I am the owner, property manger and cleaner. I don’t cut the grass and clean the pool, but i make sure it’s done. I can’t stand guests lately-especilaly the last 2 months. People have harrassed my pool guy (MAGA nazi’s) and tried to rip me off (fleas/roaches/black mold.) No Refund!
I am just about ready to sell. These fuckers have pushed me to the edge. I only keep our family home in case all of us can gather, and that’s really not likely.
I could sell and rent something for the week. I live in a 1 bedroom nearby. I swear to god, this is getting harder. Talk me out of selling?
Put a rainbow flag prominently in your listing photos. 
More seriously, though, how do you vet your guests? Do you use IB or do they have to send you requests?
If you shared some info about your listing (location, how many guests, etc.) or gave the link to your listing, maybe some hosts here could give you some advice on how to attract better guests and fend off the jerks.
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I feel your pain. I’m pushing through so far…
I have a room in my home…where I sleep…that I rent, and just started 7 months ago. I have quickly learned how to adjust features / settings to keep myself safe, including requiring an image of their ID upfront, and not allowing IB for new users. I also clearly state, “LGBTQIA welcome”, and my hair is super short…so I can’t imagine anyone bigoted choosing to stay here. Definitely going to add a new picture of the front of my house, as soon as I get my new rainbow flowers flag put up
I’ve had quite a few challenges already. Just this last week alone, I had 9 people request to book, that were shady / scammers, and I denied 8. Last 1 was a new person, but looked legit, and she agreed to send pic of ID at 12pm, with arrival time not supposed to be until 10:30pm. By 6:30 she still hadn’t, and wasn’t replying to messages. At 8pm I sent another message saying if by 9pm she hadn’t, I was canceling reso. At 9:15 it was too late to cancel online, so had to call AirBnB support. Told them the deets, and that I was concerned for my safety, and after 10 minutes of looking into it on their end, they cancelled it for me, and sent a message to her. They were very helpful and kind, and said that since I clearly stated on my listing, “ID required”, they’d keep having my back! Even though it clearly said “cancelled” an hour before she was supposed to arrive, and they sent her a message…she showed up in my driveway at 10:30, messaging me, “I’m here”! I said, “You never sent ID, didn’t respond for 10+ hours, and reso was cancelled. You shouldn’t be here, please leave”. She replied, “Ok”…but 15 min later was still sitting there. I told her that if she didn’t leave immediately, I would call the cops…she finally left.
Hopefully you can use the available tools, and some creativity, to weed out some bad guests in the future 
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So many variables here and little information. Where are you located? What type of accommodation etc.?
I understand that laws are different but here in France we’re actually obligated to register all of the guests’ information including a copy of their government ID. Not a lot of hosts in France enforce this rule but we noticed a huge quality difference in terms of guest’s behaviour, once we started enforcing it (after a few not so great experiences). You could make this a house rule.
We welcome people in person and live on-site which also may slow some excited folks down. We emphasize the tranquility of our accommodations, also asking for the respect towards other guests and our family and the neighborhood. We have many guests who specifically book our place because they want peace and quiet.
Our property exterior is under camera surveillance - this is also communicated in the listing and to the guests in the messages, the welcome guide and in person.
These are just a few things that, we believe, add to the quality of the guests. You mileage may vary.
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Take a break from hosting and don’t rush into selling yet. If you decide to sell, make sure you’re doing it with a clear head and not when you’re upset. Take a deep breath, block your calendar and make an appt. with a real estate agent to price your home. When you’re ready, put it on the market. Wishing you the best of luck.
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Why? If you don’t like doing it, just stop. No one is holding a gun to your head.
As the song says - don’t worry, be happy. 
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Couldn’t have put it better. As well as the other comment “so much to unpack, so little details,” I agree. Don’t like it? Family doesn’t gather anymore? Money doesn’t matter?
Stop hosting, clean the house up, and sell. You have hosting income/expense/profitability records, right? Great already set up investment property.
Sell.
