A chap in my office is going on a three-week business trip next month, so he decides he will let his one-bedroom flat in a trendy part of south London via Airbnb while he's gone.
But when he uploads his property details on to the short lettings company's website, he is appalled that its automated pricing system suggests he charges a nightly rate of just £27.
“Twenty-seven quid?” he shouts. “I'd rather leave it empty, it's not worth the hassle.” I agree with him, it's not worth it.
Even if his flat is let every night for three weeks, he will only earn £567, so after he has paid the energy bills, a cleaning company, insurance and storage costs for all his personal clutter and valuables that he wants to remove from the flat, plus Airbnb's commission, he'll end up with about £200.
Actually, he could earn far less because the flat probably won't be let every single night.
My co-worker is shocked because three years ago he let a similar one-bedroom flat in the same area for more than £100 a night on Airbnb, but I think the market in London has since been flooded with holiday rentals, forcing prices down.
If you have a high-end flat or luxury house in central London or one of the smarter suburbs, you might still be able to make a killing, but not if you have a property in deepest suburbia.
When my two-bedroom rental was empty for a couple of weeks recently, I advertised it on Airbnb and regretted it afterwards.
One group of three paid £175 for five nights, most of which went on the cost of cleaning and heating the flat. I also had to wash and change the linen on two beds and launder three sets of towels.
One afternoon I received a phone call from the group to say the front door key had jammed in the lock so they couldn't get in. However, when I hurried over there with a spare key I found them trying to get into the wrong house.
The day after they left I had a message from another guest who said he was standing outside the flat and he wanted to book it immediately for five days, which was my minimum booking period.
After checking his profile on Airbnb, I rushed over to let him and his “girlfriend” into the property and everything seemed fine, but the following morning he wanted to move out and asked for a refund for the unused nights.
I realised then that the cheeky sod had never intended to stay for more than 24 hours — he had just used the place as somewhere cheap to shack up for the night.
When I refused him a refund he asked for a discount instead. Given that he was only paying £35 a night I laughed, so he complained to Airbnb that the property was so dirty he couldn't be expected to stay.
The flat had been professionally cleaned and the guest was unable to provide any evidence to back up his claim, but Airbnb suggested that either I paid for a second clean to “keep him happy” or I refund him. I was incensed.
The guy was a chancer, but I decided that life is too short to try to win every battle and agreed to the refund. Life is also too short for me to waste any more time trying to run an Airbnb flat. It's back to long-stay tenants for me.