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Airbnb For Dummies
Turn to the most-trusted guide to get started on your Airbnb adventure
Airbnb For Dummies is here to help you prep your property and post your first listing on the wildly popular short-term rental site. Even if you don’t have a house, you can become an Airbnb host. A spare room at your place, a camper, a boat, a treehouse, a castle—you can turn just about anything into an Airbnb and earn additional income hosting guests. You can even offer tours around your hometown. This comprehensive resource helps you make your goals a reality, with details on how to get set up and navigate the platform and where to turn for info on local short-term rental rules, plus all the post-pandemic changes to travel and to Airbnb’s policies. Learn to attract adventurers from far and wide, with help from For Dummies experts.
Decide whether becoming an Airbnb host is right for you Create an appealing listing on the Airbnb site and attract guests Host experiences and ensure the health and safety of guests Get positive reviews and improve your property’s visibilityThis book is especially for you, the first-time Airbnb host in need of a guide for creating a listing, keeping up a property, and attracting guests.
Airbnb For Dummies is here to help you prep your property and post your first listing on the wildly popular short-term rental site. Even if you don’t have a house, you can become an Airbnb host. A spare room at your place, a camper, a boat, a treehouse, a castle—you can turn just about anything into an Airbnb and earn additional income hosting guests. You can even offer tours around your hometown. This comprehensive resource helps you make your goals a reality, with details on how to get set up and navigate the platform and where to turn for info on local short-term rental rules, plus all the post-pandemic changes to travel and to Airbnb’s policies. Learn to attract adventurers from far and wide, with help from For Dummies experts.
Decide whether becoming an Airbnb host is right for you Create an appealing listing on the Airbnb site and attract guests Host experiences and ensure the health and safety of guests Get positive reviews and improve your property’s visibilityThis book is especially for you, the first-time Airbnb host in need of a guide for creating a listing, keeping up a property, and attracting guests.
- GenresBusiness
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2023
About the author
Symon He
14 books7 followersSymon He is the co-author of Airbnb for Dummies from Wiley Publishing and the author of Real Estate Investing QuickStart Guide from ClydeBank Media.
Symon is a co-founder of LearnBNB.com, a leading online educational destination for all things Airbnb hosting and short-term rentals. His works have been cited or featured on the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Forbes, CNBC, Entrepreneur, and SKIFT. Through his training and coaching programs, he has worked directly with thousands of aspiring Airbnb hosts to jumpstart their short term rental journeys. His training programs have been featured by prominent third-party partners, including a previous joint venture with RichDad.com.
Symon is also a best-selling instructor of real estate and business courses, with over 300,000 students worldwide as of July 2020. You can find his popular courses on the top educational platforms including Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, CyberU, StackSkills, LearnFormula, Knowable, and Highbrow.
Previously, Symon worked in several corporate real estate and finance roles at large private and Fortune 80 companies, including at a private equity investment firm covering a wide range of commercial real estate acquisitions in the western USA. He has a California real estate broker’s license and writes regularly on his personal blog at symonhe.com.
He graduated with honors in both Computer Engineering and Economics from UC Irvine and received his MBA from Stanford University. He lives with his wife Hillary in Los Angeles, CA.
Symon is a co-founder of LearnBNB.com, a leading online educational destination for all things Airbnb hosting and short-term rentals. His works have been cited or featured on the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Forbes, CNBC, Entrepreneur, and SKIFT. Through his training and coaching programs, he has worked directly with thousands of aspiring Airbnb hosts to jumpstart their short term rental journeys. His training programs have been featured by prominent third-party partners, including a previous joint venture with RichDad.com.
Symon is also a best-selling instructor of real estate and business courses, with over 300,000 students worldwide as of July 2020. You can find his popular courses on the top educational platforms including Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, CyberU, StackSkills, LearnFormula, Knowable, and Highbrow.
Previously, Symon worked in several corporate real estate and finance roles at large private and Fortune 80 companies, including at a private equity investment firm covering a wide range of commercial real estate acquisitions in the western USA. He has a California real estate broker’s license and writes regularly on his personal blog at symonhe.com.
He graduated with honors in both Computer Engineering and Economics from UC Irvine and received his MBA from Stanford University. He lives with his wife Hillary in Los Angeles, CA.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 27, 2024
I followed the advice exactly and I lost a lot of money and my airbnb failed.
I think this advice is more for people who are already established on airbnb and looking to improve and expand. But for an absolute beginner, it's not ideal.
Sure you will get the basics, but you will also get advice that you absolutely don't need to follow and sometimes should not follow.
For example, I did not need to buy six sets of sheets and six comforters for my two bedroom airbnb. A bigger example? I did not need to use the third party tools for pricing my airbnb and in fact, THIS LOST ME A TON OF MONEY, as the third party app would override my pricing without my knowledge.
I needed my listing to be at $150 a night or more to just break even. Well, based on my region, the third party app would lower my price to $90 a night (sometimes even as low as $70) and I would get bookings and I had to take because, as the book advised, you MUST keep on "instant book".
On these bookings I literally lost money because my cleaners fee was $100 per stay.
Afterwards I took off instant book, I deleted the third party apps (which took forever to do because once you are signed up, they make it VERY DIFFICULT to delete them).
In hindsight I didn't need a third party app to help me because I only had one listing! That's more of a multi listing strategy.