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Hosting is not for everyone. Two months of disappointing guests? Seems like a lot over your seven months - but many of us have done it for 10+ years, and we see 2 months as a ‘blip on the radar’. Rather than drastically ‘quitting’, maybe you need to look at why you are getting these kinds of guests. After all, we don’t have psychic powers to see the future whenever we approve a guest, but we can easily set up our vetting process to weed out the undesirables.
For example, the MAGA problem - wrongheaded people thinking that ‘making America great’ can be achieved simply by being selfish and cruel - was easily mediated for us: we put a 'welcome LGBTQIA" into our description, which telegraphs our open arms. The ‘rip off’ folks need to be charged more, in my opinion, as this makes it difficult for folks to book ‘discount style’. Of course, Karens and ripoff folks can’t really be separated by pricing them out, but for us, it is a higher bar which seems to get us less of those types. If you do have mold, roaches, etc, then you need to fix that.
OTOH, less hosts means more business for us, so I am always happy to hear of ‘hosts’ who ‘give up’ quickly. Hosts who do not see what their business really is can make life rough for us ‘long haul’ hosts, as they allow bad guests to have space in the airbnb world.
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As many others have suggested, I believe you should take a look at your vetting process. If short term rental isn’t working for you, maybe you could try mid term, say travel nurses/doctors, etc.
I agree with @Rolf regarding those inexperienced hosts throwing in the towel. The less poorly qualified hosts we have, the better for us “long haulers”. Eventually, the cream rises to the top!
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I know you were probably joking Muddy but I actually put a sign in my photo section that is very prominent when you park the car. I do this on purpose.
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No, I wasn’t joking- if I lived in the US I’d definitely have a rainbow flag or a sign like yours in my photo gallery. I do say in my listing that it’s a good place work on art, or writing, or practice yoga, which seems to attract the opposite of MAGAs.
In all my years of hosting, I’ve only gotten one rednecky type who thought 45 was just great, but he was Canadian, was low key, non-confrontational and not like a full-blown MAGA.
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I feel the pain. I switched to medium term renting about six months ago. While my guys have been good so far, just had some move out, and their entire deposit is going to go towards all the missing bedding and towels.
I’ve seriously thought of putting my 3,400 sq ft duplex on the market just b/c Air has gotten to be a pain, but I’ve put way too much money into it to recoup my costs in our local economy. Plus I still love the place, and hopefully still plan to move in at some point. Once we do, oh yes, multiple Pride flags year around and they’ll darn well know the owners live downstairs and won’t hesitate to kick them out.
I have been hosting for 9 years. In the beginning I really didn’t know how to make sure I got the right type of guests for my suite. I also didn’t know how to cover my ass but taking date stamped video. I also listen to my gut more if something things off. Also, I think making the stays a little longer (for me it was 1 day to 2 days but I think I’m gong to go for 3 days. My suite isn’t really meant to hang out in but more a clean, affordable place in a nice area of Boston so it doesn’t lend it self for long time. I also found that I needed to have a longer time buffer from check out to check in on back-to-back turnovers for my own sanity so basically, I am alway tweaking little things to make it easier for me.
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Sorry to hijack this but could you elaborate on how you do it with the security deposit? Were they booked through Airbnb or directly with you? We’re on the fence, trying to figure out if in some instances we would ask for a security deposit and if this is even allowed on Airbnb???
The tenants initially booked through AirBnB, then asked to speak with me in person. They explained they were on a long-term contract and liked the place, so they wanted to rent off-platform. So I moved them to a month-to-month lease based on my state’s regulations.
I don’t think Air lets you collect a deposit.
OK got it. That’s why I asked. Thank you.
I am stealing your photo, I love it!
I can never quite understand when posters ask for input and then ghost the thread instead of thanking those who responded for their time and interest.
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I hear you, your post really spoke to me. We rent out our cabin, like you it’s a way of keeping it in the family, and I do all the admin to make this possible. Other family members who do very little to help and don’t understand the finances are resentful when they can’t use the cabin at the drop of a hat because I’ve rented it out. Some days I feel like a very poorly compensated property manager. I have regular days when I’m considering selling, and instead just renting a place once a month by the river for family to all visit together. Comes down to regrouping on priorities & the underlying rationale for renting it in the first place.
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Looks like it’s been 6 days. Maybe we give the OP the grace of at least a week to process.