Whether you’re renting out a room or your entire vacation home, hosting on Airbnb provides powerful economic benefits to hosts and their communities. In 2021, the typical host in the US earned over $13,800, an increase of 85% over 2019. Additionally, nights booked at unique properties increased globally by over 49% from 2019-2021.

Increasingly, vacationers, and people in general, have shifted their focus, seeking out experience over simple practicality. Millennials especially are willing to pay more for unique memories, not just postcard photographs. Staying at the classic A-frame Holiday Inn might have suited your grandparents, but it’s just not special enough for today’s crowd.

That’s what birthed Airbnb‘s OMG! listings – and now, they’re leaning into it even more.

Airbnb and CEO Brian Chesky announced the $10,000,000 OMG! Fund, created to finance 100 of the craziest and most unique property ideas, giving 100 people $100,000 each to turn them into actual Airbnb OMG! Category listings, Airbnb’s collection of one-of-a-kind, offbeat homes.

The OMG! Fund is meant to unleash the creativity of designers, architects, and DIYers from around the globe to create the world’s most remarkable spaces and the opportunity to host them on Airbnb.

Here’s How the OMG! Fund Contest Works:

• Starting June 22nd, eligible applicants can apply via airbnb.com/omgfund by submitting their crazy idea, what makes it unique, and its inspiration.
• Applicants must have ownership of the property and either have an idea for developing, renovating or finishing improvements on an existing space that can be completed with the contest finishing funds.
• Judges will select recipients, including centenarian-style icon Iris Apfel, Airbnb Superhost, and creator of OMG! Listings (including the Potato Hotel) Kristie Wolfe, founder of Koichi Takada Architects Koichi Takada, and Airbnb’s VP of Experiential Creative Product Bruce Vaughn
• Applications will be accepted until 11:59 pm ET on July 22nd, 2022.
• There are four phases of contest development, with increasing levels of competition to test the most resilient and spectacular ideas.
• The 100 best ideas will be selected by the judges and announced this fall.
• Complete rules can be found on airbnb.com/omgfund.

With just a month to apply, applicants will need all the savvy ingenuity they can muster to prove they’re worthy of being one of the winning 100.

Applicants will have to get super creative to be considered. Some of the listings already posted in the Airbnb OMG list include an Oregon Trail-style covered wagon, a Southern Pacific Train car, a baked potato, several literal tree houses in Indonesia, an alien spacecraft, a yellow submarine, and many other incredibly unique locations.

Of course, sometimes a combination of crazy idea and location is what sets it apart – for example, you can stay in an underground missile silo, in Roswell, New Mexico, within shouting distance of the famed Area 51/Nevada Testing Site. Or a boat house in China, not too far from where some scholars think Noah’s Ark might have landed.

But it’s not all about how crazy it can get. Entries will be judged on whether the money will help execute the idea, then 40% on how unique it is, 40% on how feasible it is – including can it be ready to go in just 9 months – 10% on being environmentally sustainable, and 10% on how immersive the experience is.

For those who don’t get in on this great contest, there are other ways to cash in on the Airbnb craze and earn some excellent side cash.

At any rate, opportunity awaits those looking to create a truly remarkable Airbnb space. This contest is just the stepping stone to getting started.

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