Congratulations. What great news you have been invited to apply.
1 Like
I’ve been a host since 2014 and active on this forum since 2015. If I had a dollar for every post about how someone hates Airbnb, will never use them again, how unfair they are and how Airbnb is surely going to fail because said poster knows more than Airbnb does, then I’d have a lot of money.
Airbnb may fail, they certainly aren’t doing great, but then, who is? I have a bad feeling that many hosts still haven’t realized the gravity of the situation. There’s a pandemic and there is going to be a recession. Blame Airbnb, China next month, the President or the Governor the month after that.
Most of us take responsibility for our own business and realize that in a good economy many benefit and in a poor economy many of us suffer.
13 Likes
Great post @KKC
I have run four businesses now including an STR listing and I have never expected anyone else to be responsible for the successes or failures of my business. Or to prop my business up when times are bad; certainly not my marketing channels.
I would say my STR business is probably my riskiest one as we are reliant on an unstable market with peaks and troughs. In recent years I have seen the impact of other STR businesses flooding the market and pushing down prices. Now we have this unprecedented in our lifetime pandemic.
Has it hit me financially? absolutely 
it has had a major affect on my disposable income and I have had to make major changes to my lifestyle and spending choices to accommodate this and if I need to I will take a mortgage break. Fortunately I had enough in my business reserves to tide me over until June. I had looked at a second job, but my fulltime role in our health service with its crazy hours is such that this wouldn’t be practical.
If I wasn’t working or working part time, I would definitely go out and take a temporary job and cut down on everything but essentials to help manage my books if I was struggling financially.
What I wouldn’t do is expect guests to subsidise my business operating costs when I can’t provide a service and they can’t travel.
When I started out in business many years ago, I was told that I should always invest enough in my business in terms of retained profits so I always had enough to keep me going for three to six months in cases business was not as buoyant as expected.
8 Likes
Many are converting to long term rentals. I am.
2 Likes
The first stage of the pandemic seemed to be people in denial about the pandemic. The next stage is people in denial about the economy. My own outlook is decidedly negative but we seem to be managing to put off the reckoning indefinitely. I thought after the GFC of 2008 that things would be worse. I thought perhaps there would even be unrest and riots. I never cease to be amazed at how people will sit still for trillions in corporate bailouts but be incensed over the crumbs that immigrants and the poor take gratefully from the edges of our tables.
1 Like
Finally, a response about ideas for what to do next in the face of losing our (some of us, anyhow) small businesses! I’m the OP and was mainly venting a little (guilty as charged) and looking for ideas about next steps. I’ve never seen where accusing someone of whining and berating them for feeling a bit lost, as many are, got them into a better headspace. I’m not saying warm and fuzzies, but how about some positive forward thinking, batting ideas around, etc.?
1 Like
There is plenty of positive advice on here, however for the past few weeks many (new) members have used this forum as a platform to indulge in a bit of Airbnb bashing. These members generally ignore the advice given and carry on with their rants on any topic they see fit to post in.
The mods have done a decent job and its unlikely you’ll have seen a number of these topics. They simply didn’t add anything to the forum so were locked.
So yes, many of us are guilty as charged also, but unapologetically. This forum is not Airbnb so when, for the umpteenth time, someone starts “venting” about cancellations, Airbnb not doing this or not doing that, then I’m afraid the sympathy well has run dry, almost.
JF
3 Likes
I think one point most hosts don’t realize is that the normal procedure would’ve been for Airbnb to allow guests to file extenuating circumstance claims. How many of those claims would have been legitimately acceptable as EC? Given the stay-at-home orders that were in effect everywhere less than 2 weeks after the blanket cancellation went into effect, it’s fairly safe to say that nearly all of them would’ve been legitimate and granted by Airbnb. Hosts are very mistaken if they think that they were either entitled to receive or would have received more than a small percentage of money from cancellations between March 14-May31 if Airbnb had stuck to their pre-COVID-19 policies (which all host did agree to).
7 Likes
Understood, but again, can the blame game be put aside on all fronts and looking ahead begin? Could you share any meaningful “Ok, so now what” moments you’ve found encouraging?
So what new or cool platform have you found since you started your research?
I applied for one called Golightly (yes, fun was made of the name) and was accepted but haven’t followed up since I’m closed.
In the US Airbnb is synonymous with home-stay type rentals and it’s a terrible time to get into the business so even if someone challenged Airbnb’s market dominance it could be a tough go of it.
I’ve got my in home dog boarding business as well. People still travel some to visit family but it’s also very slow. I was considering applying to be a substitute teacher but the school year is up in the air and if they resume in person classes I’m not sure it pays well enough to take the risk.
In terms of encouragement though I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well most people (at least in my circles) have adapted to not going out, doing with less, and realizing they can live without many of the things they thought of as “needs.” So things are going to be fine, just at a much slower and lower level than what we had before.
4 Likes
Since January I have been hosting a nurse. She originally came to me via Airbnb last year. When bookings started to drop off (long before lockdown) I sent her a text message saying I was happy to host her if she was back in this area again. I also sent the same message to a nursing agency for which I had also hosted a nurse via airbnb, and I sent the same message to another local nursing agency.
The nurse booked directly with me in January, and stayed with us till early April. She then took 2 weeks off, and then came back again. She occupies a lage bedroom with en-suite shower room on the top floor of our house, we hardly see her and she is extremely neat and tidy. She is nursing people with COVID-19 at a local care home, these are people not sick enough to be in hospital, but they have tested positive. I had always previously made sure to clean door handles, light switches, TV remotes etc. with anti-bac spray, but now I am doubling down on cleaning and not only use a steam cleaner for the bathroom floors. but have also bought a smaller version to use on the wall tiles and shower. I also run the washing machine on 90 degrees C cycle, rather than the eco 40 degree cycle, when I wash her bedding and towels, and I clean the laundry basket with disinfectant spray. She has given me guidance on effective cleaning, so I feel pretty safe, but I know that hosting someone who is in daily contact with the virus is not for everyone.
I feel fortunate that we have been able to replace Airbnb income with a private rental. Once she leaves (tentatively planned for end of June). I shall probably try and find a similar arrangement rather than rely on Airbnb.
4 Likes
Thanks for sharing your story. I imagine there are hosts who have replaced their Airbnb bookings with similar stays or who, like me, are using the break to do things they wouldn’t be able to do with guests here anyway. But most of those folks aren’t going to be seeking out a forum on which to complain.
I have to disagree: I have a strict cancellation policy. Not to insure an income stream but because people can be disrespectful in their rental choices. I don’t want to deal with people that book my home but then find something cheaper, or closer to town, or whatever. When we go on vacation, we pick a place and stick with it. We don’t change our mind if something cuter or more convenient comes along. When/If a guest “books and dumps”, then I can’t be home or allow my family and friends to stay at our home. In the beginning, I tried less restrictive policies but it didn’t work for us.
4 Likes
Are there any alternatives out there other than the medical community?
@Helsi
Thanks! Got lucky. We will see if anything comes of it
Awe cmon John, give me a hug! ((((((John)))))
2 Likes
OK!
Nah…
JF
4 Likes
I feel like you’d have a better chance if you offered @JohnF some Oloroso first. Just sayin.
3 Likes
You know me so well 
JF
2 Likes
I don’t want to get THAT close…
RR
1 Like