How to List a Short Let in Nigeria: Step-by-Step Guide

To list a short let in Nigeria, get the flat guest-ready, take good photos, set your price, create a Short Let listing on Cabans, with online bookings on by default so guests can pick dates and pay. Short lets in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan draw business travellers, visitors from abroad and people who prefer a furnished flat to a hotel. This guide walks you through every step.

The steps at a glance

1. Prepare your apartment. Furnish it fully, check every appliance, make sure the generator and Wi-Fi work, and deep-clean before you take photos.
2. Take quality photos. Photograph every room in good natural light. More clear photos help guests decide.
3. Set your price and your fees. Compare similar short lets in your estate, choose a price per night, and decide on any cleaning fee, caution deposit and longer-stay offers.
4. Create your listing on Cabans. From your seller dashboard, create a new listing, choose Short Let, fill in the details, upload your photos and save it for review.
5. Set your booking rules. Online bookings are on by default. On the listing edit page, open Availability, prices and booking rules, close dates you cannot host, set your rules and save the calendar. Switch off Take bookings online to stop new bookings.
6. Answer requests and welcome guests. Accept or decline paid requests in time, or use instant book. Hand over the keys, approve check-in, then confirm check-out and settle the caution deposit.

1. Prepare your apartment

Before you list, the apartment needs to be guest-ready. This means:

• Full furnishing — living room, bedroom(s), kitchen, and bathroom. Guests expect a working home from day one.
• Reliable generator — power is the most common guest complaint in Nigerian short lets. Service the generator and be clear about diesel.
• Wi-Fi — essential for most guests, particularly business travellers and remote workers in Lagos and Abuja.
• Air conditioning — a standard expectation in almost every Nigerian city.
• Deep clean — a professional clean before photos and before every guest arrives.

Homes with reliable power, good Wi-Fi and a clean, simple look do better than the competition, wherever they are.

2. Take quality photos

Your photos decide whether a guest shortlists your apartment or scrolls past it. Every room needs its own photo: living room, each bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and any outdoor space.

Use daylight where you can — open the curtains before shooting. Clear the surfaces. A clean, well-lit kitchen photo does more work than any description. Take more photos than you need and keep the best. For the words that go with them, see how to write a shortlet listing that gets booked.

3. Set your price and your fees

Look at similar short lets in your estate on Cabans: the same area, the same number of bedrooms, and similar power and furnishing. The things that let you charge more are the area, 24-hour power, the size and finish of the flat, extras such as a pool or gym, and busy dates such as December.

• Your base price. Set a "Rent Price (₦)" with "Payment Frequency" set to "Per Night". Guests book and pay by the night. Your calendar uses the listing price unless you set a special price.
• Busy-day prices. In your booking calendar you can set a special price for one day, or a price for a whole period.
• Longer stays. Offer up to 3 longer-stay discount levels (such as "7+ nights, 10% off"), or free nights (such as "Stay 5 nights, get 1 free"). A guest gets whichever saves them more, never both.
• A cleaning fee. A fixed amount added once to each stay. Discounts never apply to it.
• A caution deposit. A fixed amount in naira, not a percentage. The guest pays it once and gets it back after check-out, less any damage the Cabans team agrees you may keep.

Be clear about what is included: diesel, Wi-Fi, water and how often the flat is cleaned. Guests who can see everything up front book with more confidence.

4. Create your listing on Cabans

Hosts use a business profile on Cabans. After signing in, choose "List & Sell", then go to your seller dashboard.

1. Press "Create New Listing" (or start at list your property).
2. In "Property Details", answer "Do you want to Rent it or Sell it?" with "Short Let".
3. Enter your location, rooms and amenities (generator, Wi-Fi, air conditioning, parking, kitchen).
4. Set your price and payment frequency, your check-in and check-out times, and any caution deposit.
5. Fill in the short-let sections: "Longer-stay discounts", "Free nights offer" and "Cancellation".
6. Upload your photos and save. Listing changes are checked by the Cabans team before guests see them.

Guests searching for short lets in Lekki, short lets in Ikoyi or any other area will then find your home.

5. Set your booking rules

Bookings are on by default, so guests can book without calling you. Open your listing's edit page and go to "Availability, prices and booking rules". This part is saved on its own and goes live as soon as you save it.

• "Take bookings online" — on by default. Switch it off to stop new bookings; bookings you already have are kept.
• "Instant book" — on, and paid bookings are confirmed straight away. Off, and you accept or decline each paid request.
• "Time to accept a request" — 24 hours unless you choose another. A request you do not answer in time is declined and the guest is refunded in full.
• "Minimum stay (nights)" and "Longest stay (nights)" — 1 and 90 unless you change them.
• "Guests can book up to" — how far ahead guests can book, 1 year unless you change it.
• Your calendar — open the dates you want, block the ones you do not (the reason stays private), and set special prices.

Then press "Review and save calendar" and "Save and publish calendar". Next, add your "Stay information": house rules, arrival steps, a check-out checklist, the Wi-Fi name and password, and the door code. Guests see the Wi-Fi password and door code only once you approve their check-in, and they are never emailed.

The full walk-through is in how to make your short let bookable online, and the take shortlet bookings online page explains what it means for your business.

6. How guests pay, and how you get paid

• Guests pay online through Paystack, in naira, when they book. They pay Paystack's payment fee on top.
• Cabans takes a 5% commission on each booking paid online.
• You are paid within 7 days after the guest's stay, and sooner when the guest approves the payment after the trip.
• You choose a free-cancellation time, from 24 hours to 30 days before check-in. A guest who cancels in time gets back 100% of the booking. Paystack’s payment fee is not refunded.

More detail is in how guest payments, refunds and payouts work.

7. Answer requests and enquiries quickly

If you do not use instant book, answer each paid request inside your answer time. The request panel shows how long you have left. Guests who hear back fast are more likely to come back.

Some guests will still message you first. Answer clearly: availability for their dates, what is included (diesel, cleaning, Wi-Fi), the check-in process and your house rules.

8. Manage the guest experience

When the guest arrives and taps "I have arrived", hand over the keys and press "Approve check-in". When they leave, press "Confirm check-out", then release the caution deposit or raise a dispute if something was damaged. The Cabans team decides any dispute.

Repeat guests and word of mouth are the cheapest bookings you will ever get. The basics that earn them: a working generator on arrival, a clean flat, every listed amenity working, clear check-in steps, and a host who answers during the stay. The Host Academy covers each of these in short lessons.

Which areas have the strongest short let demand?

• Lekki — Lagos' busiest short let market
• Ikoyi — premium corporate and executive stays
• Victoria Island — business travel all year round
• Ikeja — the airport corridor and mainland business
• Yaba — tech and university visitors
• Abuja — government, conference and corporate demand

Frequently asked questions

Ready to list your short let? Start at list your short let, see how to advertise your short let, or go straight to list your property on Cabans.

Related guides

Take shortlet bookings online · Host help centre · How to start a shortlet business in Nigeria · Short let vs long-term rental · Shortlet house rules template