September 20, 2012 (Powerhomebiz.com) Charlie Yzaguirre and Tim McCormick each found Airbnb separately, but for the same reasons. With costs rising and no raises, it was getting harder and harder to make ends meet. What started in 2011 as a way to make some quick extra money has turned into a reliable income stream for both of them. They use Airbnb to find guests who want to stay in their extra bedrooms for a few nights to a few months. What makes the business work is that Airbnb goes further to protect both hosts and guests than other web matching services like craigslist.
Americans are facing some of the same financial pressures being felt by people all over the world. The US Commerce Department reports that wages have been essentially flat since 2008. Meanwhile, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the Consumer Price (All Items) Index has been increasing from 1% to 3% per year since 2010. And after years of foreclosures, according to real estate website Zillow, as of the first quarter of 2012, over 31% of Americans who have a mortgage on their home owe more than their homes are worth. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that as of the end of 2011, more than eight million Americans are now working second jobs. People can no longer simply try to stretch their limited paychecks. They are looking for new ways to generate income, and many of them are finding a second income with Airbnb.
Airbnb is a San Francisco based website with a quarter of a million listings worldwide, and it has been growing at an impressive rate. Guests find significant savings over staying in hotels and hosts generate income from something they already pay for, the extra space in their homes. Charlie Yzaguirre: “I didn’t realize what a waste it was having my second bedroom essentially being a storage closet until I started making the kind of money that I am making now on Airbnb.”
Charlie and Tim have hosted numerous Americans as well as guests from over twenty foreign countries. They have chronicled their experience of hosting in a new book, Inn Your Home – How to Turn Your Extra Space Into a Money Making B&B using www.airbnb.com, to help guide others in getting started. Charlie and Tim’s book takes readers through the process of how to turn their own extra spaces into money makers. Hosts rent everything from spare rooms to campers to caves, and a big focus of their book is on how to get started cheaply and make the most of the opportunities the website offers. Tim McCormick: “It took both of us a while to discover how to get this running smoothly and we learned as we went. Meeting all of these travelers was great fun, but figuring out how to make a business out of it came more slowly.”
Inn Your Home will be available on Amazon Kindle on September 24, 2012. Paperback and other e-book editions to follow.
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About the authors
Charlie Yzaguirre holds two Bachelor’s degrees: one in Marketing, the other in Hospitality and Casino Management. He has been in the business of providing hospitality and customer service for over twenty years and runs a home based B&B using airbnb.
Tim McCormick is a freelance author and world traveler who runs a home based B&B using Airbnb. Before his current arrangement, Tim ran a large rooming house in Providence, RI. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing.
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