here are some of my airbnb hacks that others might find useful in their household. this is for low end airbnb listings which i prefer because the cash flow is more stable. like a fast food version of airbnb units
table of contents:
(arranged in chronological order during the business process)
1. refurbish your mattress
2. one size bed sheet
3. toilet spray
4. water bottle bins
5. mirror mirror on the wall
6. the marble deception
7. japanese/korean surplus
8. cleaning gig for troubled youths
9. push button supply restocking
10. avoid double layer toilet plungers
11. yes to fixers
12. P20 thermal fuse
13. shower head declogger
14. green new deal
15. wringable mop
16. toilet leak sentry
17. motivational signs
18. waterproof key labels
19. vulcaseal around kitchen sinks
20. replacing wall ac thermostat
21. water filter manufacturer's scam
-------------------------------------
1. refurbish your mattress
you can save around 3 grand if you re-use your worn out and stained mattress/box spring. first lay it out under the blazing sun for about 2 hours on each side. this will the kill bed bugs and germs/microbes. then buy a new cover. in cebu just go to Sun Gold. bring the length, width and height measurements. if it's one of those shockingly heavy compact foams, make sure to add 1 inch allowance for each dimension when measuring or you will have flash backs of the baston budbud style of jeans in the mid 80's while struggling to put it on. they will let you choose the fabric then you pay around P1k for a queen size. they will ask you to pick it up a few days later but make sure to call first to make sure it's ready to be picked up.
pillows are not expensive but if you have the delos spirit and a sewing machine and your working student took garments class might as well refurbish them. also disinfect under the sun for 2 hours on each side then buy those cheap pillow covers (~P70 in gaisano) and just sew it.
2. one size bed sheet
if you have different size beds, just buy 1 size bedsheet for all beds. buy the largest size of course. example i have queen size beds and the smaller twin size beds but all my bedsheets are queen size meaning i use queen size sheets on the twin size mattress. trust me this will have a huge impact on EFFICIENCY, SIMPLICITY, AND RELIABILITY of your system or process.
3. toilet spray
it is very cheap and easy to install a toilet spray and it will go a long way in making it much easier and quicker for your staff to clean the bathroom. it will also give you the option to not provide toilet paper to the guest which could clog the toilet.
4. water bottle bins
i use water bottle cut outs for trash cans. i also use them as bins for the toilet plunger, toilet brush and drip catcher for the mop.
you can paint a large water bottle or empty drum and use it to cover anything that is an eye sore.
5. mirror mirror on the wall
a P100 ($2) wall mirror from unitop in colon will make your unit much more luxurious and elegant than a $100 million picasso painting. when i started listing my parent's properties in airbnb 10 years ago, i discovered that mirrors and glass tables instantly makes a room look like the lobby of shangrila hotel. it's quite easy to find second hand glass tables online (e.g. carousell.ph, craigslist (US)). when my parents went to the states i listed their house in airbnb. i was too lazy to buy a glass coffee table so i just took the mirror from their bedroom and placed it on top of the coffee table. tadaaaaaa !!!
6. the marble deception
at some point you will have water leaks under the sink and if you are like me who heavily depends on staff and rarely inspects the units, i suggest you line the cabinet under the sink with PVC self adhesive liner to protect your investment from water damage. it only costs around P220 in lazada including shipping. notice in the photo below i made sure to cover the hard to reach corners and crevices under the sink. i even used it on my parent's kitchen table and it instantly transformed the kitchen.
7. japanese/korean surplus
a second hand appliance from a japanese/korean surplus store is cheaper and lasts longer than brand new ones from a regular store which are usually made from china. one time i got lucky i was able to buy a heavy duty samsung microwave for only P1k. although i had to download a translator app and tape the translation printout on top of the microwave for the guests. it's also where i get my kitchen wares and housewares because they are more durable. i also issue my maids and scholars umbrellas, bicycles, school bags, etc ... from japanese surplus stores. these stuff annoyingly keeps breaking but the ones from the japanese surplus lasts forever.
8. cleaning gig for troubled youths
there is a growing glut of condominiums due to over building with no end in sight. if you bought a condo for rental investment, it will be very tough to rent it out because of too much competition. while waiting for a long term renter, you can list it in airbnb. the problem is that competition in airbnb is also tough. airbnb hosts will need to keep prices very low, resulting in razor thin margins (profits). the only way to make a profit is for the owners to clean the units themselves, which is impossible because if you bought a condo just for investment then it will be beneath you to be cleaning the toilet every time there is a new guest. you can take advantage of the techniques and documents i developed to easily train cheap but reliable cleaners who would be happy to clean your airbnb unit for just P100 - https://ian-crystal.blogspot.com/2021/08/cleaning-gig-for-troubled-youths.html
9. push button supply restocking
i take a photo of all the supplies that need restocking and email it to myself together with other important information such as how to get to the store and the price. then whenever my cleaner messages me a supply is running out or needs restocking, i simply search my email and forward the info to their messenger. then i gcash them the money. this gives them an opportunity to lakwacha and it trains them on mobility.
