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Just to be clear.
You CAN collect a security deposit from airbnb guests before arrival.
If you are connected to airbnb through PMS software and API.
I’m working on a way to automate collecting security deposits for airbnb, vrbo, and direct bookings.
Once I started taking security deposits, I stopped having problem guests. They just don’t book with you because they know they will lose their deposit because they don’t trust their friends they were going to party with.
This puts hosts back in control and I really wish all hosts would do it because then guests would learn they can’t ‘work the system’ (airbnb) in their favor.
Thanks James for that info. Not being a tech person could you assist with this system as to where / how to source and install?
Does anyone have experience of a company trading as “Search and Stay” They are pushing to get us listed. They seem to be an Australian start up. No info offered on Bonding of guests deposits etc. Did ask though,
never heard of them, just having a look now. they don’t have a lot of listings.
Personally I would LOVE another option for decent STR in australia, cos BDC is the pits and VRBO/Stayz has been most frustrating to sign up with, keeps failing so i stop trying.
They are clearly based in Victoria, and all the branding is youth focussed. Heavily copied ABB right down to the wording. No info on who the host is. They’ve set up the cleaning fee as separate, again just copying ABB. I’d love to know if they have any better features or if it’s just a weak copy. No ratings system that I can see.
Just got an invitation to sign up with search and stay……currently wandering around the site to see if it will work for me.
Also building a website for direct bookings. Will post here for critiques.
I’m a bit of a handyman in the U.S. so… my suggestions may not be “legal” in your area, here it totally is. I would first and foremost have a strict NO CHARGING POLICY outside of a provided charger. Provide them with a charger (very easy to install here in the U.S.) with its own power meter. Make them pay a refundable deposit of whatever you think is appropriate that you deduct their actual usage from on checkout? I’m not sure about the ABB system and how this monetary charge would work, since I’m a new host and just here learning, but…. It would seem there is a way around this and to actually be able to advertise a charging station for EV’s might actually increase your revenue and bookings? I’d charge a nominal fee on top of the actual usage of power to make it worth the hassle and expense of installing a charger and be very strict about being evicted from the property if they use the ‘house power’ to charge an EV…… this is a really great subject and something I bet most of us have not even thought of, but really no different than someone siphoning the gasoline out of our vehicle to use in their own. I’m sure there are considerations about liability and various other things but…. I’m glad to have seen your post and it has inspired me to consider offering a charging station at my new rental. Obviously not a very expensive “fast charger” but, just a dedicated outdoor power box with a meter that you install and monitor. If you’re handy and you’re able to legally put it in yourself, it wouldn’t really cost that much as compared to having this happen to you too many more times.
I have a Type 2 EV Charger and provide that a guest can cess and pay through the app EV Match. The rules also provide that this is the only permitted way to charge an EV, specifically saying “e.g., no extension cords.”
So two guests connect with extension cables and charge their vehicles overnight.
Example: Tesla S: Battery capacity: 100 KWh = € 43.00 overnight.
Nissan Leaf: Battery capacity: 62 KWh = € 26.66 "
Total: Charge € 69.66 [ Per overnight, if to full charge for both ]
Allowing for diversity say less 60% for 15 days its still € 417.00 + €69.66 = €486.66.
Our rental is at least a 4.5 hour drive from Dublin airport so the suckers would be totally dead on arrival.
Now the guests in question had a much larger 2 nd. EV than a Nissan Leaf. These guests stayed for 16 days so a nice piece of business one would think, but hold on, our main water heating and space heating is not electrical but oil, so one needs to do the math again !!
Conclusion: This stay energy charges at cost: € 486.66 + same again for oil and solid fuel combined !!
Not great at math so apologies if correction is needed
One thing that I have read is that there is some loss in transfer. On the one hand a 100kwh battery will likely not take all 100Kwh. But let’s say it takes 95 kWh. It will take more than 95 KWh of energy to transfer that.
That’s one reason I subscribed (no upfront cost) to EVMatch app. The guest connects to the app and the app charges them. The app gets 20%. I can markup my cost by a percentage too. In this way I thought I would eliminate any dispute with the guest on the charges, and also get the payment outside the Airbnb app, where I was unsure if Airbnb would take a %, and also my recourse if the guest did not pay the additional charge,
of course they would say that as that increases their commission.
I wonder if you can make an Aircover claim. This is not a normal usage and guests took advantage of you.
Sadly, Airbnb is a safe haven for scammers. Expect more behavior of this type in the future. I can already imagine someone writing a blog post on How to get free charging on your road trip: stay in an Airbnb, don’t stay in a hotel.
We offer a Tesla EV charger at our rental. I think it adds convenience. So far no issues with guests abusing. But our electricity is 100% solar, and since our guests are primarily weekenders, we do not exceed our monthly usage. We are grandfathered into a good solar plan ($300/month in California for 3600 sq ft) and we use the charger as well for our own vehicle.
There are basically 2 ways to store solar energy, as far as I’m aware. You either have a battery bank, or the excess energy you generate feeds into the electrical grid, banking credit, which gets used when your panels aren’t generating.
Yes, what @muddy said. We use net metering which is stored on the California grid. We are working our way to battery, but due to the size of the house, we’d need at least 3 of them which is quite pricey. Any excess overage we pay to the electrical company at the end of the year. But the past 2 years we’ve actually ended up with a credit back.
Luckily we have had only one Tesla owner who charger with an extension cord. Although we have mostly well heeled and fancy car owners there just have not been many EVS. Strange because they are prolific in our neck of the woods.
If a tesla comes, I would mention no charging Evs here.
Yes, it works differently in different areas. In some places the electric company buys any excess energy produced, here in Mexico, the producer banks credits, however, those credits don’t last forever- they have an expiry date, so if you end up not needing to use them, you lose them. Therefore someone producing solar wouldn’t want to spend money on the initial set-up for a system that generated a lot more emergy than they used.
In places where the electric co. pays more than a pittance for what they buy, it might be financially advantageous to have a larger system than what you yourself need.
As I understand it, battery banks require regular maintenance, and of course have a higher start up investment, but some people truly live off-grid, with no electrical lines nearby to hook into, so it’s their only option.
You can set up Solar pretty much any way you want. My last house was a combination system.
It was “grid tied”. which means that during the day, excess energy from the solar panels flowed into the “grid” or back to the electric company to feed other homes. At night when there is no sun, I drew power from the grid. At the end of the month, there were 2 meters. 1 for used. 1 for produced. My bill was based on the difference of the 2 meters (I always used a bit more than I produced).
However, I also had a large battery bank and Inverter. So, if the power went out (storm, downed lines, whatever), the system automatically switched over to the batteries and I still had power in the house.
Most people just do the grid tie to offset power usage and lower their bills. Or, use solar for off grid homes and cabins. But, its possible to get the best of both worlds. I really miss the small power bills and the backup power system in my current house. I am looking into adding it.
That certainly seems like the smartest way to do it. I don’t have solar, but 2 of my neighbors do, and they have no batteries. We can lose the power here fairly often in summer storms, so they then have no electricity. Additionally, they have pressure pumps from their wells, so they then have no water coming out of their faucets, either.
