I’ve noticed this a few times. A beautiful home,which is my competition,has availability months into the future. While looking at real estate listings, I notice this home is for sale! I can understand booking a month in as closing usually takes that long, but I can book into next summer. What happens when the house goes under contract? All of those guests will be cancelled, which gives the STR business a bad name. I just don’t know how the owners of this listing can do this in good conscience knowing they may not honor their bookings🙄 Anyone else notice this?
that does seem strange…ring the estate agent/realtor, see if they offer any info. Could seller be specifying to sell to STR landlords only?
Maybe seller is hoping to fill with guests up to the last minute, then do a runner. My flat has been on the market since January, maybe seller thinks it could be a long haul 
To be frank that’s their business. You have no idea how long their sale, contracting etc. will take. The buyer may be happy to wait for the guests or even to host themselves! At worst the guests will be cancelled and host penalties applied perhaps. It’s none of your business.
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It doesn’t say anything on the listing about STR. It’s a mountain home close to Denver. The real estate market it pretty hot although I am seeing signs of it cooling. What happens if inspections and surveys need done while the guests are there? I just can’t even imagine! Best of luck on selling your home! The waiting game can be tough! We have a condo we are selling. We had a long term renter there for a year. All I can say is what a nightmare! Never again! But that’s another story for a different day.
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I was just curious. I’m not planning on knocking on their door! You seem a little touchy- is your home for sale? I see other posters actually listing links of other rentals on this forum during discussions of what is out there. Isn’t this forum about discussion about Airbnb and various topics? I didn’t realize there were off limit topics. If so, please enlighten me.
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I am not touchy and it doesn’t affect me personally, but I literally think it’s none of your business. You have no idea that the situation will affect guests negatively or give STR a bad name.
Having said that I have a landlord with a house for sale near me, and I have made that my business because the landlord has allowed anti social behaviour in the property. The difference is it has a direct bearing on my life (and kept a guest if mine awake one night as it happens).
Since they are in my area I do feel it is acceptable for me to look. Many posters compare their listings with neighborhood listings on this forum and list the their amenities versus those of their competition, which is acceptable as it is business. I have seen listings on Airbnb where it states the home is for sale. I feel at least then there is transparency. This is information I would like to know if I book a whole home rental 8 months into the future.
That would only be relevant if the rental might be at risk of cancellation.
Noone can stop you looking.
What you have assumed is that the future guests WILL be cancelled. That’s not a given. I suspect it’s not unusual for people to buy second homes in your area, so the buyer might want to rent it out and even be happy.
Our property is a second home and we bought it with existing reservations. Since we planned on renting it out anyway, we were happy that the business was already established. We contacted all the guests, told them we would honor their reservations, but told them they were free to cancel for a full refund if wanted. None of them cancelled.
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Yes you have a very good point. This is mostly a residential area with all of the homes being on one acre. We aren’t close enough to the ski areas to attract too many second homes. I watch my grandkids a lot in Florida and we rent our out home out while we are away, and rent rooms when we are there. I am glad you were able to honor the reservations. It’s great you were able to buy a home with established clientele. . If it is a high vacation area and most are STR, I would not be too worried about renting as long as it was disclosed to me that the house may sell and the future owners may decide to use the home as a primary residence. We are looking at condo Airbnb’s in Hilo for a month next year. Most of these are rentals, and I would not be horribly concerned if it was on the market. Most take a year to sell and a studio would be less likely to be a full time residence.
To build on what @Pitonview said, at the coast I’ve seen condos listed for sale that proudly boasted “Proven rental history. Rentals in place for next 90 days…”. The seller can’t require the new owner to honor the rentals but it opens the conversation to be “you can choose to keep these bookings & help make the payments”.
Hi Anne this is a brand new Airbnb listing with no reviews. They haven’t mentioned it in the sale ad or Airbnb listing that it is short term rented. I always like to see what type market is doing in our area and frequently look at our city listings. Plus I always hope my daughter will move there and like to see what property is going for
We did the same and only had one group that didn’t rebook with us. All bookings were cancelled ay AirBNB, penalty-free to the prior owner, and then the people rebooked with us. It was a good situation all around.
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That is interesting that Airbnb cancelled penalty free for the prior owners. I Wonder if that is because you were willing to rebook them.
Why do you care? STR’s get a bad rep for many things. I am a real estate broker in a resort area and often list and sell STR’s if the buyer wants to keep on using as a str then future reservations a plus, if not they get cancelled.
RR
In looking at other’s listings keep in mind that availability and non availability is all you can see. Is it instant book? If not then who knows if they are getting any bookings. I’ve seen many listings that have been on airbnb for years and have almost no reviews. I’ve seen listings that never have any availability at all, ever. I don’t know why they even have a listing and I’ll never know.
I am looking at it from a renters perspective. If I was booking a place in an area that is primarily residential, I would want to know if there is a potential my booking may get cancelled if a place sells. I have seen many homes for sale that talk about the short term rental and tenants, which can be a positive thing. I have also seen Airbnb listings that state, if you love it here it’s for sale!
I love STR myself. We have had great guests and I have enjoyed hosting. I have looked at places in Hawaii that have a STR set up already. I really would love to purchase there but it’s too far away from my grandkids. Maybe one day!
Putting a home on the market to sell and on Airbnb at the same time is a totally different animal in my opinion. Especially as there is nothing in either the sale or Airbnb listing mentioning STR. The Airbnb listing is definitely a new listing as it advertises that. So this is totally not the same as an established host putting a home up for sale. This is someone who wants to earn money while on the market, which is fine, but taking reservations as a new Airbnb listing one year out doesn’t make sense in my opinion.
This is all food for thought. I don’t rent my whole home out all the time. I did a search for Christmas in our area and this home came up as a new listing. It has a very unique look, and I recognized it from the Zillow listing. I never remember this being mentioned in a forum post, and thought it would interesting to discuss.
Again discussing someone who puts their home on the market and Airbnb at the same time. I wasn’t clear in my original post this distinction.
It would not be in the seller’s best interest to disclose the house is for sale on the STR listing it may impact bookings for the reasons you stated. The future bookings rank low in what’s important to the sale of the house. As a real estate broker this is what’s important to me, the best interest of my client. The future guest are not party to the contract.
Sounds harsh, and it is.
RR
That’s what makes you a good advocate for your clients 
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It might be an oversight . Perhaps you can send them an inquiry.