Those first couple weeks after closing on a new Airbnb investment property can be madness. You have dozens, perhaps hundreds of items to buy. From refrigerators, appliances, tables and chairs for your kitchen to bed frames, dressers, nightstands and mattresses in your bedrooms. Not to mention all the decor and other touches involved (we usually do some painting and a few small projects). It’s nice to be able to buy a package deal where you get a unified look for a good price to ease the burden of all those purchases. And that’s exactly what a great bedroom set does for your Airbnb. The Most Important Thing In An Airbnb My wife Kate and I have been hosting for more than 5 years now, and as much as it pains me to say this, the most important thing in making…

Your ideal rug for an Airbnb is one that looks amazing, has a luxury feel, but holds up to the constant food traffic and vacuuming. For us, this usually means a sturdy low pile rug (long shag rugs are almost impossible to vacuum). While rugs aren’t at the very top of the list for purchases that can make or break your Airbnb business, they can make a HUGE difference in the way your space looks and feels. A well placed, beautiful rug can seriously enhance your Airbnb. It can turn a “meh” space into a “this is nice!” space. So today I’ll be sharing a couple rug purchasing blunders we’ve made and also listing some of our successful purchases that have worked out. A Large, Expensive Rug That Got Ruined My wife Kate, who is the interior designer of our…

The golden rule of buying things for your Airbnb is to buy something “easy to use, hard to break.” But there are times when it’s OK to break this rule. We bought another home and listed it on Airbnb just two months ago, and we ended up buying real glass, stemless wine glasses. Even though we know from experience that some of them will likely break in the coming years, we feel that the wine drinking experience is much improved with real glass. So today I’ll just talk through some of the experiences we’ve had and things we consider when buying wine glasses for our Airbnbs. Then I’ll share 3 different brands that we actually put in one or more of our listings. All The Ways Wine Glasses Can Break Anyone who has had a drink out of a wine…

While a refrigerator isn’t a tier 1 concern in your Airbnb, it is something most of your guests will use. And that means that your fridge can cause problems. We’ve run into a few problems during our 5+ years hosting Airbnbs and ended up replacing a few fridges. What we’ve found is that the best refrigerator for Airbnb is one that is small, has a fridge and a freezer, has ice in it, but does not have any dispensers. The ice doesn’t have to be produced by an ice maker, and in many cases it’s preferable if it doesn’t have an ice maker. Today I’ll be sharing 3 fridges that we’ve used in our Airbnbs, and even showing you the one we bought most recently. What Do We Stock In Our Refrigerators? Guests don’t need much to already be in…

After hosting 4 different Airbnbs over the last 5 years, my wife and I have never had to replace any of our silverware. I’ve never put much thought into it, but we must have made some decent purchasing decisions. The common denominator for silverware across all our listings has been stainless steel. In all honesty, it’s hard to find a set of silverware that’s NOT stainless steel, so maybe we weren’t as smart as we thought. But either way, I’m sharing the three sets we’ve bought that have stood up to years of guests and have emerged without a scratch. What Exactly Should You Stock In Your Kitchen? In our Airbnb market, kitchens are an important selling point. We live in a college town, and the University is without a doubt the biggest draw to our listings. I’d say around…

The best dishwasher for your Airbnb is one that doesn’t have a lot of unnecessary features, is easy to operate and won’t break down. Today I’m sharing two of the dishwashers we have in our listings that have checked those three boxes. They’ve both been working without issue for at least 2 years, and have been easy for our guests to operate. Dishwasher vs. Hand Washing In Our Airbnbs At the moment, we have 4 Airbnbs that we manage. Three of them have dishwashers and the other does not. All 4 listings have silverware, dishes, glasses and mugs. And even though that one listing doesn’t have a stove top or oven, guests still cook from time to time with the microwave, toaster and electric skillet that we provide. Cooking is less common, but it still happens. And from time to…

The best dishes or dinnerware set for your Airbnb is affordable, preferably white (or light colored) and made of porcelain. Why porcelain? Well we haven’t tried every material, but in our experience, porcelain dishes are easy to clean and don’t often stain. That’s certainly not the case for plastic dishes. Dinnerware is not a make or break item in your listings (mattresses are), so as long as you get reasonably durable dishes that won’t stain over time, then you should be good to go. Cleaning Kitchens With and Without a Dishwasher Airbnb guests love listings that have full service kitchens. I live in a college town, so we get a lot of guests that are parents coming to visit their kids in school. Lots of the parents want to come down and give their kids a home cooked meal. They…

My wife Kate and I have been Airbnb hosting for about 5 years now across 4 different listings and we’ve picked up on a thing or two in that time. One of those things is that a well stocked home makes for happy guests. It’s true that not every guest will have a need for a pot or pan. But most guests have the need for something slightly out of the ordinary. Maybe they have allergies and need tissues, maybe they’re having their local friends over and want to play a board game, or maybe they want to cook a meal and need some things in the kitchen. We regularly have guests inquire about our kitchens and what amenities are available. So we do our best to keep those spaces well stocked with all the common items a guest might…