Over the summer, Airbnb filmed Bryan and I (Bianca made a few appearances, too!) in an episode for their #HowtoHost video series.  Our episode was geared toward helping other hosts get more 5-star reviews, and it was FUN!  We had a blast working with the Airbnb crew at our Historic Townhome for a few days, sharing info that we’re super passionate about.  If you missed it, you can catch our episode here.

We’re excited to be back to share more about how we got to where we are today and why we love hosting!

This post is sponsored by Airbnb. Click here to learn more about becoming a host!

financial freedom

You may have heard us say this before: financial freedom is at the heart of why Bryan & I got started with Airbnb hosting, and it’s still what drives us today.  We moved to Columbus from NYC in 2013 because we wanted a better quality of life, bought our first house, and started doing DIY projects in our spare time.  To make some extra cash, we listed our spare bedroom on Airbnb and were introduced to hosting.  We made enough to cover our entire mortgage payment, which allowed us pay down our personal debt and buy our first investment property.

Over the past six years, we’ve renovated over a dozen homes and kept four as Airbnb rentals. This income has helped us both to quit our day jobs, become full-time entrepreneurs, and pursue our passions.  Little by little, we’re creating a lifestyle that gives us freedom to do work that excites us, wake up each day and choose how we want to spend our time, and make enough money to live comfortably.

WHY WE HOST

Aside from the financial freedom that hosting gives us, it allows us to merge all of the things we love: interior design, renovation, real estate investment and entrepreneurship.  We enjoy every single part of the process, from buying a property and running the numbers, to creating the design plan, to construction, decorating, and ultimately sharing it with others.  It’s incredibly fun having complete creative control over our designs, and pushing the design limits to create a unique experience for our guests.

how we host

We are super intentional about designing our Airbnb spaces from the very beginning of the planning process, taking into account all of the little details like great water pressure and comfy beds and functional kitchens and locally sourced goodies.  We want our homes to be special, and leave guests feeling excited and taken care of.

A well designed Airbnb goes far beyond the pretty pictures.  Functionality and comfort are super important, too…

… and, of course, anticipating our guests’ needs from the beginning, no matter how little they may be 😉

BIG thank you to The Wonder Jam for snapping these photos for us!