What does everyone do about discounts for a month out more…percentage?
Nothing - I don’t offer discounts and I don’t want people staying more then two weeks.
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ME TOO! I NEVER give discounts because when I did they still didnt book, they were just shopping for the lowest bidder.I dont want that type of person. I spend a lot of money to make the place nice;always towels and sheets look new, I repaint every month, I have a landscaper that comes in and meticulously tends the garden once a week…it costs and I cant give discounts.Thats so funny Jane you say no more than 2 weeks!On my website the first thing I say is please dont email me about long term stays!!!I also state its a 2 week maximum to stay here!! 90% of my stays are from 1 to 3 days;I prefer it.I make more money with the cleaning fee.They are NOT doing me a favor by staying longer, the place will just be filthy and you only get 1 cleaning fee.
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IF longer terms renting is valuable to you, and IF you feel a discount is imperative to get it, then perhaps a 10%-15% may do the trick, by way of suggestion Personally, like others here, I do not get into discounts, nor want long-term stays in the first place.
What gets repainted?
I’d like to know too. I am very keen to do some painting in our rental but with back to back bookings it needs to wait.
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Have never understood why a longer term stay merits a discount? It’s more in utilities, more wear and tear, more guests home longer as they don’t tend to rush their sightseeing, and worst of all, long-term stays can present legal issues, conferring rights of month-to-month tenancy to the traveler. Just google Palm Springs AirBnB squatter to learn more about this nightmare.
No upsides to long-term stays, only downsides.
I love long term. I vet them out more extensively but to me not having to clean up, and not do all the in and out procedures is great. 10-12 times a month is too much of a pain, even with the extra cleaning fee. That said I always provide a “welcome package” of some chips, snack bars, bowl of fresh fruit and some coffee and teas. I refresh that for each new traveler but for long terms I tell them that’s a 1-time “starter” thing so long-term I don’t have that cost but once so a small discount is appropriate.
Another big long term fan here.
We do offer a 10% discount but this is more than offset against the ‘hassle’ factor of more frequent change overs.
We do however rent a whole apartment and our nightly rate in peak times is over $350 so this acts as a filter in its own way.
Frankly we don’t want long term stays. Long Term here would be months. We do give 10% for longer than a week, but are considering dropping that.
I prefer shorter stays too. I’d like some one night stays but we’ve never had them (probably because one night plus the cleaning fee is more expensive than a reasonably good hotel! But that’s fine).
The shorter the stay, the more money, the more reviews 
At first we offered 30% discount for monthly guests since it was our first time to host and to attract guests. Big mistake, it only ended up costing us a lot. We weren’t clear about the rules so that was our fault. The bedsheets, towels, cleaning should be their responsibility, after 2 weeks, they just acted that they own the place, totally disregarded our house rules. Now we turned it off and seems like people don’t mind. We’ve only had 1 guest that booked for a month.
Richard I’m considering my longest staying guest yet, she is requesting just over 2 weeks and is a traveling nurse (as she states anyway). Just curious what you extensive vetting process consists of. Do you ask for references?
Firstly I do not accept any longer termers unless they have at least 4 verifications, and at least a couple reviews. Then I go with gut feeling of their request: People who show in their written inquiry or booking request that they took the time to read my extensive listing description is what I watch for firstly, and if they’ve take some effort to tell me more about themselves and the purpose for their trip. This to me shows their understanding, however subtle, that we both need to build some initial trust in each other.
For example I have someone staying now who’s a traveling nurse. She’s staying for 2 months. She shared with me where she’s based out of, where she went to school, what the traveling nurse gig is all about and where she’ll be working while here. She also complimented me on our listing and why she thought it was perfect for her needs. That kind of detail given without me even asking shows to me I likely have a straight-shooter who knows what she coming into, is setting her expectations properly, and shows that she understands I need to feel comfortable in who’s coming too.
I’ve had other times where someone wanted to stay to 6 weeks, all his inquiry said was, “do you have parking? How far are you from downtown? What’s the neighborhood like, is it safe?” I go into good detail on all three of those aspects in my listing description. It was obvious he hadn’t taken the time to read it, nor did he tell me anything about himself or the purpose of this trip. And he only had 3 verifications, phone, email and I think Facebook. And no reviews.
Gut feeling and hold your standards high. Don’t let the money aspect overrule your good senses. If something does not seem right, don’t go with it…
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I usually goes for 10% and 20%. But you should probably see what host near you are doing