But I didn't know any better and I wanted my business to succeed so I followed what was supposed to be the best book for the industry. Yea right.
I learned a lesson from this experience though. Listen to the experts, sure. But treat their advice like a buffet. Pick and choose what you think will work best for you.
Don't be afraid to break their rules. There is never a single way to become successful in any industry. You can learn from others and also learn for yourself. And listen to yourself.
I think this advice is more for people who are already established on airbnb and looking to improve and expand. But for an absolute beginner, it's not ideal.
Sure you will get the basics, but you will also get advice that you absolutely don't need to follow and sometimes should not follow.
For example, I did not need to buy six sets of sheets and six comforters for my two bedroom airbnb. A bigger example? I did not need to use the third party tools for pricing my airbnb and in fact, THIS LOST ME A TON OF MONEY, as the third party app would override my pricing without my knowledge.
I needed my listing to be at $150 a night or more to just break even. Well, based on my region, the third party app would lower my price to $90 a night (sometimes even as low as $70) and I would get bookings and I had to take because, as the book advised, you MUST keep on "instant book".
On these bookings I literally lost money because my cleaners fee was $100 per stay.
Afterwards I took off instant book, I deleted the third party apps (which took forever to do because once you are signed up, they make it VERY DIFFICULT to delete them).
In hindsight I didn't need a third party app to help me because I only had one listing! That's more of a multi listing strategy.
But I didn't know any better and I wanted my business to succeed so I followed what was supposed to be the best book for the industry. Yea right.
I learned a lesson from this experience though. Listen to the experts, sure. But treat their advice like a buffet. Pick and choose what you think will work best for you.
Don't be afraid to break their rules. There is never a single way to become successful in any industry. You can learn from others and also learn for yourself. And listen to yourself.
November 17, 2020
3.5/5
I’m interested into real estate investing, and so it’s essential for me to be acknowledged by all the fields there are, and service accommodation/Airbnb was an important domain I wanted to learn more about.
The book did in all fairness add to my knowledge, I got a deeper understanding of Airbnb, and I learnt new things. However, in essence, the new insight I acquired was still lacking to the extent I was hoping for. Many ideas and concerns I had in my mind weren’t addressed properly or even at all, and I’m certainly not a fan of the poor writing style of the book.
The main question to be asked is whether Airbnb is scalable, for example, there are more than 300+ properties listed in London, and if you’re going to go into a model of rent-to-rent, it’s very hard to profit significantly 500£ every month, which would mean you need ten properties that are performing well in all this competition to only make 60,000£. Taking into consideration the risks of renting for six to twelve months on a lease, and the capital required to furnish the listing, it’s not worth to make it a complete business model. I can contemplate maybe for a landlord that has a few properties and is willing to take the risk and put some properties on Airbnb to be able to increase his yield, but otherwise I’m not convinced.
Would I recommend the book? It’s more of a question of “is there any book out there with better insight?”, and I’m not entirely sure, I came across books of this sort that were utterly futile. So there might be worse, and there might be better, buying the book as a first book will surely help even if only mildly.
I’m interested into real estate investing, and so it’s essential for me to be acknowledged by all the fields there are, and service accommodation/Airbnb was an important domain I wanted to learn more about.
The book did in all fairness add to my knowledge, I got a deeper understanding of Airbnb, and I learnt new things. However, in essence, the new insight I acquired was still lacking to the extent I was hoping for. Many ideas and concerns I had in my mind weren’t addressed properly or even at all, and I’m certainly not a fan of the poor writing style of the book.
The main question to be asked is whether Airbnb is scalable, for example, there are more than 300+ properties listed in London, and if you’re going to go into a model of rent-to-rent, it’s very hard to profit significantly 500£ every month, which would mean you need ten properties that are performing well in all this competition to only make 60,000£. Taking into consideration the risks of renting for six to twelve months on a lease, and the capital required to furnish the listing, it’s not worth to make it a complete business model. I can contemplate maybe for a landlord that has a few properties and is willing to take the risk and put some properties on Airbnb to be able to increase his yield, but otherwise I’m not convinced.
Would I recommend the book? It’s more of a question of “is there any book out there with better insight?”, and I’m not entirely sure, I came across books of this sort that were utterly futile. So there might be worse, and there might be better, buying the book as a first book will surely help even if only mildly.
August 12, 2020
Perfect guide for Airbnb hosts whether you manage your own property or other people’s properties. It’s comprehensive and organized very well. It’s a fun and easy read with lots of helpful and thought provoking tips for all types of hosts. I recommend using this guide if you are new or experienced to Airbnb and are looking to improve and take your hosting capabilities to the next level.
August 4, 2020
Great book!!!
Very detailed and easy to follow with lots of great examples.
Extra digital resources a welcomed bonus!
A must read book for anyone who wants to start in Airbnb business.
Very detailed and easy to follow with lots of great examples.
Extra digital resources a welcomed bonus!
A must read book for anyone who wants to start in Airbnb business.
March 21, 2022
This was a very thorough book and well organized. I'm usually not very fond of "for dummies" books, but this one is a must read for aspiring STR owners or owners who are struggling with their business.
March 31, 2021
Super helpful information. Made me feel a lot more confident in starting out with my airbnb listing.
January 22, 2026
Taking a pause, worth coming back to.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews