Ever thought about renting out your home, but shuddered at the idea of 2am texts about wi-fi passwords or where to find more toilet paper? Enter the Airbnb cohost: part property manager, part hospitality guru who makes every short-term stay run smoothly for guests and homeowners alike.
Take Libby Ross. A year ago, she was managing three of her own rentals in Oklahoma when Airbnb tapped her for its first US cohost beta test. Now, she manages 44 Airbnbs in two states, and charges anywhere between 10% to 22% depending on how hands-on (or hands-off) the owners hope to be.
“Most feel immediate relief when they start working with me,” Ross says. “By stepping in, we give homeowners time back to chase their next investment.”
Today, cohosts on Airbnb's network support over 100,000 listings. How it works: Cohosts apply to be part of the network and must meet certain criteria (hosting 10+ stays with a 4.8+-star rating). If accepted, they set up a profile and can get recommended to overwhelmed owners who need backup in their areas of expertise.
On paper, it’s a symbiotic relationship: Owners pocket passive income without the headaches, while cohosts scale their hospitality business without buying more properties. But in practice, cohosts sometimes struggle to balance their many demands.
“Think of a hotel that is split into multiple parts of the city,” says Cory Friedman, who expanded from three Airbnbs he owned to managing 40 in Miami. “Downtown, you have a condo and the toilet isn’t flushing, midtown you have an apartment and the AC just shut down, over by the beach you have a studio and the cleaners didn’t show up, up north you have guests complaining about leaves in the pool. Finding which fire to put out first is a never-ending puzzle.”
Keeping homeowners happy is another challenge. “I have to stay loyal to the homeowner while still being hospitable to the guest, and those priorities don’t always align,” admits Ross. Still, she thinks for “hosting geeks” like her, the effort pays off.
“I knew I wanted to build a full-time career in hosting, but I didn’t have the ability to buy enough properties,” Ross says. “Cohosting gave me the path forward.”
Learn more about cohosting here.
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