Are you wondering how to turn your home into an Airbnb and create a stream of extra income for you and your family? Well, you've come to the right place!

How To Turn Your Home Into An Airbnb

I gotten so many questions from you all about how to turn your home into an airbnb, so I figured I dedicate this post just to that! One of the easiest ways to make a sizable extra chunk each month is simply by converting all or part of your home into an Airbnb. In this post, I'll be giving you a simple 9 step guide on how to convert your home into an Airbnb, the pros and the cons and everything in between!

Affiliate Disclosure

Step 1 - Airbnb Zoning

Because Airbnb has become so popular, a lot of cities have certain zoning limits now. Meaning, depending on where your house is located, the city will or will not allow you to convert part or all of your house to a STR (short term rental). Now if you are located in a space where STR are not allowed, check and see if you could do a longer month by month rental. I've found this is more than not the case! 

In that scenario, you could still list your house on Airbnb, you would just need to change your settings so you could only accept month or longer stays. At the end of the day, simply check with your city or township and see what is and isn't allowed. It's always better to do this first, rather than go to all the work of setting one up only to get shut down by your city or township.

Step 2 - Determine If You Want to List Your Whole Home on Airbnb or Just a Room 

A lot of people I talk to don't know this, but you can list just a bedroom on Airbnb. For example, if you're a single person and looking to make some extra money, you can list any extra bedrooms in your house! The only downside is that you would need to share the space with whoever would book. However, if you're a student or work a lot, it may be something that fits perfectly with your lifestyle.

The other option is to list your whole house. This option is more popular and great for people or families who travel a lot. If you list the whole house, you wont be able to access or stay at the house during the time your guests are staying, so keep that in mind!

Now that you've decided if you'll be listing just a room or the whole house its time to declutter your space.

Step 3 - Declutter Your Space

Most houses have more clutter than hotels, simply for the obvious fact that you live there and things accumulate! Unless you're a clean freak, you'll need to take some time declutter and simplify things for your guests. 

If you plan to stay at your house whenever people are not using it, I always recommend having a couple bins of personal items in a a locked storage closet or in your shed or garage so you can access it whenever you come back to stay. 

Items to Remove From Your Space

Here's a general list of some items you may want to consider removing from your space in order to prepare for guests.

Living Room/Family Room

• Old birthday cards
• Decorative nick-nacks
• Overabundance of kids toys (its not a bad idea to have a cabinet or closet of games or toys for guests to uses while they stay, but you'll want to avoid it taking over the space)
• Family photos 

Office

• Letters, papers, or any confidential papers
• Office knick knacks 
• Any unnecessary decorations 

Bathroom

• Remove any personal items or toiletries in the bathroom
• Get rid of any old or unmatched towels, hand towels and washcloths
• Get rid of any old or dingy bathmats

Bedroom

• Clean out nightstands
• Clean out dressers
• Clean out closets
• Remove any mismatched hangers
• Get rid of old or stained sheets/blankets
• Remove any family photos
• Remove nick-nacks or unnecessary decorations

Kitchen

• Remove any unnecessary or old pots or pans
• Remove any unnecessary or old cooking utensils 
• Remove any perishables from the refrigerator
• Remove any unmatched or old Tupperware
• Remove unmatched silverware 

Step 4 - Simplify Your Wifi Info

We've done this for every Airbnb we've owned or managed. Its a good idea to change your Wifi Network and Password to something easy for your guests to find and enter on their phone or laptop. We included the name of our airbnb in the network name, but you can truly do whatever you feel like is easy to type and understand. 

Now that you've chosen an easy to read and type wifi nework and password, its time to make it look pretty! Etsy has some of the most pretty templates for this and they are so inexpensive!

Here's the link to one of my favorite templates from Etsy!

Simply download the template and add in your new wifi network name and password. Then, send the file over to Walgreens or Staples to print out and put in a cute frame! 

I love these minimalistic floater frames from Amazon to display your Wifi sign!

If you print out your wifi sign a size smaller than you floater frame, it gives the effect that the picture appears to be floating inside the frame. Both unique and beautiful!

Step 5 - Get Professional Pictures Of Your Space

Step 6 - Amenities

Airbnb has a list of amenities you can check or uncheck depending on what you'd like to include for your guest. Its always a bonus if your place has a grill, fireplace or hot tub however they are not required. Those would be just a perk and selling point for your place. However here are some standard amenities that I think any airbnb should provide for guests.

Amenities I'd Recommend To Provide

• Blow dryer
• Iron & ironing board
• Sheets for the beds
•  Fresh towels (one bath towel, washcloth, and hand towel for each guest)
• Smart lock for check-in
• Work from home space if possible (desk & chair)
• Toilet paper
• Hand soap for bathroom
• Fully stocked kitchen (if your space has a kitchen)
• Kitchen trash bags
• Dishwasher detergent
• Dish soap
• Coffee
• Coffee maker
• Sugar and Cream for Coffee
• Toaster
• Paper towels & a few simple cleaning sprays for guests to use if needed
• Broom, vacuum or both
• Air conditioning & heating
• High speed internet
• Portable fan

Step 7 - Find a Cleaning Team

One crucial part of owning and operating an Airbnb is figuring out who will be doing your cleaning. When we first opened our Airbnb, my husband and I did all the cleaning and linens. If you're someone who has the extra time and wants to save some extra money, go for it! However once we scaled our business, it became impossible to clean all the properties we were responsible for.  

That's when having a great cleaning team in place became a game changer for us. It is extremely important to the success of your Airbnb. Because 5 star reviews are crucial to your listing's success, it is important to have a cleaning team in place that you are comfortable communicating with and working with.

The nice thing here is that you can set your cleaning fee to whatever your cleaning team charges. The guests pay 100% of the cleaning fee so it will not be coming out of your pocket. 

Having a clean place is essential for your guest's experience so make sure you find the right cleaning team who is familiar with cleaning Airbnbs and knows the expectations.

Step 8 - Set Up Your Listing

Now its time to set up your listing on Airbnb! Thankfully, the platform is pretty user friendly. Simply follow their set up directions, upload your pictures and make sure you mention any amenities your listing includes. 

Make sure you pick a title that accurately depicts your listing. For example, if you have a vintage farmhouse, don't advertise a modern city home. I know it seems obvious, but it is important to accurately describe your listing so that your guests won't be disappointed when they arrive at your place.

Now that you have your listing up, it's time to go live! Once you're live, guests will be able to view your listing and book! Congratulations, you did it!!

Step 9 - Automate

The final step here is to automate. While it took us a while for us to figure this out, this final step has been a game changer and has saved us SO MUCH TIME!

We use a software called Hospitable that does a TON for us every day. It sends our guest's automated messages throughout the entirety of their interaction with us (for example....when they inquire about the listing, when they book the Airbnb, it sends check in directions, a check thoughtful note after guests 1st night, and also directions for check out).

 You can also add automations for random questions guests have. For example, if a guest messages wondering if they can bring a pet along, you can set up an automated message that gets triggered according to your preferences.

There is SOO much more to this software, but just having the automated messages are worth it enough to sign up! I am not an affiliate for them, but would recommend Hospitable to anyone with an Airbnb. For only $40 a month for up to two properties listed, the time this software saves us on a daily is definitely worth it!

Well, thats it!

I hope this guide on how to turn your home into an Airbnb was helpful! Feel free to reach out with any questions, I'm always happy to help and can't wait to see your Airbnb become a success too!

Where to Next?

Check out my other posts about Airbnbs!

We've learned soo much along the way owning, cleaning and managing over 50 airbnbs and I absolutely love sharing everything I know with you guys!