Order a call
Consultation and selection of housing - free of charge
Airbnb and Koh Samui Real Estate Agencies: Pros and Cons
Or how is it more profitable to book accommodation
When we first announced that we were opening a real estate agency, one of the subscribers asked: "Do you really think you can compete with other big agencies and with the AirBnB service"? And we really think we can. Let's compare the prices that the owners give us with the prices on the very popular AirBnB resource.
Prices from the agent, even taking into account the commission, are often 10-20% cheaper.
Let's look in more detail, why is this happening?
What does the cost on AirBnB consist of?:
● owner's price + AirBnB commission. In this case, you get the cheapest possible price.
● owner's price + agent's commission + AirBnB commission. I don't know if I'll surprise someone now or not, but on AirBnB a lot of real estate is retaken by the same realtors, who, of course, do not forget about themselves. Therefore, you will pay a double commission!
The AirBnB commission is 15% of the cost. And if the same Booking.com takes 15-18%, but exclusively from hotels, then AirBnB takes 3% from the owner and 12% from the tenant. So it turns out that the price is directly from the agent, or comparable to the price of the service, or cheaper. Of course, it also happens that the price on the service is lower than that of the agent, but more on that below.
And now, in order not to be unfounded, specific examples:
What does the cost on AirBnB consist of?:
● owner's price + AirBnB commission. In this case, you get the cheapest possible price.
● owner's price + agent's commission + AirBnB commission. I don't know if I'll surprise someone now or not, but on AirBnB a lot of real estate is retaken by the same realtors, who, of course, do not forget about themselves. Therefore, you will pay a double commission!
The AirBnB commission is 15% of the cost. And if the same Booking.com takes 15-18%, but exclusively from hotels, then AirBnB takes 3% from the owner and 12% from the tenant. So it turns out that the price is directly from the agent, or comparable to the price of the service, or cheaper. Of course, it also happens that the price on the service is lower than that of the agent, but more on that below.
And now, in order not to be unfounded, specific examples:
Example №1
from the owner
Lamai, 2 bedroom villa, walking distance to the sea, communal pool:
Our price is 40,000 baht/month. + 5,000 baht our one-time commission = 45,000 baht.
Link to our website (the base price is indicated in high season).
The price of AirBnB is 46,200 baht/month monthly (!).
Link to AirBnB.
Link to our website (the base price is indicated in high season).
The price of AirBnB is 46,200 baht/month monthly (!).
Link to AirBnB.
The price is essentially the same. However, our commission includes a transfer from the pier or airport to the place of arrival, and this is at least 700-1000 baht.
Example №2
from a realtor
Lamai, 2 bedroom house, walking distance to the sea, communal pool:
Our price is 24,000 baht/month + 5,000 baht our one-time commission = 29,000 baht.
Link to our website.
The price of AirBnB is 35,000 baht/month.
Is the difference of 6,000 baht (10,100 rubles) already a good one?
Link to our website.
The price of AirBnB is 35,000 baht/month.
Is the difference of 6,000 baht (10,100 rubles) already a good one?
And again, let's remember that our price includes a transfer, SIM cards and in addition you get personal free consultants on the island;)
Example №3
from the owner
It just so happened that Lamai again, studio apartments, walking distance to the sea, a communal swimming pool:
Our price is 24,000 baht /month, the commission is paid by the owner. i.e. no additional payments (except utilities).
Link to our website.
The price of AirBnB is 25,000 baht/month.
Link to our website.
The price of AirBnB is 25,000 baht/month.
And there is already a difference of 11,000 baht/month (22,000 rubles). I think it is unlikely that someone will want to overpay the amount to which you can add a little and live for 2 months in these apartments.
Advantages of AirBnB
AirBnB is a service with a number of advantages
- 1Dynamic prices onlineAll the examples above are, of course, more common when the price difference is a plus, not a minus. But the opposite situation also happens: the owner has an empty villa or house for a month, he deliberately lowers the price on AirBnB (or he has dynamic price settings and AirBnB automatically lowers the price when there is no demand), and of course, he will not call all 100/500 agents to notify them about this joyful event. Therefore, in this situation, the price may still be less than that of the agent and more profitable for you.
- 2Money safety guaranteeAirBnB pays money to the hosts only after the guest has checked in, if no complaints have been received from the latter. It will also save your money if the owner simply does not get in touch upon your arrival (there are many such examples, look on the Internet if you are interested).
- 3Huge real estate databaseThe most significant advantage of the service is a large number of real estate objects. Due to the popularity of the service, owners and agents themselves add objects to the site, while private agents have to search for objects themselves.
Advantages of private agents
There are also enough positive aspects on the side of private agents
- 1Your personal representativeThere are several concepts of the word "agent". The agent can represent the interests of the owner, the interests of the buyer/tenant, or represent both parties simultaneously. We are the tenant's agents and represent your interests. This means that if there is a construction site near your future home, we will definitely warn you about it. If there is a persistent smell of cigarettes in the house, you will be the first to know about it.
- 2Guarantee of the appearance of housingBefore booking, the agent takes a photo-video review of the accommodation and sends it to the client. In this context, you can see the real state of housing at the moment. There is no video at all on rental services, and the photo is added directly by the owner of the housing. Very often the photos were taken immediately after the renovation, which was completed a
couple of years ago and in what condition the housing is now often unknown. - 3The agent is your guide on the islandWhere to have a delicious meal? Where to celebrate the anniversary? On which beach to choose a property in April? How to rent a cheap car? Your agent will be able to answer all these questions. The agent is an expert on the area where he lives and works. You can call your agent and ask, "What should I do? Do I have a toothache?" and get advice on which clinic to go to.
Inferences:
- Compare prices on both AirBnB and agents.
- If you have found an option you like in our database, but you don't go through the budget a bit, be sure to let us know about it! We will contact the owner and update the price, perhaps right now this option is not in demand and he is ready to give a discount. Or he will make a good discount for early booking.
- Check the number of ads from the owner on AirBnB. If there are a lot of them, then 90% is a realtor or manager. It is easy to check this by logging in to the AirBnB website under your username, and on the housing page click on the owner's avatar, which will take you to the user's personal page and all the user's ads will be shown in the left corner.
Our contacts
Request a callback
Contact in person
Send an email:
Phone number in Thailand:
Subscribe to new articles
Every week we publish articles about holidays, real estate and life hacks on Koh Samui.