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Earn money as a host
This lady earns RM7500 in 3 days, and how you can do it too
From 2015, with the rise of Airbnb in Malaysia on their home-sharing platform that allows travelers to find a place to stay. Anne is one of the first hosts that jumps right into the trend. Like most property owners, she is not only sharing her extra room but also the whole house for travelers to stay.
Anne and her husband, CT, owns an old house in Sentul where CT grew up together with his parents and grandparents as the first generation of a Chinese family that moved to Malaysia
The special thing
Her listing is very different from other properties that are listed on Airbnb. The whole house is full of antiques and gives a very nostalgic presence for its renters. Only renting the room for RM90/night, the travelers are still not satisfied. Because the house has no air-conditioner and is uncomfortable for most travelers from overseas.
Comparing with other listings that are offering a better place to stay with modern facilities at a lower price, Anne’s listing faded out on Airbnb, leaving the house unseen in the depths of 3million Airbnb listings.
Trying different things
The couple quickly realize that the travelers are looking for a night of comfortable stay and do not appreciate the nostalgic presence of the building. The couple struggles to share their homes to rent everywhere on the internet, but there’s no one who is willing to stay in a home that is not comfortable.
They thought of reducing the price to RM65/night but not only that it backfired by positioning itself as a cheap listing in an inconvenient area, the rented night barely covers the cost to maintain the house. Old buildings are expensive to maintain due to higher wear and tear.
The AHA! moment
It started on a day at the end of 2018, when the couple received a call from a friend who is a producer at TV station. The call goes like this:
Producer: Hey, I’m looking for an old house for Chinese New Year shooting. On your Facebook I saw you posting an old house, is it yours?
A & CT: Yes, it is ours.
Producer: Wow, awesome. Can I drop by tomorrow and take a look? We’d like to have a film shooting here, we’re shooting a Chinese New Year video for Petronas. I saw on Airbnb you’re renting it for RM65/night for a room, how about the whole house?
A & CT: For the whole house, we can give a rate of RM800/night.
Producer: Wow that’s awfully cheap. Let’s talk about the price when I’m there tomorrow.
Anne hung up the phone, the word “Wow that’s awfully cheap” lingers in her mind for all day. How is the space awfully cheap? She started doing some homework and found other similar buildings are renting at RM150 per hour!
No wonder it is “awfully cheap”…
What changes
Renting spaces for commercial purposes can be often priced higher as compared to staying for the whole night.
This changes the whole mindset of the couple and started branding their space as a nostalgic event space, instead of a room for homestays.
Over the past 2 years, they’ve hosted a lot of events for businesses from a corporate getaway, annual dinner, traditional chinese weddings, commercial shoots and more.
Want to earn like them?
Share your space for meetings, events & production
It's not an overnight success
You can say that the space sells by itself because it is so special and it is one-of-a-kind. But over hundreds and thousands of spaces that we’ve got in touch with, Anne & CT is one of the most persistent and friendliest hosts we’ve met.
Always improving the space and maintaining the client’s happiness, is a continuous effort that makes them successful today.
There are days when there’s too much to handle, from client visits, accounting, payment collection and damage to the space, it’s the attitude that sets them apart from others.
Anne Wong
Anne is one of the first hosts on Chupspace from November 2018. She operates a bungalow cum. event space that makes her around RM20,000 per month.
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