How to Airbnb in 2025 (And Beat 99.26% of Hosts)

2025 is just around the corner, and the short-term rental market is evolving rapidly. As a host, you need to embrace these changes, not just go with the flow. This article will share 10 strategies to help you stand out on Airbnb and make more money than your competitors.

1. Focus on Your Brand

If you don’t have a brand yet, now is the time to ask yourself: “Who is my company?” not “What is my company?” Your company should have a personality, reflected in how you communicate with guests and the overall feel of your listings. Whether your brand is spunky and fun, sophisticated and dignified, or full of personality, ensure it aligns with your property style. This brand consistency leads to five-star reviews, even with just one property. Start now to avoid fixing it later when you scale.

Caution: Be wary of using AI (like ChatGPT) to run all your messages. AI can cut down on errors and provide factual information, but the final message needs a human touch.

2-4. Design: The Core of Standing Out

In 2025, design is the most important part of a property. Ten years ago, Airbnb’s novelty of “not being a hotel” was enough. But now, the market is saturated with similar, basic listings (white, gray, blue). You must deviate from the norm through design.

2. Pick a Color: Choose a lead color that isn’t what your competitors are using. When people scroll through Airbnb, a bright orange or pink listing will pop, grabbing attention and increasing clicks. More clicks mean higher search rankings.
3. Define Your Style: Color and style go hand-in-hand. If you’re a fun brand, your couch should be fun. If you’re sophisticated, opt for a modern, contemporary, Architectural Digest-style listing. Style trends change fast—from Boho to Scandinavian to Japandi. Be prepared to update your furniture every 3-5 years to stay current. A unique and trending style creates an emotional connection with guests and keeps you at the top of the algorithm.
4. Use a Theme: In markets where a design style isn’t enough, a theme can take you further. Whether it’s a movie theme near Disney (Moana, Marvel), pop culture (Barbie Dreamhouse), or even a niche interest (a masculine, aeronautics-themed space for pilots), themes create a strong emotional connection. This demonstrated effort and passion for your listing will resonate with specific groups and make them willing to pay more.

5. Diversify Listing Types

Beyond apartments, condos, and houses, explore treehouses, mansions, yurts, cottages, bubble domes, and more. While not every area can take advantage of these, surprising opportunities often arise.

One of my students saw a $4,000 monthly increase in revenue for a Dallas townhouse by adding a stargazing bubble dome to its rooftop. This differentiation helps you break out of the “band” of similar, competitive listings and enter a smaller, less saturated, higher-yield “stratosphere” of quality. Just a few thousand dollars more invested can yield dramatically different results.

You can also focus on underserved listing types or combine types (e.g., a bubble dome on a downtown townhouse roof). Observe what Airbnb itself promotes on its landing page – they are telling you what people want!

6. Go Multi-Channel

Relying solely on Airbnb is no longer sufficient. Beyond Vrbo and Booking.com, explore niche platforms.

Increased Exposure: Multi-channel distribution boosts your listing’s visibility across the internet, leading to more bookings without necessarily lowering your prices.
Direct Bookings: Learning to secure direct bookings is key to avoiding OTA fees. Utilize platforms like Facebook Marketplace, FurnishFinder, Bring-Phto, or Copa, especially for monthly bookings during slow seasons.
Upcoming Platforms: Look for new platforms investing heavily in advertising but lacking hosts. They can send you significant traffic and help you bypass any negative Airbnb brand perception.

7. Pricing Strategy: Exploit Market Deviations

Pricing is a masterclass in game theory. In the slow season, when listings far outnumber guests, aggressively drop your prices, offer deep discounts for longer stays (6-10 weeks), and open your calendar years in advance to lock in bookings.

In the peak season, when everything gets booked, be “greedy.” Price 20% higher than competitors, or even 3-4 times your normal rate during major events (like a Taylor Swift concert). If your property offers unique value, even at a higher price, guests will book it when other options are exhausted.

This “deviation pricing” allows you to secure revenue early in the slow season and maximize earnings during peak times.

8. Market Deviation: Unearthing Underserved Goldmines

Choosing the right market is crucial. Look for:

Hotel Vacuums (Blitzing): Areas like Houston’s East Downtown or Philadelphia’s Fishtown/Northern Liberties. These neighborhoods, once considered unsafe or undesirable by hotels, become prime Airbnb locations after revitalization, offering lower property costs but close proximity to key attractions. Get in before hotels do, and you can make a killing.
Migration Patterns: Monitor cities experiencing rapid growth or decline due to business, political shifts (e.g., post-Roe v. Wade state policies). Transient individuals exploring new places to live might stay at your Airbnb.
Underserved Existing Markets: Some markets have many hosts, but their quality of service and design is subpar. Being the best host in such an area can make you stand out. One of my students dominated Birmingham, Alabama, by offering high-quality service, quickly acquiring 20 doors and achieving significant net profit.

9. In-House Team: The Controversial Edge

This is my most controversial advice, but vital for profitability: don’t outsource everything. Excessive outsourcing makes you lose control over three critical aspects of your business:

Cost Control: By bringing housekeeping in-house (hiring employees instead of contractors), you can reduce cleaning costs from $60-70 per turnover to $18-25. This cost reduction allows for more aggressive pricing during slow seasons.
Quality Control: In-house cleaners can perform additional tasks beyond basic cleaning (e.g., checking alarms, taking inventory, home wellness checks) that contract companies won’t. You can build your own system where they follow specific steps.
Culture Building: Contractors don’t care about your brand or culture. But an in-house team, when properly trained and aligned with your vision, becomes the flag-bearer of your brand. They believe in your message and work towards your goals, creating a powerful team culture.

10. Internal Why: From Selfish to Service

Finally, and most esoterically, deviate internally from your original “why.” Many enter short-term rentals for money, creative outlet, or escaping a 9-to-5. But remember, you are in Hospitality, and hospitality is about your customer, not about you.

When you shift your focus from profits to providing truly valuable, memorable experiences for your guests, you surpass most others in the industry. Post-COVID, many “lazy, entitled real estate people” flooded the market, prioritizing quick cash over guest experience, harming the industry’s reputation.

To protect your business, protect your customer from these individuals. Build something better, something people truly want, something that adds net positive value to the overall short-term rental brand. When you genuinely care about your customers and elevate the industry’s standards, you will earn loyalty, and those solely chasing quick cash will inevitably fail.

I hope these strategies help you crush it in the 2025 Airbnb market!

How to Airbnb in 2025 (And Beat 99.26% of Hosts)