Absolutely positive - he’s a local MD, not hard to find.
There’s a moratorium on evictions.
you are in California? Yes there is a moratorium on evictions - does this man have tenants rights under the law? It might be worth getting an opinion on this. It seems he could be endangering the health and safety of your entire building. Is this a doctor who is isolating from family by staying with you? Yikes?
No. But we also have eviction moratoriums, I think most places do.
Absolutely. He has a lease.
Theoretically, though some family has been here to visit 
Yes, it’s possible. I’m disappointed but not entirely shocked. I was trying to contribute somehow and still I don’t want to cause more fuss than necessary. We sent a note yesterday outlining our expectations and got a decent enough response. Things seem to be better today already; however, I am resentful that I had to say anything. Geez, right?
1 Like
Yes! I have found that most of the Airbnb stuff is not host oriented. We want to provide a safe space but are unsure we can do that based on what is known today.
Coincidentally, I was just watching Chesky’s March 30 Host Update which I never watched before, but funny enough the question and “answer” were already given. Jump to 8:40 and this is what you’ll hear:
Q: “I’d like to know what in-home hosts can do to prevent guests from bringing the virus into our homes?”
A: “We know that hosts all over the world want to continue to host, but you have questions about how to do this safely. So we are working with world renowned experts and epidemiologists to provide standards and guidance. We are going to anchor everything we do in official sources from health authorities.”
And then Chesky points the Airbnb COVID pages, but, I don’t think the question is really answered.
1 Like
And now they are coming out with NY state and city antibody testing which is showing that a much higher % of population 17-21% has the antibody. The Fed. Govt ( Fauci) is downplaying this right now, but if a hard and true antibody test, and combined with more covid -19 testing shows that more people can get it and barely know they had it, well maybe things will change , and attitudes regarding risks as well.
1 Like
I have always told my husband that we could have the rug pulled from under our Airbnb business anytime by a new law, required expense, etc. COVID was just a twist on this fear. Our situation sounds very similar with our age, reliance on the extra income, etc. Currently our visitors have the run of the house, but are not allowed to cook unless special arrangements are made. Bathrooms are shared including one that we share. During high season we even rent out our own room. We have blocked room through the end of June and we are close to removing our own room as a listing.
Until we know anything encouraging, such a vaccine, we may cut from 3 rooms to 1 and dedicate the closest bathroom to that room. We have a separate entrance so could make the one room and an adjacent sitting room separate with the exception of our need to access the basement off the hall. All rooms have refrigerators, microwaves and coffee makers. It would be sad to just put a breakfast tray in the sitting room and no longer enjoy extensive interaction with our guests, but it may be all we can do.
It would be great if we could hire a cleaning service but that is cost prohibitive unless I enlist my 15 year old granddaughter. One of us will probably have to don gown, mask, goggles, and gloves and clean. We would also have a pause in-between renters of 1-3 days. I’m not sure it would be profitable. I’m willing to experiment with booking time, configuration, etc, but not with my actual health risk.
3 Likes
What that dodge means is that they don’t know any more than we do what to do about it
We did the $5000 application and public hearing to get legal with the County, and have paid TOT of 11% back to the day we started 6 1/2 years ago. We have an excellent relationship with the County and that is not who would pull the rug out from us.
We’ve had the annual flu shot since it was first available as we’ve been around massive numbers of people at convention centers all over the west. It has kept us healthy all these years, regardless of what bug was all around us. So far so good, but now this.
From your description, it seems that you could make it work with the one room with private bathroom. Agreed, the fun part of hosting is interaction with the guests, which we also love. It almost makes up for my lack of traveling these past few years.
Agreed about the cleaning - it costs me a couple hundred dollars between guests. The guest suite takes 2 people 2 - 3 hours to restore to my standards, and then is the kitchen, decks, solarium and the rest of the house…not to mention that there are no cleaners working these days.
Agreed, it is a lot of work, and money cannot buy health. Alas.
