheel here. Do what the pros do and get a few sets of matching white sheets so you can replace any part of the set that gets ruined or lost. Save the cute color choices for the beadspread.