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Airbnb Listing Breakdown

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SUMMARY:

Are you wondering what makes a great Airbnb listing? Are you looking to improve your own listing? I breakdown a listing and share my thoughts and recommendations in real time. See what things you can do today to optimize your listings.

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AIRBNB FOR DUMMIES

Want me to take a look at your listing? Include it in the comments and it may be the next one shown in a video.

One thing worth mentioning is that these are not typical times. If you look at Airbnb’s website, they are focused on longer term stays. People that are focused on short-term stays in this climate are not really keeping up. Right now, it’s time to focus on long-term stays, because that is what people are going to be booking.

I searched for monthly rentals in Montreal, QC and chose a listing.

What else can be learned before even clicking the listing? It is an Airbnb Plus listing, which is always nice. Looking at the pictures, the cover photos are very nice. The space looks spacious and clean. It’s tastefully decorated and the colours are nice. The pricing is a bit higher than the other listings.

Let’s look now at the title: “Elegance on the Plateau with Interior Parking”. It isn’t a great title and it doesn’t tell me much. I am familiar with Montreal, but not all guests will be. For someone not familiar with the city, it isn’t clear what this is close to or what attractions are nearby.

In general, when mentioning locations, it is best to focus on landmarks that people may be visiting. That is much more useful and practical than the neighbourhood’s name.

Airbnb Plus listings tend to have better pictures and this is no exception. They have done a good job on the photographs. I appreciate how they photographed the Murphy bed pulled out. Many listings mention a Murphy bed but do not show it. The photographs do a good job in showing the listing’s overall aesthetic.

There’s a good mix of close-up and zoomed out shots. On the surface, that might seem redundant but it gives a good perspective. It feels like you are getting a walk-through of the space.

I would recommend having more pictures of the amenities in the kitchen. It is always a good practice to have pictures so guests can see the amenities listed in the kitchen. It’s unclear whether the space into the bedroom is open. It would be better to have more clarity on that. I would also include more photos of the bathroom and the amenities that are there.

Overall, the photos are well-done, there just needs to be more of them. Additionally, there should be more “mood settings”. Examples of that would include showing some plates with scones, maybe some coffee and fresh fruit. Some photographs setting the mood would really enhance the listing.

Airbnb Plus lists all of the property’s amenities. If you are not an Airbnb Plus listing, make your own version of this. List all of the amenities as an overall list and then break it down by room.

Looking at the description, it needs more detail. An area where more clarity would be better is what “off-premises parking” means. You want your listing and your description to answer every potential question a guest may have. It makes it easier for your guests to book right away when all of their questions are already answered.

Of course, you want to make sure that you have proper spelling and grammar.

The information in the description is largely irrelevant. I would recommend including information about popular attractions that are close by and if there were events happening, I would feature them.

However, right now, you would want to focus on how clean and how the space is well-maintained. Since guests right now may be renting to work from home, I would focus on that and maybe even bring in a larger desk.

How do you know what to include in your description? Get some hints by looking at your reviews! That is what your guests are looking for and what they love about your property.

I would even reach out to some of the reviewers to dig into specifically what is great about the location and then feature it in the listing. There is so much to be learned from your guest reviews!

It is overall a good listing, but there are areas to improve. If you found this exercise helpful, like and comment below! If you want me to take a look at your listing, include it in the comments. I am going to be posting at least two videos per week, so subscribe to catch them all!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

What's up guys, it's James here and in today's video, I'm going to do something a little bit different. Today what I'm going to do is I'm going to go on to Airbnb here, I'm going to find a listing and I'm going to basically do a just a full breakdown of the listing so that you can see my thoughts in real time.

I thought this would be a cool concept for a video. If you liked it, give it a thumbs up. If you want more of these, please let me know if you want me to review and break down your listing, then just comment below with a link to your listing. And I'd love to do that in another video.

I think this could be a really cool series that I could do, where I just kind of break down and share my thoughts on ways that you can improve a listing and just kind of give all my impressions on a listing overall. So if that's something you're interested in, then give the video a thumbs up, I'd really appreciate it.

And if you want me to break down your listing, then just comment below with a link to your listing and I'll take a look and I could actually feature it in another video and you know, get a nice listing breakdown. So with that, let's go ahead and jump on here to will check out Airbnb.

Now. This listing breakdown is going to be a little bit different than a what I could Our normal breakdown will probably be because as you can see here on the Airbnb homepage, we're, you know, in the midst of everything going on all the craziness, there's a little bit of a different a different tone to Airbnb, where they're primarily focusing on longer term stays.

They've got online experiences for Airbnb experiences, which I found quite cool. And then you can get stays for frontline workers. And so what I'm going to do is actually review a longer term stay, because I think that's likely to be a better listing a more optimized listing.

