Do you prefer monthly or daily guests?

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Hey :wave:

I’m an ex Airbnb host, now working on a new travel startup. As a host, I always did short-term (daily) stays at my place. But I’ve started to think that because of remote work, more and more people could be interested in staying longer and actually work from an Airbnb.

Was wondering, as hosts, what’s your take on this? Do you prefer daily or monthly guests? How comes?

Thanks!

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We prefer something in between. When/if we reopen, we’ll probably require a minimum stay of either two or three days. But we don’t generally want anyone here for a month. I’d say a one- to two-week stay would be ideal, with a few intermittent stays of two or three days. And we want to allow two or three days between guests.

Why? Having daily turnovers is exhausting. We’ve done it for three years. A monthly stay is also pretty exhausting, since we’re house-sharing and like some breaks for privacy. We prefer a schedule of a guest or two for several days, then a few days off, and then another several days with a guest or two, etc.

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What’s your start up concept and what are you planning to offer that other STR companies don’t ? @lorenzosani

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Thanks for the answer! That makes sense, especially when house sharing :slight_smile:

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Do you think you would host for longer periods if you weren’t house sharing?

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We’re exploring offering monthly stays in beautiful locations for remote workers. Longer periods than Airbnb, but shorter than the usual 1-year lease :slight_smile: What obstacles do you think we could encounter? @Helsi

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I suspect a decent value Amazon voucher would give you a decent response…

:rofl:

JF

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Ahaha yea I know, as a broke student I can only offer lots of gratitute for the moment! @JohnF would love to hear what’s your take on this too :slight_smile:

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Make your mind up.

Last post in topic… :rofl:

JF

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Ahah I thought you would point that out! @JohnF That was my parents’ house back in Italy

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And why can remote workers not just find a place on the already existing rental sites?

BTW the broke student shtick is really getting old.

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@muddy it seems that for monthly stays Airbnb can get pretty expensive (even with discounts), the idea is to have something cheaper than Airbnb, but still above local lease prices.

Sorry to hear you don’t believe me

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My prime season is May-September. Minimum 3 night rental, usually have 4-5 night rentals.
October-April usually discounted 30-60 night rentals.

My off season rentals are “bill paying” not “money making”.

My market is highly competitive & an abundance of off season vacancies.

What drives my pricing is my market and my financial needs.

I have two friends with comparable condos who historically did not do long term or discounted rentals.

Winter 2020-2021 was different. Short term rentals were few.

Both of my friends did long term rentals at discounted rates.

Motivators:

  1. They saw I had rentals & revenue. I had/have positioned my rental on different platforms to target >30 night rentals
  2. Pricing helped by STR taxes not required on Long Term Rentals. (Depends on state whether it is >30 or >90 nights)
  3. It was convenient. I gladly shared copies of my “fill in the blank” long term rental agreements. For my own reasons I had figured out my area’s monthly rental rate sweet spot (they didn’t have to do it)
  4. I gave them my anecdotal information about my LTRs costing me less in:
    -my time working with guests
    -required maintenance,
    -wear & tear on condo.

Other posters have made valid points that other services exist to provide travel medical staff & relocation housing. How could yours be different or meet a need they don’t? Best wishes on success

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Annet, thank you so much for the feedback, that’s really helpful! Really appreciate you took the time. May I ask if you always used Airbnb or other platforms as well? Thanks!

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Originally used management company
Then Airbnb
Then Airbnb, VRBO
Now Airbnb, Craigslist, & personal referrals

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I like three or four days but have done single nights and months. The shorter stays are a little more problematic now because of COVID cleaning.

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No, because we wouldn’t be hosting if we weren’t house sharing.

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Monthly.

Pre-COVID, minimum was 2 nights. Usually guests either wanted Mon-Th night because they were in town for business, or they wanted Fri-Sat because they were here for visiting family or friends, or they were sightseeing. It was a lot more work, and a lot more expense.

Since COVID, our minimum stay has been 28 days and the work is MUCH less and the expense is less too. Cleaning expense is way down, and the utilities expenses have not skyrocketed as I was worried they might.

I don’t know if I will ever go back to a two night minimum.

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I house share and that’s not an issue for longer stays as I’d have less wear and tear on the room - and on me, the cleaning lady.

so a website for month-to-month or specific timeframes. This is done through air or first few weeks through Air and then privately. Discussed numerous times on this forum.

  • Anything in my area over 28 days requires a lease and different rental insurance and deposits, etc. It’s not an STR at that point, it’s a month-to-month lease with all the tenant protections that entails.
  • The biggest obstacle is the one ALL landlords have faced since Covid - the laws that have been enacted that say a tenant doesn’t have to pay rent - they can claim hardship or just not pay and can’t be evicted. People are losing their homes because someone booked for a time or season and then refused to move at the end and then didn’t pay anything. California recently amended this law to say that the tenant has to file paperwork for non-payment proving financial hardship or pay a minimum of 25% of the rent monthly. The onus for all this - falls on the poor landlord. I have a friend desperately trying to get rid of a terrible tenant who stopped paying rent. Eviction process started just as Covid did and tenant stalled long enough for the Covid tenant protection law to kick in. Tenant has been offered $5,000 cash to leave. Many scammers are doing this all over the country.

Example: A woman on Long Island, NY rented her beach house in the winter at a reduced rate just to be able to pay the bills there and have it occupied while she’s WFH at her primary residence. The tenant’s lease was up May 1st and the summer rates are exponentially higher. The tenant stopped paying rent in April, refused to move, couldn’t be evicted, and the woman/landlord not only lost the second home but was on the verge of losing her primary residence - and the tenant didn’t give a f**k. It made many NY newspapers and still idiot Gov. Cuomo didn’t do anything to help people like this.

Example 2: A friend has a condo in New Zealand and a month-to-month tenant. The latest law enacted Feb. 21st of this year says that if my friend wants to raise the rent he has to give the tenant 90 days notice. If the Landlord wants to end the month-to-month, he’s obligated to live in the condo for 90 days once the tenant leaves or face fines and penalties. You can’t just chuck out a problematic tenant - you have to verify specific code violations to the Council 3 times in 90 days.

End result- paperwork nightmare and then you get a freeloader.

Furnished Finder and Gypsy Nurse already solve your problem with some safeguards, but I’ve seen scammers when I was listed on the sites.

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@lorenzosani I’m a home share host and don’t do either nightly or long-term stays. Minimum stay is 3 nights, but my average booking is 1-2 weeks (my max is 2 weeks). I like those length bookings. Don’t have to clean so often and not long enough to get sick of a guest if they aren’t a good fit for me or my listing.

Not interested in a full-time roommate or I wouldn’t have decided to be a short term rental host.

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