Would it really not be profitable? I know there are some additional costs of doing short-term rentals (STR permits and STR insurance), and there might be services you would buy for guests that you wouldn’t buy for yourself (Cable TV), but would they really cause you to lose money?
That many people can get it and not even know they had it doesn’t change the fact that it’s super contagious and that hospitals and medical staff are overwhelmed. While death rates are certainly an important thing to know, it’s the sheer volume of patients who require hospitalization that makes lifting restriction of movement too early a really bad idea.
4 Likes
@JJD So what would take precedence at this point- a moratorium on evictions, or a tenant ignoring governor’s orders?
“That many people can get it and not even know they had it doesn’t change the fact that it’s super contagious and that hospitals and medical staff are overwhelmed. While death rates are certainly an important thing to know, it’s the sheer volume of patients who require hospitalization that makes lifting restriction of movement too early a really bad idea.”
Which is why I’m fairly convinced that hosting is not a viable thing until we have a vaccine that works.
3 Likes
Can you cut this down? Lock some doors?
That is a good question, with a lot of merit. This is a Frank Lloyd Wright house and as an architectural treasure, we would be foolish to make any non- professional alterations. First we’d need to build a separate entrance to the 2nd floor where the living quarters are. The 8’ tall solid oak interior doors between the wings of the house and the Great Room do not have locks, however the guest suite has a lock to keep us out (guests don’t use it). We could remove the enormous reference library to storage, perhaps in the barn, or the Ranch office building, that is a thought, though it would leave the space rather bare aesthetically. It is a resource that the guests do love, along with the vast recorded music collection and the musical instruments in the suite. We would have to remove the huge oriental rug as it cannot be cleaned - rather shipped off to be hand washed at a cost of $1200 minimum. This is a retreat destination, no TV, off grid in Nature - actually ideal for staying at home. The guest suite has a mini kitchen - microwave, fridge and coffee maker. With restaurants 12 miles away (all closed now) and grocery stores same distance, it is not very hospitable to lock them out of the house kitchen. I am making a list of possibilities, and thank everyone’s input. When the County Public Health decides to no longer ban STR and VR we may have a viable plan!
@Kitty_Norris Here’s a curious story. There’s a guy I am acquainted with, who I haven’t seen in years, who was and probably is still living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, who runs a hot air balloon business. He was born in the US and lived there for a long time, but for a couple years when he was a child, he, his brother and their single mom lived in Mexico, in a house somewhere out in the woods, pretty remote. He always remembered their time there, and as an adult, he went to try to find the house. He knew the general area, but it took him awhile, asking around and exploring, to eventually find it. It was abandoned and in bad repair. He took some photos, and was interested in finding out who owned it, so he could maybe buy it and fix it up again. In the meantime, he had a hot air balloon client who he was telling this story to and showed the client the photos of the house. By a stroke of total synchronicity, the guy said “That looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright house. I’m a director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Society- we always knew he had built a house in Mexico, but we had no idea where- he kept it very secret, as it was his own personal retreat. We have money to renovate Frank Lloyd Wright houses- if you can manage to buy it, we would finance the repairs, as long as it was returned to its original state. Do you think a million would do it?”
I have no idea what became of that plan, as I haven’t seen the guy since he told me that story.
5 Likes
That is a terrific story! I love it, and I’d love to know the rest of the story. So amazing and wonderful! How cool that you knew this man and this situation…Thanks for sharing it!
1 Like
Old abandoned FLW house in San Miguel>??? Lemme at it!1 I’m drooling:) However I’ll take Mexican style Too:::
No, it wasn’t in San Miguel. As I recall, he said it was near Taxco. That’s one reason he had a hard time finding it again- he hadn’t been back to that area since he lived there as a child.
2 Likes
Just asking. I feel that the our own rental would be a little less desirable because many of our guests greatly enjoy the interaction and freedom to use all the common rooms. During prime time days left for the “pause” days would be lost opportunities. Every host just has to do their own cost analysis.