So be able to give some more high level feedback, because I think that the people my assumption is that the people that are that are, that are focused on longer term monthly stays, are the people that are kind of more with it, because people that are focusing right now on short term stays, they're just not, in my opinion, the right way to the right place to be focusing because very few people are booking that type of a stay.

So if we just go here, let's go and click on monthly stays. And I'm just going to look let me see here. Hold Toronto, let's fix somewhere else. So I'm going to pick a different a totally different area. I'm just going to go ahead and look at let's go Montreal, let's see how Montreal, Montreal, Quebec. Perfect.

And let's say that I want to stay let's just kind of give myself more selection here and say I want to stay for June.

All right, so right off the bat we've got, it looks like we've got some pretty I'm not as familiar with the Montreal prices as I am with Toronto's but it looks like these ones are relatively well optimized from a pricing standpoint, these first few years. None of them are too outrageous.

By the looks of it. You've got like a two bedroom property for $2,000 that seems like a pretty reasonable price here. You've got a one bedroom here for 20 $800.

Now that's a nicer property but I'm thinking that like if I can get a a one bedroom here for $2,000 or pay $850 more, you know, I can get a two bedroom here for 2000 bucks. Like 1900 dollars, this guy seems like he's probably pricing yourself out of the market, you know, another one bedroom at 2868. Again, like here's another one bedroom that that is in a very similar area where you can spend like less than $1,000 more than $1,000 less on that one property.

So let's go and look at one of these ones that in at first glance look like they're probably not as optimized from a pricing perspective. And let's just kind of go in here and break them down. So this is an Airbnb plus. So that's something nice about it.

And let's, let's start by looking over the pictures. I always think the pictures are the best thing to break down to start with. We go back here and look. So I'm mainly selecting this one just based on the price and it also looks like a nice listing here I can see actually, if I look in the corner there, it looks like okay, I can see it's a plus, we've got a super host they've got 4.97 stars.

So you know good chances are this is actually going to be a pretty pretty high quality listing here as far as the title The title, the price and the cover photo are really my only things that I'm going off of if I'm if I'm a guest and I'm looking and I'm going to click through the listing.

So right off the bat, the cover photo is nice it features it features the space quite nicely, I can see like a main living area that looks quite spacious and looks nice and clean. It's nice like the colors I like it personally just my style. The the price, you know, like I already mentioned, I already kind of talked about that elegance on the plateau with interior parking.

It doesn't tell me much because as someone who is familiar with Montreal, I know where la plateau is. But as someone who isn't maybe familiar with like who would be traveling to to Montreal, I would not be familiar with the plateau like I wouldn't know that area I wouldn't know it's close to it doesn't tell me really that much about the actual location, which they were attempting to do by by including it in the title with interior parking.

That's nice like I look at what the other amenities are that may you would be would be desirable if they found that the guests that book there are very concerned about parking, which would make sense because Montreal can be a tough spot, a tough place to find parking, then it's a good thing to feature as far as featuring the location, I would say.

Like I would I would more focus on what landmarks that people are visiting that it's close to, like have a lot of people are going towards Moab. You know, you could say I'm not sure if it's a walking distance it looks like it's probably a walking distance to Moab. But I could, I could be very wrong about that. But just some amenities some, some attraction that it's nearby to.

That's more gives me more, more of a reason to click it then look out to it because I like as someone traveling to Montreal, I probably would not really care that it's near liberato. Like I wouldn't really know what that means, if that makes sense. So next I'm going to look at the pictures so let's just kind of go in here. I suspect that because they are their Airbnb.
photography.

They're going to be quite good. Everything looks pretty good. Yeah, photos wise. I think they've done a really good job here with Airbnb pluses they tend to stand out as having better photography. Now if for anyone who's looking to improve their own listing, the reason that I say that this is actually really well done is like, for example, you've got this bed that is actually photograph pulled out as a bed.

And so I'm not sure how that works with the the Murphy bed with the TV on the on the wall here, but you can see like that is the same room. And what most people will do is they'll say that they have a Murphy bed, but they won't take a picture of it folded out as an actual bed. So they've done a really good job of that.

That's always something that I I always stress to people that you need to do. They've got good, good shots that show just kind of the overall aesthetic of the space. They give it kind of some mood setting shots, like this one doesn't tell you a ton more about the space. When you've already got.

Let me see here, when you've already got shots like this, but it was nice to have. It's a nice angle. It's artistic. Stick like it just gives a good overall vibe of the space. You've got this one here that showcases that there is a office nook there. So that's really good. And then again, you've got those tighter shots, but then you've also got a zoomed out shot.

