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My strategy for avoiding renting to locals (you can’t drive here, you must fly or take a boat) is 1) requiring at least 24 hrs notice and 2) know your local area codes and exchanges. The second is sometimes off if the guest got their phone somewhere else, but most of the time when locals are looking for a room they want it that night, so the 24 hr delay works.
Plus its a small town where they put the police blotter in the paper every day, and I’ve lived here all my life. So names showing up in police reports are out. And I use AirReview to check their reviews.
The few times I’ve had locals try to rent it’s always been at the end of the month, when rent is due, they don’t have a full month’s rent, and don’t want an eviction action on their public court record.
Hi JohnyAir,
As a frequent AIrBnb guest as well as a host, if I saw your 80/20 rule I wouldn’t stay at your house. I wouldn’t want to start a stay with the feeling that the hosts don’t want me around.
When you share your home you have to meet your needs first or you won’t last long. Many hosts are not desperate to book everyone they can. Some hosts don’t want to be social workers either.
I take your point. It’s definitely a tricky issue and I’m not sure that we’ve got the wording right. I guess that really we’re just looking to deliver the original model of Airbnb when Chesky et al first started out as in providing very temporary in-home inexpensive accom for visitors to town. Guests who are mostly out during the day and back at night to eat and sleep.
Yes. If we had to live these last 5 days again we wouldn’t do airbnb.
Johnny’s wording doesn’t send the message that he doesn’t want guests around. But obviously to you it does.
If he didn’t want guests around, he wouldn’t be hosting. He says “20% of the time enjoying life around home base”. That doesn’t sound to me like a host who never wants guests around, it sounds like a host who wants active guests, who have come to enjoy the many things the area has to offer, not guests who sit around on their ass watching Netflix all day.
In fact, the 80/20 rule, while I don’t state anything like that in my ad, is really an accurate depiction of the type of guests I get. They are often up and out to the beach before I even wake up, or might relax with a coffee first, are then out most of the day, then either cime home to relax and shower before going out again for dinner, or just call it a day, make themselves some dinner, and go to bed.
Sometimes they start out strong for the first 3 days, wanting to see and do as much as possible, then need a sun and sea break for a day, and relax around home, reading or catching up on email.
The point is, they didn’t come all this way to act like slugs and be in the host’s home 24/7. I love having guests, but if I wanted a full time roommate, I wouldn’t be doing strs.
Like @JohnnyAir and others, I’m an in-home host and when someone messages “I’ll be working and hubby will be around the house all day,” I politely suggest they look for alternate accommodations. I work from home and don’t want to hear Netflix blaring all day long.
I like the kind of guests Muddy gets. One night stopovers on their drive back to wherever, several days exploring the area with maybe a day to relax by the pool and recharge for more activity, house hunters in the 'hood.
If I had a standalone unit/rental, then it wouldn’t matter.
I see what you mean. I don’t have experience as a host or guest with staying in people’s homes. It really is a whole different kettle of fish, isn’t it?
It certainly is. I can’t imagine hosts of entire places care one iota whether their guests hang around the house all day aside from using up more utilities and perhaps leaving a messier footprint.
Home-sharing and entire house strs are pretty much completely different hosting situations in many ways.
How about “Our shared home listing is perfect for those guests who want to be out and about exploring the reef, rainforest, hiking, swimming, etc. and need a place to rest and relax for their next day’s adventures. You’ll be sharing your home with us, it’s not set up for lounging around at the house every day.”
ALWAYS! I do this 100% and have had 98% success rate. Only been burned by 1 guest who was more last minute than others, and I have learned. NEVER do IB!!
Personally I only do IB and more often than not am annoyed by inquiries. I wish they’d just book. This has been my approach for 5 of my 7 years on Airbnb and about 600 bookings.
So I hope no one takes my advice as being anti-IB. But some hosts have a lot of issues and need the feeling that they are in control and can vet guests, etc. For those home share hosts maybe not using IB makes sense.
My Airbnb room is at my home but separate from me with its own entrance.
Me too, for years. I’ve had zero problems. A few weird guests, true, and a few who have been messier than most but it’s swings and roundabouts and it balances out.
I’ve tried for years but I’ve never been able to evaluate guests by their photograph, profile, age, where they live, what nationality they are etc. etc. etc.
So, if anyone is thinking about having a go with IB, it’s not a frightening thing. If you try it and it doesn’t work for you, you can always switch back.
I have never used IB and of course you can’t evaluate a guest by the things you mention- no one can.
What non-IB hosts use to vet guests are a combination of any past reviews they may have, the articulateness of their profile write up, if they have bothered to write one, whether their initial message makes it clear they have read the listing info, and the way they communicate with the host.
I can understand why hosts who take guests into their homes would vet their guests, given the opportunity. We have two apartments which are separate places (although opposite and next door to my own apartment) so you and I have different criteria.
There are several people here though who are quite vehement in their dislike of IB so when we get a thread of people saying ‘IB bad, vetting good’ then I like to show the other point of view which is that many hosts use it very successfully.
I totally agree. I know IB works fine for lots of hosts. It depends on the nature of your listing, the type of guests it attracts, and also the area where your listing is.
An entire house listing for max 4 guests, in the backwoods of Maine, for example, isn’t going to attract the same demographic of guests as a big house with a pool and a hot tub, with a max guest count of 12, in LA. Even if they both have off-site hosts.
My 2nd go round with Air and the first time I didn’t use IB. I went round and round with myself wondering if I should use it this time and mostly why I decided to was so I didn’t end up on page 10 in this competitive super host area I’m in.
The rental is part of my house but separate same as my previous one and so far (knock on the noggin) I’ve had good guests except for the very first one that gave me the lengthy list of what I should do differently. She was probably in my age bracket, read retired and think most everyone else has been younger, had at least one review and all sent info as to why they were coming.
Beginners luck, part II.
This is very important and the reason that I first started to use IB. In the blog, Airbnb says that the search gives precedence to hosts who make it easier for guests to book.
Of course, it’s much easier for guests if they can book instantly without waiting to be approved.
I know someone who does that when she stays in a rental. She truly means to be helpful though. So maybe your lady meant well. Or had too much time on her hands.
