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As a guest, I will never book another property without an exterior photo. Lately I’ve had several negative experiences re: parking, access (requiring backing out (or in) from a busy street. A highly touted peaceful, outdoor space was a dirty raised deck at the rear of the building with full exposure to a busy road.
I feature outdoor photos of my property, parking areas, entry areas because I don’t want anyone to be surprised by anything on my property. I’m less worried about being targeted by thieves with my cameras, and alerts than I am at my own home.
As to this particular guest, he’s a jerk and I’m glad you avoided his booking.
Wow, I never would’ve guessed that it was that important. It’s my understanding that most hosts don’t show the exterior for privacy and security. It seems rare to see an exterior photo. But I don’t know if you are specifically referring to the front of the house or not. I don’t have a picture of the front of the house but I have tons of backyard photos. If you asked, I would send you a photo of the parking area. I can’t imagine posting a photo of the front of my house on an international public website. Though, I imagine it’s different if it’s not your own home.
While we’re concerned that guests are trying to scam us, guests are concerned that they are being scammed and will end up w/ something that’s not acceptable, spoiling their holiday. I stay in STRs about 10 times per year and it’s becoming rarer that they are accurately described and or photographed.
I have more than one photo showing the exterior of my home. The listing is a room attached to my home with a separate entrance off the front porch. The porch is technically shared since friends come in through my front door which also opens onto that porch. I also show my large parking area with a small moving rental truck and car dolly. This gives me a competitive advantage over other Airbnbs that can’t offer a space large enough to get a rig like that off the street. For someone with just a car their parking spot is steps away and well lit.
I live here and have cameras and dogs I have zero concerns about security.
Once a guest has the address they can check google maps for street view and satellite view if they are really that concerned and cancel if they don’t like what they see. Obviously for some remote, rural or new builds that might not be an option. Also I can zoom in on a listing and get a good idea of what street they are on and then take a look at street view to get an idea of the neighborhood. I can use satellite view to get an idea of the property lay out.
Here’s a house I’m looking at for a Seattle group trip.
They have multiple pictures of the exterior including the front of the house. I want to check out the neighborhood and parking. Our group may rent 2 cars. So I zoom in on the map:
Then I go to that location on google maps and look around. This is only something I’d have time to do for a house that I’m seriously considering and that I think I have a good reason to need more info. One factor with this listing is that it is new and only has 4 reviews. But I’ll be keeping an eye on it.
Most of the homes I’ve looked at for this trip do have exterior photos. For an entire home I think I’ve always seen exterior photos before I booked.
It took me 45 minutes of study to find the exact address of this home in part because it’s been renovated since google came by.
They aren’t guests until they’re booked. When they’re booked they get the address and can look at the house on google street maps. Or they can communicate with me for more information.
It’s not about scamming for me. It’s about privacy and respect for my neighbors on our dead-end block of private homes. We rent out private apts in a private home. And we’re not the only ones who live here, we also have tenants and I am not going to post the exterior of their home on a public website indiscriminately. It’s a compromise.
Airbnb provides so many ways to make good choices when booking a listing. My hundreds of detailed reviews and perfect rating along with the 30 pictures that I do include give more than enough information for guests to feel confident booking with me. Maybe there are people that pass up our listings because there isn’t a photo of the front of our house and they aren’t willing to reach out and ask about it, but I’d say that those people are not using the platform as intended and it’s okay with me if they pass us up, particularly if they are loath to communicate.
That is disheartening to hear. I hope you aren’t handing out 5-star reviews. So much can be explained by a 4.7 average on a 5 point scale, it’s not natural, or reliable
Agreed. Once they are actually a guest they get our address and they can easily see our house on google. I do also include a photo of the front in the check in instructions so that it’s easy to find when arriving.
We did have someone IB, I think from France, it was 4 am for us so I didn’t get around to responding for about 45 minutes and they had already canceled by then. I assume the cancellation had something to do with our exact location or google street view but it may have been the “slow” response time at 4am. Either way, I am glad that they canceled. Guests who know what they want and put the time into researching and finding it are the easiest guests.
I certainly understand why you show off your parking with room for a Uhaul, it would be foolish in your location to not advertise that.
If you’re worried about break ins, maybe don’t post the front but have pictures available to send them privately. Unless they are the ones you are concerned about breaking in!
Why do people think that just because someone doesn’t like surveillance cameras or doesn’t want to show a photo of the front of their house, that they must have “something to hide”?
For me, I don’t show it because my location and the demographic of people in the area could mean I’d have people I would never rent to show up at my door trying to get me to make a private deal with them. And tourist rentals are heavily targetted by thieves in my area.
I have outside photos of the view the guests have from their windows, the arroyo 50 meters away, so they can get a sense of the area, but there’s no reason they need to see the actual street view of the house.
Interesting point. I wouldn’t show the kitchen if self catering (I love that phrase) isn’t one of my amenities.
If I were renting out part of a multiplex or a part of my home, I would not show exterior pics except the private entrance close up (if there is one). I’d have pics of the drive and exterior IF NEEDED to help find the place in the “Info for Guests - Check In Instructions” section, only seen once you book.
Honestly, my pics show the garage exterior so they can see the extended driveway so I have to make it very clear the garage is not accessible by guests (used to be but a couple of “accidents” later and it’s off the menu )
I see pros and cons for both. As a guest, I’d like to see the exterior BUT if inside appears awesome I’d extrapolate and assume it’s all good. It’s a risk, I know. As a host, if I’m not concerned about security and I feel it helps my prospects of booking, then I’d include the exterior, as I do. Otherwise, no pics.
If I lived in a sketchy neighborhood with garbage and junked cars in dirt yards full of weeds, you can be sure a guest would have mentioned that in a review by now.
My guests are booking a private room. The only outside that’s important to them is what they see out their windows. There’s zero need for them to see the front of the house. They wouldn’t even be able to find it that way. It’s down an unmarked dirt road- they need directions and landmarks along the way photos, not a photo of the house itself.
We show the exterior living space - the deck and pool and gazebo, because those are the places our guests spend most of their time the view (my avatar) is the selling point. But I don’t have many other exterior shots except as required to demonstrate we are handicapped “friendly”.
I’ve never understood this. I know I’m Pollyanna with a half full glass ( ) but I’ve never worried about scammers or thieves and have never been scammed or had a burglary. (Well I did have a burglary but many many many years ago - long before the internet).
I truly don’t understand why having exterior photographs can cause scamming - but maybe every set-up is different.
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