I have a son who has been offered an opportunity to intern at a company this summer in his major, Mechanical Engineering. However, it’s not in my hometown! He is 19 years old and very responsible. He’d like to rent an Airbnb in the town of the internship; what are his chances given his age?
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If he opens his inquiry message to the potential host with that information, "Hi, I’m XYZ and I study ME at COLLEGE. I’m 19, clean, no drugs, no smoking, no vaping and pet-friendly. I’ve been offered an Internship in my field with COMPANY in CITY for DATE to DATE and would like to stay at your place because I’m looking for AMENITIES and your place looks perfect. My hours are … I’m
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How long is the internship? More hosts seem to be concerned about squatters than they are in discriminating based on age. Also, Airbnb are already booking for summer so finding one that has availability for that time seems like it would be a challenge. If it’s a college town maybe he could find a sublease for someone who wants to leave for the summer.
I agree with @casailinglady that he should be able to find one if he is forthcoming with information about his stay and is able to provide documentation about the internship.
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If he is an engineer, the company that offered him the internship should have a program to find accommodations for him or a way of providing him documentation of his employment to help him get a rental.
And third-party bookings. Who’s paying for it would also be my question. These days plenty of 19 year old college students have their own bank accounts, so if that info was supplied as well or it was through work, then great. I’d take him.
A lot of hosts don’t do long-term stays because of the tenant thing and even the ones who do may not do it in the summer. I recommend Furnished Finders for this kind of thing, like an internship. He won’t have to pay any service fees but will most likely have to put down at least a small deposit and sign a rental agreement. It is better for both to do a real rental agreement since it will be a real landlord-tenant relationship, and is preferable to the whims of Airbnb.
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Totally agree. If I were to do it through ABB, I’d insist on a lease and a deposit held outside ABB.
I’d do summers because … Florida. It would be great to have steady income for 2-3 months in our hottest season.
Oh yeah, I should have said, not in their busiest season which is summer for a lot of hosts.
You’re probably just a bit biased because he’s your son, but I’d say that no 19 year old is “very responsible” across the board.
They may be responsible about things like schoolwork, being on time for work and doing a good job, following through on what they say they will do, that sort of thing.
But because they just don’t have enough life experience, and particularly if they have never lived on their own before and paid utility bills, they tend to be clueless about some things.
For instance, they’ll fire up the washing machine on full load to wash one pair of jeans and a tshirt they want to wear that evening.
They’ll go out for the day, leaving all the lights on and the heat or AC turned up high.
They’ll try to force something that isn’t working properly, like a key in a lock, breaking it in the process.
They will try to “fix” something they accidentally damaged, so they don’t get in trouble, often ruining it. Like spilling something on a carpet and then scrubbing it with bleach in the hopes it’ll come out.
They’ll invite friends over without asking the host if it’s okay.
I have three grown daughters and they were all quite responsible at that age in many ways, but still clueless in others. It’s natural.
So as long as you educate him a bit about things like that, he can easily be a good guest. In addition to the sample intro message suggested above, he should make sure to upload a real profile photo, and write a little bio in the space provided on his profile.
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Three years ago we hosted a student intern for three months. His family drove up with him to help him move in and to make sure he was in a safe place. He was a delight to host.
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I think he would have a better chance of finding a place if it’s a home share. Plus it would give you peace of mind knowing that he’s living with a family.
I have a friend that shares her home and the teens and young adults end up calling her their Airbnb mom. She gets lots of students from Princeton University that decide to rent a room on Airbnb instead of a dorm.
I think a room in a home share stay would be ideal for your son.
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summer isn’t my busiest season because - weather in Florida isn’t exactly free from humidity!
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I figured!
But then you get your pool to yourself more often, right? No looky-loos. Sounds nice to me.
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I’d also check local colleges and universities! Often their dorms are used in the summer for visiting students and they might be willing to offer up inexpensive housing to him since he’s still in school or know where he can post ISO. Best of luck 
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That’s a great idea! My son has an unpaid 
position this summer clerking for a judge and he needs somewhere inexpensive to stay.
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