It might seem kind of redundant if you're just looking at it from a very practical standpoint, but it just is a nice way to really give perspective to the space, it almost feels like I'm kind of walking through it without actually being there. This one's again, another really great photo here where I can see okay, there's actually like some space there. It's not just like there's a wall right here that ends there's actually some space over there.

There's looks like an entranceway. It looks like that's kind of where I walk into the space. Okay, let's move into the kitchen. I would actually have some more shots in the kitchen for sure. Like I would take some individual photos of the different amenities it has like this coffeemaker over here looks like an espresso, I'd have a close up shot of that, because that's something that's desirable to people.

You know, what kind of stove is this? It doesn't it's not a gas read by the talk by looks at maybe ceramics dope, I'm not sure. But just having some more close up shots of that if it's got if they have an idea. Blender that somewhere hidden in the kitchen here. I'd take that out like if they've got like a nice high end blender or something. I take that out take a picture of that setup just so I kind of understand better what amenities are in the kitchen.

I would take a picture of inside the fridge with some water in it if we do stock water in this property, things like that to just kind of better showcase what the listing features in here it looks like so this is bedroom one looks like king bed memory foam mattress room darkening shades air conditioning. That's pretty nice. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the photos in here.

I'd probably get some more photos here just to give some more clarity, honestly, because it looks like this opens up right into the main living space. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like where is it here? Yeah, it's it looks like this kind of nook over here. And then there's a chair.

And then this is that chair and it looks like that's that nook so it looks like this just opens right up. I'm not clear on if there's a door there. It doesn't look like it. So I just I personally have someone booking I'd want to have a bit more clarity on that. Like what how that space is oriented looks like it does just open right up which might not be the nicest thing so I'd probably want to just like be really transparent about that.

And then yeah, the the bathroom I would take some more shots again, like just showing some of the nice nice amenities in there that you have, but overall like the photos they do have are good. I would say it's just lacking you could have some more photos without space. The dining room. I like that looks like that's, you know, well photographed.

Yeah, this does just open right up to the to the bedroom side. I'd want to be more transparent about that. If this were my listing and the photos. The nook again, really nice study. The exterior. Yeah, I would take some more shots of like the neighborhood, different things like that. Different sort of attractions that are nearby.

I'll take photos of that patio, I would take definitely some better photos of that. This is pretty like a pretty dirty window there I would clean that I would take some more photos out here I would set this as well that's one thing I think they really missed the mark artists didn't really have any mood setting photos here like I would set this up with a nice some nice plates with some scones or, you know, some coffee out there magazine. Same thing in here like have some fresh fruit, things like that truly kind of set the mood. Those are some things that I would look to improve.

Overall the photography is good, but I think there's definitely room for improvement. And a lot of people assume that if they have an Airbnb photographer come in and they're going to do as good a job as possible. But in my experience, that's not necessarily true. I think that you can that you can definitely improve upon the photography that Airbnb provides you with. And if you take some additional photos it can it can definitely really help the listing out.

So what have you got? Step out onto the balcony and soak up the charm in the neighborhood relax in the serene modern interiors unwind to the light drench boutique style apartment featuring chic furnishings and decor open plan layout and use the bustling neighborhood enjoy means free underground parking off premises. Location One month minimum.

Yeah, so enjoy the convenience of free underground parking off premises. I'd want a bit more clarity on what that means, like how far off premises is this free underground parking. I'd want more clarity on that. So let's look. We've got a plus feature. We've got more photos, more of the same we've got the amenities listed here. That's really nice.

That's a nice feature of the of the plus listings is that they just lay out exactly what the amenities are and a nice easy to find space. If you're not an Airbnb plus listing, you really want to do something similar to this in your listing description where you just have an amenity section amenities heading, and you just list off all the all the amenities and then you really want to organize I recommend organizing into into the different the different spaces like the different rooms like kitchen has this amount these amenities.

The living space has these amenities. The dining room have these amenities. You know the bathroom has these amenities and break it down. Way too. So you can have sort of an overall section at the top, but then break down each each section was super easy to navigate. If I'm trying to think if I'm trying to figure out okay, like, you know what size the bed and the master bedroom I'm going to go to the master bedroom heading and I'm going to see king sized bed perfect, really easy to find it off to read through paragraphs of description of find it, right.

Accessibility location. Yeah, the description leaves it wanting more because that's one of the biggest things that I that I would say to people is you want to make sure that your listing and the description everything that it answers every potential question a guest could have. Because if I'm going to book this place, there's still some questions on my mind now. Maybe I'd be ready to book this place without having those questions answered. And they wouldn't be deal breakers for me, but there's a decent chance that they actually wouldn't be deal breakers for me, some of them and so I want them to be answered in the listing so that I can just go Okay, awesome.

