Introduction and Airbnb’s Influence on Hosts
[00:00:00] Kenny: Airbnb is really trying to force you to be on their platform, right? So like if you are split between two platforms like VRBO, uh, Airbnb, maybe even you have your own direct booking site and you're not getting reviews and ratings in Airbnb, They're gonna punish you.
[00:00:35] Mark: Alright everybody, so, a couple of months ago, Well, every three months I see posts online from hosts, Airbnb hosts, short term rental hosts, and they are showing off their super host badge and the super host badge.
[00:00:51] Mark: I've said this for a long time. And I do a post every three months with this about saying how it is just very clever marketing and the post that I put out. is meant to be fault provoking for a reason because it gets people engaging, but changes people's mindset. You know, half the comments are, I agree, half the comments are you an idiot because, but then one of the comments was from the chap who is on my right and he comes with data, right?
[00:01:13] Mark: And this is the cool thing is that I can make up things on the spot, but he actually comes with the data to back it up. And I said, right, we need to get this on a video that will be put out. through the summit and we can reuse it for time. So Kenny, uh, thank you very much. This is the video that we said we were going to do months ago.
[00:01:31] Mark: For everybody who's watching at home, just give a quick background on yourself, uh, your company, and then let's come and jump in with these, uh, these numbers and this data.
[00:01:40] Kenny: Sure, sure, sure. Thank you. Thanks for having me on mark. Uh, so my name is Kenny Bedwell. I'm the CEO of STR Insights. We're a data and consulting company.
[00:01:49] Kenny: We help people find profitable short term rentals across the United States only. So no UK yet. Maybe 1 day, maybe we'll wise up 1 day to do that. But, um, I live in New York. And, uh, I'm also a short term real estate investor and that's kind of how I got involved into this data and, and helping people find deals.
[00:02:07] Kenny: And so my goal is to help people find deals, but also educate them on the data behind it to maximize and cashflow with their properties.
[00:02:17] Mark: So first and foremost, where do you stand on the, on the super host badge debate? Is it the BLNN doll? Does it help boost rankings or is it just a shiny badge that they want to get people to post on online?
[00:02:29] Kenny: Uh, okay. So generally speaking, 56 percent of all hosts are super hosts. So I don't really know how that makes someone like super when you're it's like Not even like what it's like more than one every two people. It's a super host but uh it is uh, but however on the flip side There is a positive correlation to a slight bump increase in revenue for Superhost because it's a filter in Airbnb.
The Reality Behind Airbnb’s Superhost Badge
[00:02:59] Kenny: So anything that's a filter in Airbnb, um, you know, there's usually a correlation to increase revenue because people filter out properties don't have that. Um, so for people who have amazing properties, but don't meet the criteria of Superhost, Get get dinged a little bit. And so it, it, it, uh, for me, I mean, is it the end all be all?
[00:03:22] Kenny: No, not at all. And I want to talk about guest favorites because that's a new 1, 2 and I think that's actually a little more, uh, it's interesting. The new data we pulled from that, but, um, end all be all no, but it is. It is important if you're going to live and die by Airbnb.
[00:03:37] Mark: So 56%, do we know, I know they said roughly there's about 7 million active listings, do we know how many hosts roughly that they're there thereabouts on, on Airbnb?
[00:03:49] Kenny: Yeah. So there's about 4 million, like true active listings. Maybe there's like 7 million, like total. They, they, they don't really like they, so it's funny Airbnb. I don't know if you call it lying or whatever, but like, if you create a listing and then you like close it down and like start another listing, which you can on the same property.
[00:04:09] Kenny: They count that as one two listings, you know, and they kind of database those So it's seven million like total listings over a period of time But I mean it could be same properties or properties have been pulled out of service already many years ago so that's something to keep in mind, but um, so you have about four million are actually Active, you know, properties that people are, whether it's part time or full time.
[00:04:33] Mark: Wow. And, and, um, going back to superhost, what is the criteria at the present moment in time to qualify as a superhost as a superhost in various commas, what is that criteria if we know?
[00:04:45] Kenny: Yeah, if we know that I'm going to get quoted on this one. Um, so as far as I can recall, uh, you had to have, um, I think you had to have at least 10 nights booked in a single quarter, remember where it's quarterly, they come out.
