The Go-Live Checklist: What to Do Before Your First Booking

1. Confirm STR permitting for your address. 

Requirements vary by city and sometimes by neighborhood. Check your city's official website or call the planning department directly. Some cities have a waitlist. Better to know early. 

2. Review your insurance situation. 

Call your current insurer and ask whether short-term rental activity is covered. If it isn't, get a quote from an STR-specific provider before you list. This step costs $0 to find out and potentially a lot to skip. 

3. Check HOA or building rules. 

If you're in an HOA or a condo association, the governing rules of your building may restrict or prohibit short-term rentals entirely. This is a hard stop if it applies to you, and it's worth finding out before you spend money on setup. 

4. Complete an STR readiness inspection. 

An inspector walks through the property and documents what's missing, what needs repair, and what's needed for guest safety and comfort. Think: smoke detectors, CO detectors, fire extinguisher placement, furniture gaps, amenity gaps. It's the most efficient way to find what you don't know you're missing. 

5. Furnish and stage. 

If you're doing STR, you're furnishing it. For a three-bedroom, budget $6,000 to $12,000 for quality furnishings that photograph well and hold up to regular use. Not everything needs to be expensive. Everything needs to be intentional. 

6. Professional photography. 

Your photos are your listing. Guests book based on images before they read a single sentence of your description. Good STR photography typically runs $150 to $300 and pays for itself in the first booking. 

7. Write your listing. 

Title, description, house rules, and house manual. Be specific. Guests who know what to expect before they arrive leave better reviews than guests who are figuring things out on arrival. 

8. Set your initial pricing. 

Research what comparable listings in your area charge on weekdays, weekends, and during local events. Set your baseline rates with room to adjust. You don't need a perfect pricing strategy on day one. You need a reasonable starting point. 

9. Configure your booking settings. 

Minimum night requirements, whether guests can book instantly or need your approval first, cancellation policy, check-in and checkout times. Get these right before you go live, not after your first awkward booking. 

10. Identify your cleaner. 

You need a reliable cleaner before your first booking, not after. Get them familiar with what you expect after each guest checks out and give them a property-specific checklist. 

11. Build your vendor list. 

Who handles plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and lockouts? Having at least one contact per category before you need them is the difference between a minor inconvenience and a guest nightmare. 

12. Set up guest communication templates. 

Pre-booking message, booking confirmation, pre-arrival instructions, checkout reminder. These can be templated and sent on schedule so you're not writing from scratch every time. 

Walk through your property the day before your first guest arrives. Stay in the mindset of someone who has never been there before. Where would they get confused? What's missing? What's not working? Fix it now. 

Then publish. 

HostDesk's STR Readiness Inspection is designed to work through this list with you so nothing falls through the cracks. Koli walks through each item specific to your property and flags what still needs attention before you list, including compliance items, vendor gaps, and operational setup. You get a prioritized view of what to tackle first based on your actual property and location, not a generic list built for someone else's situation. 

You work through it. Koli keeps track of where you are. 

Get started free at thehostdesk.com. 

• Do You Actually Need a Permit to List on Airbnb? 
• STR Insurance vs. Standard Homeowner's Policy: What's the Difference? 
• What Is an STR Readiness Inspection and Do You Need One? 
• What's Included in the Interior Design Package (And What Isn't) 
• What Happens After Your Guest Checks Out