I want to book this place now because all the questions that would have been deal breakers are answered for me so far. For example if one of those is how far away is the underground parking off premise like how far that is actually pretty important to me if it's like five blocks away that's a lot different than if it's like next door to where I am. I'm not super sure about the area so if I could have more detail about what is like I read this location neighborhood is a foodie haven this this were an international This is where an international coffee chain see again you just want to clean that up is we're an international coffee chain failed and made way for the local pizza parlor run by two local women wouldn't use that tell me that international coffee chain failed. I don't think that's really that relevant. residence cherish talk low a with a swimming pool, pardon my accent with a swimming pool, sports grounds and off leash dog park.

So that's nice but like if I'm if I'm staying in a place like this with these kind of amenities a nice lesson like that. I'm probably not I'm going to go to a local like community swimming pool, probably not be playing much sports when I'm there realistically, like I would imagine most guests are not going to be very few get guests are going to bring their dogs. I don't know if this place is dog friendly. But like that stuff was largely irrelevant. I would talk more about what it's close to like that I would that would actually be applicable to a wide array of guests that are coming by.

So like, how, what shops are nearby give me more information about that. Like is it How close is it have a walk to or drive or whatever to get to some of the popular attractions like MOBA, like like I know, like home, things like that, think reasons that might just be coming in if there's an event coming into town, like, like f1 or something like that. I'd probably feature that now. Not right now. But, you know, in that season, I would feature that like those are some advice that I have for listings in general.

And yeah, right now i would i would specifically be focusing on in this with everything going On the world, I'd focus on like, I would highlight how well the space is clean how to maintain that kind of thing I would talk about I would talk about you know, different you know, if it's got good high speed internet, I would really highlight the study I would highlight the fact that it's got a good a good space to work, hey, you know, may move in a desk so they have more space to work, because that's why someone might booking right now to maybe booking because they want a place to work, because a lot of people are working from home right now.

Also, we look down here in their reviews, like there's 73 of them. Let me see if I can go into a bunch of them. This is a goldmine like this is where you can really see what you'll want to highlight in your in your description because you'll see what people talk about more like the most often what comes up again and again and again. So you can see it was spotless and location was excellent.

You're definitely in the best part of Montreal. minutes from Park Laurie a close to the grocery store the FAQ FAQ, which for anyone that doesn't know that's like the liquor store. So many cafes, great restaurants. More so again like these are some of the things that I would okay let's see if they come up again fantastic location relax luxury space great host what's great about location so we weren't really want to find out birthday trip and the help set of fund a surprise for our arrival when we requested a later checkout while they're very accommodating

amazing okay and then we're going to find okay I want to know why people like what people love about it specifically about the location I would reach out to these guests they're saying location was great like Mario, what did you find was so great about the location that's what I want to know because I want to feature that in the listing on the plateau yeah like things that that's what I want to know that's that's where I would kind of dig it looks like restaurants cafes, grocery drugstore, look sure all within less than a block that's it came up again. So again, like futuring that enlisting not just having it say near it like in look at Like putting okay right like right near restaurants cafes, grocery store, like that kind of thing.

Featuring that and again, I didn't get some more feedback and really go through this in detail to figure out exactly what it is that people love about the location and that's what I would feature so your reviews are a goldmine just learn you can learn so much from them about why guests love your space, why they booked it that kind of thing. And also just just asking those questions to your to your guests. That can be really really valuable. Yeah, and then the rest of this I'm not going to go go through in too much detail overall it's a good listing for sure. I think there's definitely a few little spots for some minor improvements, but overall a good listing so yeah,

I'd love to do some more of these if you found this valuable let me know let me know your thoughts and also the new format for the video that I haven't done before. So if you found this valuable if you liked it if you want more of it, then please just let me know in the comments below. Also, you can show me that you like it by just giving it a thumbs up like this video, it helps me out tremendously with the YouTube algorithm. So if you could do that take a quick second just click that like button it would mean a lot to me.

If you're new to the channel, then consider subscribing I post two new videos every single week at least. So and they're all folks are on Airbnb hosting every management and just helping people to improve their performance on Airbnb overall and start businesses managing properties on Airbnb. So if that's something that you think is interesting, then just click this subscribe button and you can subscribe to the channel.

And if you want me to review your listing, like I mentioned, and you like this format, you like this detailed kind of breakdown video and you want me to do on on your, on your listing specifically, then just comment below we'll link in the description a link to your listing where I can check it out, and I will have a look and then if it makes sense and I'll and people want more of this and people this is something that a format that people like to see, then I might just feature one of your listings in in the next video. So thanks again for watching and I will see you in the next video.

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