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Hi All,
I am a very new Airbnb host (6 rentals total). So far things have been very smooth. I am interested in thoughts (pros/cons) of how I currently have the listing set up. I am worried that I may be leaving myself vulnerable to bookings from people looking to take advantage. Thanks in advance for constructive feedback!
These are my current requirements:
Instant Book - Guests who meet all your requirements can book instantly. Others will need to send a reservation request
Airbnb standard requirements
Profile photo ON
A government-issued ID (Instant book only) OFF
Recommendation from other hosts (Instant book only) - OFF
Pre-booking message (Instant book only) Not set at this time.
House rules are listed (no parties, no pets, no smoking)
Cancellation policy - Moderate: Full refund 5 days prior to arrival
Why do you have recommendations from other hosts and govt, ID turned off? The reason IB hosts have those options (non-IB hosts can only require a profile photo) is to protect themselves a bit because they donāt get to screen guests through messaging before a booking is confirmed.
No oneās judging, @jmccool, weāre just trying to figure out why you chose certain options. I, personally will never use Instant Book because I want to screen (as best I can) every potential guest.
Likewise, I would never set a Moderate cancellation policy because people can take advantage of that and leave you high and dry on short notice, when you though you were booked. Depending on where you are, trying to fill a calendar space In the short spanā¦
The moderate policy has worked fine for me. It does depend on location- most of my guests are coming on a week-2 week vacation and flying to the area internationally. They have flights booked, scheduled time off work, etc. They donāt cancel last minute.
In over 3 years, I only had one guest cancel 3 days before check-in ( I got paid the 50%) and that was kind of a special case. She was coming from France but had had a death in the immediate family. Had a couple other cancellations, but those were made at least a month before check-in.
When I read about hosts having to deal with angry guests who cancelled under Strict policy and still think they should get their money back, I just donāt want to deal with that. And Iāve never cared about high occupancy rate anyway. I care about hassle-free guests, which luckily Iāve had.
I tried the instant booking and for me it was a headache but I know others are happy with it. If youāre going to use IB, I would recommend using all itās features like govt ID, recommendations from other hosts, and the pre-booking msg.
I have it turned off too, because in my experience it does not matter. WIth IB on if I see a really bad review I can cancel as uncomfortable, which has never happened.
This I would change to strict., I have no time for people who are not sure. I have it in my house rules, be certain of your plans before booking as my policy does not allow for changes once booked.
Iāve been hosting almost 7 years and have over 800 stays booked. I use IB and have always used moderate or flexible cancel policy. I donāt require govt ID but I do require recommendations from other hosts for IB. Others can send a booking request and I can count on one hand the number of people Iāve turned down.
There isnāt one right answer to most questions. It depends on the kind of rental you have and what kind of guest you are hosting or want to host.
I suggest you read here as much as possible. Donāt take advice/criticism too personally. Take the best, leave the rest as RR says. No one here knows you. But if you post with a chip on your shoulder you wonāt last long. Take everyoneās advice with a grain of salt. If you stick around and read and post, after awhile you will see which hosts have a rental and style most like yours.
But youāre an experienced host. Donāt you think it would be a good idea for a new host to use all the available options until they get proficient with the whole thing? New hosts may not even know how to understand some of the coded language hosts use in reviews, so might not realize they are seeing a review that indicates it wasnāt a good guest.
One of my pet peeves! Iām an experienced host and I donāt understand coded language. One I hate is ābetter suited for a hotel.ā Completely meaningless. I might understand if I knew the host and/or had time to look at their listing, other reviews theyāve left and so on.
Just the factās maāam is my preferred host review language. Tell me which of your rules were violated, if they smoked or were noisy or needy, left stains, etc.
I agree. But good luck getting all hosts to do that. And some hosts do have legitimate safety concerns about writing a blatantly honest review for guests they have had who are lowlifes and live locally.
I hate the āBetter suited to a hotelā, but I donāt mind so much the āGuest stayed 3 daysā because that says to me that the host had nothing good to say but may have been afraid of some physical retalition (slashed tires, vandalism) from the type of guests I mentioned above.
I suppose. Thatās another excuse thatās given that I have my doubts about. As a teacher some of my peers thought it was crazy that my name and address was listed in the phone book. But the only issue I ever had was a parent who called me at home in the evening once. That includes failing a (problem) student who went on to be convicted for shaking his baby to death.
But I acknowledge that other hosts have to operate within their comfort level, not mine. But a worthless review is a worthless review.
I agree- I think itās just paranoia -Iāve never heard about any host saying that a guest retaliated in some physical way to a bad review. But as you say, everyone has to do what is in their comfort level in that regard and Iāve never had a guest who was the sort Iād be scared of, so itās hard to say how Iād feel if that were the case.
If a host realized a local had booked and was cooking up meth in their listing, was aggressive in communication, or made threats, I can see being cautious about the review I left.
I use IB with these settings (and I can tell you why):
Profile photo (uploading one demonstrates a cooperative nature, though I do not actually care what they look like)
Govt Issued ID (again, getting verified demonstrates a cooperative nature, though I am not going to check their ID in person)
Pre-Booking Message I use this to get basic information (who, how many, why and dietary preferences) so that I can best customize the guestsā stay. I also mention in this message that they should turn on ānotificationsā in their profile so that communication is easiest.
I donāt use Recommendation from Other Hosts because it makes it harder (and effectively eliminates some) for people new to Airbnb to get booked and I personally really enjoy having guests who are using Airbnb for the first time (and spoil them so that they get hooked).
I use the Moderate Cancellation Policy. It works for me because I can almost always re-book with the 5-days notice it provides and when I do re-book I usually do so at a higher price to last minute bookers. Also, I donāt want someone coming and staying if they really donāt want to or really canāt for some reason. Life is uncertain so I am fine with people not really being certain until 5 days prior. I tried the Strict Policy briefly, right before Covid started and so it did me no good whatsoever, but I also donāt like to argue with people over money more than 5 days before their stay. I will never use the Flexible Policy because I live in a market where hosts get all crazy and drop prices to nearly nothing as dates approach so it makes it too easy for folks to bargain shop and cancel. I need a little more commitment than that and I am not going to drop prices (I actually raise them as the date nears) and am not going to participate in that race to the bottom. So, I do indeed need/want at least, but only a moderate amount of commitment, so that is why the Moderate Policy works for me.
My House Rules are primarily informative. No parties, No Smoking, Not Appropriate for Infants and Children and then I say that people have to contact me prior to booking if they are bringing a dog or need more than one parking spot. I also say that smoking is okay outside. And, currently because of Covid, that masks must be worn in common areas and that unregistered guests are prohibited for the time being (before Covid, I didnāt mind).
Iām very similar to much of @KKC ās posting. I donāt do Instant Book because Iām in a spring break, graduation celebration, bachelor party celebration destination.
I agree with her assessment that there is no one answer & it all depends.
Donāt worry about the people who seem judgey. There are many who are interested in helping.
People who use āwhy do youā¦ā often donāt realize it comes across as judgey or confrontational.
@KKC THANK YOU! This was very very helpful! I have learned much from reading everyones commentsā¦ some things I had no previous understanding/knowledge of.
