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Hosting on Airbnb can be a rewarding way to generate some extra income, but it’s not always smooth sailing. The day-to-day demands of short-term rental management can quickly become overwhelming, especially if you’re doing everything by yourself.
If you’ve been feeling fatigued and stressed, you may be experiencing what many call hosting burnout. It’s a common challenge for Airbnb hosts, but it’s one that can be managed with the right support and strategies. Let’s take a look at the most common issues that lead to hosting burnout, and the options available to you so you can get back on track.
What are the most common issues that Airbnb hosts experience?
Not earning enough
Getting your Airbnb’s pricing strategy right is crucial to your long-term prospects — while pricing too high can cause fewer bookings and pricing too low may attract unruly guests, both ultimately lead to the same outcome: not earning enough.
Maybe you’re still making a profit but not earning as much as you initially expected, or you’re just not earning enough to cover your operational expenses. Whatever the case may be, managing your finances can quickly grind your gears.
Is your property not getting enough visibility on Airbnb? Then it might be time to update your listing’s photos, descriptions, and amenities. If you’re only advertising your rental on Airbnb, now would also be a good time to start listing on other short-term rental websites. But this means learning new tools, new platforms, and new fee structures, which can be challenging for self-managing hosts.
Time constraints
A lot of new hosts tend to think of Airbnb management as a source of passive income: you set up your Airbnb property, post the listing, and watch the money roll in. But running a successful short-term rental actually requires a lot of hard work, and plenty of time to match: on average, you can expect to spend around 20-40 hours every week if you’re doing everything by yourself. This includes:
- Updating listings and managing bookings,
- messaging guests,
- organising check-ins and check-outs,
- dealing with issues,
- cleaning, maintenance, and stocking your property, and
- writing guest reviews.
The time you spend increases further if you’re managing your Airbnb remotely and need to make frequent on-site visits, or if you have more frequent turnovers due to shorter stays. The more actions required on your end, the quicker it is to experience burnout and fatigue.
Have you recently taken on some extra work, started a new position, or maybe even began hosting multiple properties on Airbnb? You may also find that what used to be easy may now be taking far too much of your valuable time. While an extra hour or two to sort out the occasional guest issue may not have been a big deal in the past, it may start to pile up if you have new responsibilities.
Issues with cleaners, co-hosts, or maintenance people
Reliable help can be hard to find — after all, a missed clean, a broken appliance, or a contractor who cancels last-minute can easily lead to a negative guest review that affects your ratings permanently. Managing short-term rental cleaners or maintenance persons requires constant coordination and quality control to avoid any mishaps.
Are you already working with a Airbnb co-host who isn’t as responsive as you want them to be? This can also cause a lot of stress on your end, especially if you’re finding yourself sorting out guest and property issues more often than what was previously agreed upon.
Adapting to market changes
New Airbnb regulations, tax obligations, and ever-changing algorithms: these are only some of the constant short-term rental market changes that keep hosts on their toes.
Was your property doing really well in previous years, but you’re now finding that Airbnb bookings have slowed down or even stopped completely? It might be time to adjust your pricing, update your listing, or consider new avenues for marketing your property. Staying compliant and competitive means continuously researching updates and adjusting your strategies, or else you’ll get left behind.
How to deal with Airbnb hosting burnout
Take a break and pause hosting
Sometimes, the best solution is to simply take a breather. You can snooze or temporarily deactivate your listing on Airbnb without any penalties, giving you the opportunity to reset, recharge, and reassess your situation.
Reflect on what aspects of hosting you struggled with, and what you can do to fix them. Is it guest communication, cleaning, or maintenance? Is it managing pricing and maintaining good occupancy rates? Or are you experiencing difficulties at all stages of the hosting process? Identifying your pain points will help you make better decisions about the future.
Work with an Airbnb manager
If you decide that managing your property hands-on isn’t the ideal fit for you but you’d still like to earn money from short-term rentals, then consider partnering with a professional Airbnb management service that can do everything for you.
For many hosts, this is the ideal middle ground. You retain ownership of the property and benefit from short-term rental returns, while experts ensure everything runs smoothly. This means you still enjoy the income from your property but without the day-to-day headaches from managing your property, dramatically reducing your stress.
Airbnb managers not only reduce your workload, they also increase your earnings with local market knowledge and tools that individual hosts typically don’t have access to. For example, Hometime combines dynamic pricing with expert insight and market context to come up with a customised pricing strategy built around your property’s unique earning potential. On average, Hometime-managed properties see an 11% rise in occupancy and a 9% revenue increase during peak season after implementing these pricing strategies.
Aside from pricing, you’ll also get a team of experts dedicated to helping you reach your property’s full potential through the following services:
- Multi-channel listings on Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Hometime & other short-term rental websites,
- guest vetting and communication, including any emergencies, from local hosts that live near your property,
- listing optimisation through Airbnb SEO, professional photographers, and property stylists,
- a reliable network of cleaners that deliver a high-quality clean every time, and
- access to the Owner Portal, our very own property management software for Airbnb, where you get 24/7 visibility into your booking calendar
Want to earn more from your property? Schedule a chat with us below and get a free Airbnb earnings estimate:
Transition to long-term renting
If the fast pace of short-term hosting feels unsustainable, consider switching to long-term tenants. While you may not earn as much with long-term renting vs Airbnbs and short-term rentals, it comes with fewer responsibilities: no constant guest turnover, no cleans in-between stays, and no late-night messages.
Long-term renting provides stability and predictability and can be a good fit if you value peace of mind over maximising returns. However, weigh this against potential drawbacks, such as less flexibility to use the property yourself and no peak pricing during high-demand seasons. This means no second home for the holidays, and less income compared to Airbnbs.
Stop hosting
Finally, some hosts decide that hosting simply isn’t for them. If the stress outweighs the rewards, it’s perfectly valid to step away from hosting and repurpose it for personal uses. But note that stopping hosting also has its own drawbacks — for example, you’ll still need to pay for maintenance fees year-round, which you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket since you no longer have your previous income from Airbnb.
Thinking of selling your property? This means losing access to a second home for the holidays or special events. You may also be subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT).
Earn more, stress less with Hometime
While running an Airbnb can be a lot of hard work, know that it doesn’t have to be. Partnering with a short-term rental expert like Hometime can help you transition to hands-off management and maximise your income at the same time. With Hometime, you’ll get a team of experts dedicated to boosting your revenue, taking care of the day-to-day, and helping your property reach its full potential. Whether you're seeking stronger returns, better guest reviews, or less time in your inbox, we’re here to help.
