In our area - and I mean immediate area - I have seen plenty of hosts come and go. It seems that the world and his wife want to ‘give Airbnb a try’.
And they are doing it for the money. Don’t get me wrong, so am I, but I also am very keen to ensure that guests have a great stay and I actively enjoy getting the place ready for them (with all the unexpected extras) and, although I’m not a particularly sociable person, I enjoy meeting guests. I also love where I live and love to share it with others.
But, as most hosts know, it’s bloody hard work. If you’re onsite, it’s not just the preparation, the cleaning, the internet work, the accounts, the laundry, the shopping for supplies … it’s also dealing with guests during their stay. This is especially the case if like all humans, the guests have traits that you’d rather not have on your premises.
For me anyway, I have to truly love this job to be able to do it. Judging by the posts I read here, and I’m not saying by any means that I have perfected this, I consider myself to be a stress-free host. I doubt that the ‘let’s give Airbnb a try’ hosts aren’t like that.
Soon they’ll learn that they stress over reviews, stress about empty days in their calendar, stress about what reviews to write, stress about just about every aspect of hosting. They are bombarded with messages from Airbnb telling them to reduce their prices. This is even worse if they also have to stress about the fact that their listing is in some way against the rules of their city, HOA or condo association.
They have to tell guests that if a neighbour asks, they are friends. They have to ask their guests to lie - surely not a great basis for a guest/host relationship?
Eventually, they think ‘who needs this?’