10. avoid double layer toilet plungers
i buy the simple single layer toilet plunger because it's just as effective as the double layer ones. the double layer plunger will cause feces to get stuck between the layers causing your bathroom to smell bad.
11. yes to fixers
your furniture and appliances will regularly take a beating. nowadays competition is so tough and margins are razor sharp thin such that if you don't fix them yourself, you could lose money. non fixers are like "oops the bed bracket fell off time to buy a new bed". then they go out and spend P20 thousand on a bed not realizing their monthly profit is only P10k. then weeks later, "oops one of the chairs is broken gotta buy a new set". and so on and so forth. instead of airbnb augmenting their income they don't realize it's actually draining their budget.
in the photo below, the bed support stand got detached because the bolt hole became enlarged so i simply used a washer so the bolt can be tightened. for additional support, i even cut an old plastic stool and tied it with a wire to the bed frame. similar thing happened to one of the chairs - the bolt hole cracked so i screwed in 2 brackets to hold it together.
while i was preparing my parent's house for airbnb, everyone who visited me told me to tear down the entire porch and rebuild it or i will get kicked out of airbnb because it looked disgusting. instead of following the advice of non mcgyvers and spending P200k, i simply replaced some of the decayed plywood, patched the cracks and holes with wood putty then repainted. took me only 1 day and i spent only around P500. when they saw my finished job they were so impressed at how nice it looked and commended me for following their advice. they thought i tore down everything and rebuilt it. hehehe.
warning: don't try this at home. depriving your wife the joy of shopping at a swedish furniture store is grounds for divorce.
i wanna share the techniques i discovered when i covered the tables and shelves with veneer because you can't find them in the internet. probably because they are more of hack and the results look unprofessional due to lack of proper tools and experience.
1) do not use scissors. it causes the sides to break
2) the cutter quickly becomes dull after cutting just 5 foot. but you can keep breaking off the tip of the cutter with a pliers to make it sharp again.
3) the cutter does not need to cut deep. you only need a shallow incision and the veneer will easily break off.
4) use a ruler to guide straight cuts. use the fine art skills you learned from professor abellana to cut the curves.
5) apply rugby liberally on both sides. let the rugby dry for 30 minutes. do not sell the left over rugby to the kids in the streets or inday duterte will tokhang you. unlike most leaders such as president GMA who i saw hiking around the navy golf course in quezon city while i was playing golf and she just ignored the dozens of kids sitting on the fence snorting rugby. kids snort rugby to ease their hunger pains. think of this reality the next time you eat your next meal. the root cause is parents having kids even if they can't afford to feed themselves. but strong population growth is what keeps the philippines strong. poor people are literally your heroes and you should thank them even if you do not agree with their political choices.
12. P20 thermal fuse
if the electric stove does not turn on, usually it's just a P20 fix. do a continuity test to make sure it's the culprit. then go to ACDC in colon and buy a 240 degree celsius thermal fuse. if you bought the stove from a korean surplus store, you don't need to do any soldering because the terminals are attached using a small bolt and nut. but if it's made in china, you need to do some soldering.
13. shower head declogger
the cleaning kit for my airbnb cleaners always contain a safety pin for declogging shower heads and toilet sprays from calcium deposits. i also keep a safety pin at the window ledge of my bathroom for this purpose.
14.green new deal
mankind will soon be extinct from climate change disaster and we should all do our part to slow down mankind's march towards the cliff.
a 4.5kg camel non automatic washer is only around P3k. the spinner also cost around P3k. they are easy to fix and the parts are available in lazada. the slums also have a repair shop as these are now becoming standard in slum households. my scholars use the repair shop in t padilla. if the airbnb turnover is fast and there is no sun, i use an electric fan to dry because it only takes 2 hours (it's already almost dry when it comes out of the spinner dryer). this setup has a very low carbon footprint or have very low electricity consumption. the average electricity and water cost per airbnb turnover is only around P5 (2 towels, 2 bedsheets, 2 blankets and 4 pillow covers). i pass on the savings to my scholars to help them with their schooling.
there are now self service laundry around town like the ones in the states. a typical airbnb load would cost around P100. the full service laundry would cost around P150. these are not feasible for airbnb anymore because of the razor thin margins due to competition. but they are useful for backup when your washer/spinner is being repaired.
my blog article contains more installation and repair tips - https://ian-crystal.blogspot.com/2019/01/economical-laundry-setup-for-my-scholars.html
the economical single tub non automatic washer regularly gets clogged. here's a video i made on how to declog it - declogging a single tub washer
15. wringable mop
a mop head small enough to be wrung when rinsing makes the cleaning process much more efficient.