Managing Multiple Listings on Airbnb: Pros and Cons
[00:05:02] Kenny: Um, or you had, uh, five reviews or something like that, like five individual stays. So five individual stays and, um, you have to have a rating of a 4. 7 or higher.
[00:05:15] Mark: We've got hosts that have got one property on Airbnb under one account. And we've got some that has got got plentiful now, um, from all the data that you're looking at, and, you know, obviously the people that you help and you work with, and, you know, there's, there's lots of people that are out there.
[00:05:31] Mark: Does it benefit? Let's just say me, I've got one account, I've got one Airbnb listing, but then I go and set up a second account, say, I somehow managed to do that and I then put another couple of listings on there. Is that more beneficial or is Airbnb now trying to skew it to where you should only have one account and have all your listings on that said one account?
[00:05:50] Mark: Like how's, how is Airbnb, how are people like sort of playing it to keep that ranking and rating high?
[00:05:55] Kenny: Yeah, so they definitely want you to keep it in the same same account. They don't want you to segregate it out, which is incredibly risky. So I'll give you an example. Um, I had a guest, I don't know. I mean, they're, they're obviously using AI to do this, but I had a guest one time.
[00:06:14] Kenny: Uh, so I own properties too, for those listening who don't know me. Um, and I had a guest message me about their stay and they were like, it was great, but we like found like a crack pipe on top of the fridge and I was like, like what, you know, and I didn't say anything about the crack pipe, but then like literally two hours later.
[00:06:34] Kenny: My listing got, my entire listing account got frozen, like shut down. And I'm like, what the heck? And so like, I call Airbnb support and they're like, yeah, like it says something like it's flagged, like safety and all this other stuff. And I'm like, and the guy, like he, he was kind of joking. Like he found something that looked like a, like a pipe, but it wasn't a pipe.
[00:06:55] Kenny: And they had to get him on the phone to say that he was kidding. To confirm, to open up my listing again. But literally it was shut down like that from like, uh, a guest kind of making a joke with me. Um, it's like what, but it's all under one account. So all four of my other listings were frozen as well.
Guest Favorites Badge: What It Means and Why It Matters
[00:07:17] Mark: Let's move on to, uh, the guest favorite badge. Now, what do you know about that? Obviously it's been around for a while now. And what are the stats sort of showing you from, from SDR insights back end?
[00:07:29] Kenny: Yeah. So the guest favorite badge actually represents the top 20%. Of Airbnb properties based off of ratings and reviews.
[00:07:40] Kenny: So not money, not performance, but ratings and reviews. Um, so the average to be top 20%, you'd have a 4. 85 rating and you need to have about 10 reviews to, to get a guest favorite label. Um, we've seen a few like below that, but everybody else is pretty much above that to be a guest favorite. Um, it is a toggle.
[00:08:03] Kenny: As well, and so we have seen a an 11 percent increase in average revenue for those who are deemed guest favorites.
[00:08:12] Mark: What would be like some little quick tips that you could just give to somebody that they could go and implement after watching this video?
[00:08:18] Kenny: Yeah, so Airbnb is really trying to force you to be on their platform, right?
[00:08:26] Kenny: So like, if you are split between two platforms, like VRBO, uh, Airbnb, maybe even you have your own direct, uh, booking site and you're not getting reviews and ratings in Airbnb. They're going to punish you. They're going to ding you in the, uh, the rankings and, um, also, you know, like the algorithm and things, and they're just not going to promote your property because it's not considered reliable.
[00:08:49] Kenny: So the biggest thing that I tell people when it comes to those kinds of issues is you need to prove yourself, your worth, essentially to the algorithm, prove that you can make Airbnb money. So the best thing that you can do to do that is to get. As many reviews as you can from your, you know, every single stay.
Maximizing Reviews: Strategies to Boost Airbnb Rankings
[00:09:08] Kenny: So try meaning including your messages, asking guests to leave your reviews. I even started, and here's a secret hack on how I got to 90 percent of my guests leave me reviews. Now I even started text messaging my guests. So a lot of people don't use the app. They don't communicate with the app and I'll see guests that I'll send all these messages and they'll never respond.
