Get a smoke/co2 detector or get delisted

Airbnb is offering U.S. hosts free safety items.

Airbnb expects all U.S. hosts to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors by the end of 2014. Once you have them installed you must indicate it in your listing. If you don't comply they say they will remove your listing from the site.

To help get hosts on the road to safety they're offering to send you one free detector, a first aid kit, and an emergency numbers card.

Not a bad idea.  I had them installed years ago in all my rental properties.  Each kitchen also had a fire extinguisher (still does) and I'm surprised they're not requiring that too.

Smoke/CO2 detectors aren't very expensive and you should have more than one in a property. If you want to spend some money,  NEST has one out with one that costs about $130 and can be silenced by waving your hand at it (in case you burn the roast.)

Airbnb makes smoke and carbon monoxide detectors mandatory

Bad weather, cancellation policy change

The weather in Philly, and elsewhere on the east coast has been terrible.  In the neighborhoods the roads are barely plowed, many sidewalks are not shoveled and parking is non-existent. I mean, people are sledding down the Art Museum steps fer christ's sake!

Normally, my cancellation policy is set to 'Strict.' However, given the weather conditions, I've temporarily changed it to 'Flexible', which enables guests who can't make it to cancel and get their money back.  The only thing they won't get back is Airbnb's fee. I've also emailed guests to let them know of the change and the reason for it.

So far, the only guests to cancel were the ones who were do to arrive tomorrow.

It's my hope that Airbnb will understand cases like this and agree to waive their fees.

Year-end analysis, or why I'm so tired

As I mentioned in a previous post, 2013 was a busy year. Let's look at the numbers.

Increases from 2012 to 2013

Avg. guests per stay: 58%
Total number of guests: 112%
Avg. nights stayed: -2%
Total nights stayed: 32%
Total number of reservations: 33.33%
Revenue: 80%

Percentage of nights in 2013 that were booked: 71%
Percentage of nights in 2012 that were booked: 54%

For most of 2012 the maximum number of guests who could stay was 2.  Then, near the end of 2012, I furnished the second bedroom and added an air mattress, increasing the number of guests who could stay to 6.

The end result was an increased number of bookings, since I could now accommodate both large and small groups, and an increased number of guests per stay.

But it could be exhausting.  Here's an example.  In June I had this run of 2 night stays:
3rd-5th, 2 guests
5th-7th, 5 guests
7th-9th, 5 guests
9th-11th, 5 guests

And June was the quiet month. July and August was that pattern continue for those entire months. Whew!

Keep in mind it could have been worse.  When I was out of town I blocked off my calendar. If I hadn't done that I could have had an extra 45+ days of reservations.

I do all my cleaning myself although I am reconsidering that decision.  I've since added a cleaning fee in anticipation of hiring some help.  Since adding the cleaning fee I've noticed that most of the inquiries I receive are for 4+ days stay.

What was your year like?