16. toilet leak sentry
the problem with airbnb is that the guests do not have any incentive to conserve water and electricity. if there is a leak they won't bother reporting it. so if they are staying for a month and they let a strong flowing leak go on for a month you can end up with thousands on the water bill. they usually won't tolerate leaks if it will flood the unit and make the place inconvenient and immediately report it to you, but if the leak is in the toilet tank flapper, they might not bother notifying you even if it's flowing very strongly.
one solution is to use toilet leak sentry. in the states i always install this leak sentry fill valve. good thing i can also buy it here in the philippines through lazada (P750 or $15). it only fills the toilet tank when you flush the toilet. so if the flapper has a leak and i go to boracay for a month and i forgot to switch off the main water line i only waste a toilet tank worth of water. unlike the normal fill valves that continuously fills the tank whenever the water level goes down so if there is a slow leak then you waste precious water. this is especially important in talamban cebu where the water has very high levels of calcium which causes the flapper to leak. my tenant gave up always replacing the flapper and cleaning the tank to solve the leak caused by calcium deposits. instead they learned to push the flush lever down as soon as they sat down to kalibang (poo / number 2) so while they are doing their business the toilet tank will start to fill and they can immediately flush when they are done instead of waiting for the water tank to fill.
but i think the airbnb guest is simply not aware that the constant flow of water in the toilet bowl is not normal. if they know the flow is wasting water, they will report it to you. you just need to put a sign. just put it inside a plastic water envelope or clear book plastic cover to make it waterproof.
i believe human beings have the capacity for mutual aide and will cooperate with your motivational signs. so don't hesitate to put signs that will lower your operational cost such as electricity and plumbing repairs.
18. waterproof key labels
(for more of my airbnb hacks, search "ian's knowledge bombs" and click "airbnb-hacks" in the table of contents)
the key labels need to be waterproof so the label won't come off or disintegrate. the ones sold in stores get ruined no matter how much i wrap it with scotch tape. my first solution was to put the keys inside a glass bottle but the scholars are sometimes lazy they just stuff the keys in the cleaning kit bag together with the wet towels and floor rugs. so i cut out a piece from a plastic bottle, labeled it with permanent marker, and wrapped it with scotch tape so that the label won't come off. then i sprayed wd40 on the keys to minimize corrosion.
label both sides or else your scholar will have to bother you with a phone call because the keyholder is not labeled and you would have to tell her the label is on the other side of the keyholder.
keep the plastic bottle so that in case more keys need to be labeled in the future your descendants can inherit your intellectual property through administratorship or extrajudicial partitioning of your estate.
store the plastic bottle in the doors and furniture section of your hardware cabinet. being organized is for idiots like me. life is more fun if you are not organized because let's say you just need a scotch tape then even if there are 10 scotch tapes in your house, it would take you 1 week to find one so you end up having fun for half a day going to the store to buy a scotch tape. you get to experience the exciting thrill of looking for parking. then you get healthy exercise walking from the parking lot to the store. you also get to socialize with other customers while waiting in line at the check out counter.
18. vulcaseal around kitchen sinks
finally !!! search is over !!! for the last 10 years i've been managing rental properties, what really annoys me is when i put caulk around the kitchen sink, the caulk quickly deteriorates. i've tried all kinds of caulks and sealants i can buy at the hardware store and they all suck. when i visit other people's homes, i always look at the quality of the caulking around the kitchen sink and i'm always bewildered whenever the sealant is very high quality. i searched the internet maybe there are better sealants but all i get are the sucky ones at the hardware stores. then 6 months ago i tried to use vulcaseal even if it's for the roof. vulcaseal is not meant for the kitchen sink, but it worked PERFECTLY. until now, it has not deteriorated despite regularly subjected to muriatic acid. there's never any MOLDS. maybe it also has anti molds material. there is a portion with a 1 inch gap because my sink is warped. i just stuffed it with bike interior.
20. replacing wall ac thermostat
the wall ac was icing at the evaporator. ironically, ice on the evaporator cannot cool the room because it blocks the airflow. i cleaned the sensor coil and even inserted the end into the grills but the problem still happened. luckily i only needed to remove the cover plate to access the thermostat relay. whenever i shorted the 2 terminals on the relay, the compressor turned on. whenever i disconnected the 2 terminals, the compressor turned off. this means i just needed to replace the thermostat. they sell it online for P300 but it will take 2 weeks to arrive. so i just bought one at the local ac parts store. the ones they had on stock had a different bracket configuration so i had to bend the brackets so i can fasten the relay to the housing.
21. water filter manufacturer's scam
i just saved P4,000. for the past 5 years i've been trying to mcgyver the valve but turns out you can buy a new gate valve for this standard water purifier in shopee for only P338 (including shipping). also, before it was such a PAAAAAIN to replace the filters because the manufacturer made the o ring too stiff so that you will have to be an incredible hulk to tighten the housing so that there won't be any leak. removing the housing to replace the filter was also SOOOOOOOOOO difficult. the manufacturer did this in purpose in hopes the housing will crack while trying to tighten or loosen the housing with such force and you will have to buy a new unit for P4,500. some genius decided to make the softer silicon o rings and sell it online for only P38 each. oh the wonders of capitalism !!! if you order, make sure it's for the standard 10" housing. now it's very easy to replace the filters. and if the housing did crack because you were not aware the softer silicon o rings were available, you can also buy a replacement housing for ony P500+.
(for more of my knowledge bombs, click the "ian's knowledge bombs" banner at the top of this article and choose any article in the table of contents that piques your interest)
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