Airbnb Listing with Extensive Procedures

Take a look at this listing, This Host really has extensive procedures. Go to the end to see the additional House Rules. What do you think of this?

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/585003519600265256?source_impression_id=p3_1647900273_Pz6rXflPomLAR0DG

I wouldn’t stay with them because they are investor hosts. When you run that kind of business you need a lot of rules and they try to cover every base. Also they are in a notorious party town, so their model is different than that of many places. That said, it doesn’t matter if I would stay with them or not. They have a successful business going. Good for them.

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Not what I call a “host.” It’s a property management company and most of them have lengthy lists of rules and disclaimers like that.

This part I found interesting:
“Please note that certain issues, such as insect/pest sightings due to changing weather conditions and leftover food from normal living activities as well as debris/particles found in hidden corners and areas, are normal.”

Okay, I agree with the insect disclaimer, but what is “leftover food from normal living activities” and “debris found in hidden corners and areas” that is normal for guests to expect to find?

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I assume in the first case they are referring to leftover grocery items in fridge or cupboards, and in the latter they are targeting the guest who wants a refund for dust on the blinds.

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I have to say, they have really good reviews which mention how attentive and communicative they are and how clean the listings were, aside from a couple of outliers, which is unusual to see with that many listings.

Usually those property managed places have a lot of critical reviews.

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Maybe good for them, but not good for Austin. They alone are taking up 41 apartments in Central Austin. And the people who work in the area have to spend 1-2 hours in traffic just to get to work because :poop:s like this take up the housing.

They are also discriminatory:

This is from their house rule number 432, lol. Okay, number 6:

For ESA and service animals, a security deposit of $300 will need to be provided through the Resolution Center prior to check-in. If no damage to the property is discovered after checkout, the full security deposit amount will be refunded through the Airbnb Resolution Center.

I am flagging and reporting each of their listings that contain this discriminatory statement.

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So they are the ones that drove up rents in Austin! My son is at the law school there and the standard government loan for school won’t cover all his expenses because the rent is so high in the area. He’s taking out loans from M&D Enterprises (Mom & Dad) to cover the shortfall.

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I was more impressed with the 10+ languages listed LOL The host must be a wiz with Google translate.

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This is too excessive for my taste. They are protecting themselves against the one nutty guest you get out of hundreds. Since they host so many places, they have encountered this horrible guest before many other hosts do.

I try not to make the experience for a large majority of guests unpleasant and full of rules because of a few bad guests. But I’m not as successful as them so maybe they are doing something right.

The rules look kind of crazy - but it doesn’t seem over the top. If a background check is me providing a copy of my ID - meh - so be it. Nothing else they have in the rules would be anything outside of what we would normally abide by in a rental we visit.

Their listing reads like a lawyer covered as many bases as possible.

I’m gathering some in this group hold animosity towards anyone who has an Airbnb for investment / profit purposes - but that idea is sort of lost on me. It appears that this host has really figured out how to scale upwards without sacrificing quality.

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This host is the kind of host (41 listings !) in one neighborhood that turns people off of Airbnb. This host is the kind of host that is ruining neighborhoods and displacing residents. You may be impressed but it is this kind of host that inspires regulations. Regulations in general. Other cities are watching too and they can see the problem.

So next time, and there will be a next time, a forum member comes on and posts that they are so worried about regulations that are being discussed in their town and that they’re afraid they won’t be able to keep their Airbnb(s), you can thank big hosts like these.

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Buying up properties for the sole purpose of turning them into strs creates a housing crisis for people who live and work in those areas as they can no longer find places with affordable rents.

Those investor properties are also the ones that attract partiers who disturb the neighbors, and don’t care how their str affects the neighborhood.

The above scenarios are what lead municipal authorities to ban Airbnbs altogether, or regulate them to the point that it becomes impossible for small time hosts to stay in business.

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There was a report somewhere that hosts with multiple listings have lower rating on average than the host with a single digit number of listings. Airbnb loves these hosts but the report said it’s not easy to grow that segment. I wish I could find the report.

Some of the listings are one Br vs 2Br in same house. I didn’t bother to see if shared home or un-rented bedrooms locked off. They still have several just not the full 41.

Long description. Long list of rules. If the renter has the patience for it, they will know exactly the expectations.

If they get bookings & good reviews it is working for them.

It’s disappointing to me if municipal authorities, however well intentioned (I am a Democrat), create such restrictions.

Many years ago I was on the advisory board for the Jane Addams HullHouse charity in Chicago. They had the same objection in 1980. My approach is let’s help these folks with ownership – and at that time there were 4% federally insured loans .

This approach was rejected.

Market forces are unconquerable. Lost opportunities. Jane Addams Hull House went bankrupt and did not meet its obligations for its own employees.

Yes you are right. However, you’ve conflated investment and profit. I can’t think of a host here who doesn’t do it for the profit. And for many, it’s an investment too. I can’t speak to the roots of everyone’s animosity but mine comes from the history of absentee landlords and slumlords.

There are blogs and sites that are geared more towards those investor types. This one has developed into one that’s more geared toward the “one host, one home” model and hosts that manage their property that they own. We are downright hostile to arbitrage.

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Why hostile to arbitrage if it’s open and honest? Not that I’ve done this.

But if someone approached a landlord owner and said I will pay you $X and Airbnb your place, AND advertised honestly, openly, fairly, are any of us really against this? Why?

I’m not interested in this argument but perhaps someone else will be.

I was stating what someone posting here can expect if they are doing arbitrage or slumlording.

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Insurance!
Owner is responsible for any issues with local council and fines!
We have to be registered with the State to get the license number - arbitrage lease can’t.
My neighbours are all aware of my STR’s and have no issues. Why would o want to stuff that up with another layer.

I get enough abuse from people looking for long term accommodation as this area is in rental crisis after the floods we had 3 weeks ago.
This is not my problem because state government decided to sell off social housing 15 years ago.

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Yes. Because it takes long term housing options off the market for locals and turns neighborhoods where residents know each other and watch out for each other into faceless rentals with a steady stream of strangers.

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