[00:09:27] Kenny: They'll never say anything. They come and stay and go and great, but they'll never get a review from them. I started texting them. Hey, do you mind leaving me a review? Here's the link. And they leave me the review, um, making it more personable for them. And so, uh, my advice is make, you know, if, if you're going to be on multiple listing sites, you're going to have a direct booking site.
[00:09:45] Kenny: That's great. And you should do that. Um, but Airbnb will punish you. So you gotta. Reverse that by trying to get as many reviews as you can as possible when you do get a booking in Airbnb.
[00:09:56] Mark: Any other interesting stats that you've seen with Airbnb over the last year, seeing it coming to the end of 2024 at the point of recording.
[00:10:03] Mark: Is there anything else that you have noticed? Not just this guest favorite badges. Is there anything else that you're sort of keeping an eye on for yourself, for your own properties or just for SDR Insights?
Key Airbnb Trends and Amenity Impact on Revenue
[00:10:14] Kenny: Yeah, I'm always tracking the amenities, you know, and seeing like, okay, they've added these particular amenities to the check boxes.
[00:10:21] Kenny: Once they add them to the check boxes, we can then really start seeing the data and the correlations. We run regression models and a bunch of nerdy data crap to see like, what's going to, you know, what are the results and what are we going to get? And so, um, I've really been. All the unique amenities they're adding is really fascinating and to see like what impacts they have on revenue.
[00:10:40] Kenny: Um, and so, uh, it's, you know, like things like bowling alleys and outdoor bowling alleys and things like that, um, are actually really positive. And, uh, obviously there's a lot of other things that can impact revenue and I get that, but it's. The amenities and saying, I like what you said earlier, staying on top of those things because, um, they're, they're adding more and more all the time and they don't tell anybody, so it's just all of a sudden there.
[00:11:06] Mark: It's maddening because, you know, all of a sudden, and you just see so many people on social media and in Facebook groups that are just adding in pickable courts or they're adding, you know, mini golf courses in the back and it's, it's hard for a host to be able to, you know, to. Focus on wherever attention lies, especially let's just say you're in the management game.
[00:11:25] Mark: Do you go and add just a ton of properties or do you look at quality at the moment? It's, it's, it's a really hard sort of place to where you put your attention to. And this is obviously where a tool like SDR insights comes in because then you can, you know, you're not just going to make assumptions, you've got the data behind you that can prove it, but not just like on an overall USA level, you can dial it down to a state.
[00:11:46] Mark: A town, a city, uh, which will give you some, some really good data that will be able to make, help your decisions. So before I let you go, just give us a quick pitch, one minute, two minutes, however long you need, just to tell us about STI insights, what you've got coming up in the future and where can people go and find out more information.
[00:12:03] Kenny: Yeah. So I'll say this. If you are a us based investor, or if you're even in the UK, I've actually, I've helped a couple of people from the UK and Europe invest in the United States. We have a service, and this is really where we've pivoted to recently, Mark. Um, where we help people find actual deals because that's, that's the real crux of the issue is great.
[00:12:26] Kenny: I've got the data, but how do I take that data and find things that are going to make sense? And so I'm kind of pitching our services here and saying like. We can help you, uh, whether that's. Getting you connected to our data or actually walking you through the entire process and helping you find deals or just doing it for you a hundred percent for you.
[00:12:46] Kenny: So if you're interested in that, you can check out our website. You can message me, DM me. We've got a solid team of deal finding experts who can help you know what amenities to add, what, where to look, what markets, um, what markets aren't saturated. That's a whole nother topic to dive into. Uh, where to, where to stay away from.
[00:13:06] Kenny: Um, man, that's a. That's a fun reel to put out. People get offended on that one every time I do that stuff. So anyway, uh, and where to actually go to. So that's our services kind of, uh, wrapped up there. So if you have any questions, feel free to DM me, uh, at kenny_bedwell on Instagram or Kenneth ‘Kenny' Bedwell on Facebook.
[00:13:27] Mark: Amazing, brilliant. And that's strinsights.com
[00:13:31] Kenny: That's strinsights.com
[00:13:32] Mark: Perfect. Thank you very much for that. Right back on with the summit.
