Homeless guests

21

I have a friend who found her rental through Air for the reasons you’re describing. She was in the paradox of looking for a job in CA but not being able to get one due to a lack of local address, and then unable to get a local address because she didn’t have a job.

Sooo she did a 6-month stay through Air and worked out the rent with the landlord. Quasi-furnished apartment. Got a job shortly thereafter so it all worked out.

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22

I’ve been tempted to offer an extended stay when I’ve seen a guest panicking when they realize they aren’t going to get a rental right away, but I come to my senses! :slight_smile:

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23

So this is what you probably mean

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24

I actually wanted to find a way to identify a digital nomad, but it turns out there is no direct correlation with the shape of glasses :wink: My dataset is quite biased towards US/EU, while the greater population of digital nomads would be found in South-East Asia or South America. Based on what I find, that is going to be a max of 0.07% (taking into account my dataset bias) of all Airbnb guests.

If you want to check if your city is digital nomad friendly, go to https://nomadlist.com: it does factor in the cost of an Airbnb, but the most important metrics are actually the cost of Wifi, coffee and beer :wink:

Being a digital nomad may mean living without strings attached, but it never meant being careless.

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25

Hi Everyone,
We’re new. We’ve had our listing up less than a week and I came looking for this forum because I’ve already had an inquiry from someone who had all my red flags flying. She joined just before she asked about our listing, the address on her profile was the next town over from ours, she wanted to stay for three weeks, and she wanted to move in today. We live in an area where it is hard to find rentals–so hard that people are becoming homeless because they can’t get through the credit checks, or they don’t have deposit money, or there is simply too much competition. I was wondering how often this happens. We’ve had long term tenants (privately), and it’s been hard to get them out in a couple of cases. I’m looking forward to the short term visitors, but I guess I wonder if anyone’s had trouble getting people to leave when their time is up?

I declined this request I got yesterday on the basis of our pet policy. I’m not quite clear what I would have said if she wasn’t inquiring about a pet. I have worked extensively with homeless people in our city, and I know the signs of someone who is couch surfing.

I appreciate this discussion!

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26

The easiest way to avoid this problem is to limit stays to no more than seven days (or whatever amount of days you prefer).

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27

I’ve settled on 7 days after learning the hard way. :slight_smile:

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28

I have housed several homeless people for free, and have also hosted college students and family friends’ family for free.

Honestly, as soon as i try to make a generalization i think “but then there was X who was the opposite”… one homeless guest turned out to be a high functioning alcoholic who was very emotionally needy. He wanted to be praised for every little thing and got physically aggressive when corrected… and then hit on my little sister. (He was a friend of a friend…)

But one was a homeless college student, and he was super easy and very grateful for every little thing we did. While he eventually dropped out of school, he is now touring the world giving speeches and rabble rousing. (The pictures of him on South African beaches are amazing)

They all make good stories. :]

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29

I just hosted a person for 3 nights who described himself as “homeless”. At some point after his arrival he revealed that he had been traveling from air to air for many years all over the country and abroad, sometimes lodging in hostels. The initial communication I received from him was somewhat vague, leading me to believe that he would be staying with me while he looked for other more permanent housing. He simply omitted the ‘digital nomad’ detail, and being a newbie, I must say that I was caught off guard. That said, I found him to be super respectful and considerate, though I do wish he had let me in on his modus operandus before he arrived. If this type of guest is becoming a trend for airbnb, there should be a nomad designation, as this is a different type of guest that some hosts, especially on-premises hosts, may not be expecting.

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30

The original guest, who prompted me to start this thread, in March of 2017, has been back staying with me for a couple of weeks, in September. Since I am currently discontinuing hosting on Airbnb - for reasons described elsewhere - he was staying with me as a “private guest”, at a reduced rate.

I didn’t mind having this particular guest with me, again, since he is well behaved. However, in general, “homeless guests” can be in need of more attention than the average Airbnb guest, so I think I should prefer hosting them from time to time, only.

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31

I’ve sometimes dreamed (fantasized?) of selling my home and possessions and going out on the road. I don’t want the negative stereotypes keeping me from being able to book places to stay. Homeless, transient, vagabond seem to have negative connotations. Hopefully the younger generation that is eschewing homes and cars will give rise to new labels with positive stereotypes.

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32

I do hate when so called ‘digital nomads’ describe themselves as homeless.

People who are homeless have nowhere they can go.

‘Digital Nomads’ are people who are flexible as to where they are based and have the income and wherewithal to stay in an Airbnb or other temporary accommodation - not an option available to those who are truly homeless.

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33

Can I join you :)…

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34

I so agree with this. There is a world of difference between the two groups. I suddenly have a horrible feeling that the true homeless will be designated some new whitewash name, like “collateral damage” was introduced because presumably it sounds better than “innocent civilian deaths”.

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35

And me! We need a big Scooby Doo van :rofl:

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36

How about this?

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37

Or ‘friendly fire’ when the military kills its own or allied or neutral forces…bet it doesn’t feel very friendly if you are on the receiving end :frowning:

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38

Likey likey very much! But we’d need to have one each :wink:

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39

How much G&T are you thinking of bringing woman :blush:

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40

I was thinking separate barges but yeah, an additional one just for the gin sounds good :rofl:

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