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I’m sure everyone’s already seen this somewhere. What mistakes do you think were made? What are you doing to ensure it doesn’t happen to you. How would you handle the situation if it did?
While we (me and my wife) only do smaller / room rental agreements thru Airbnb, we have had this occur on a VRBO rental. It is a large house with an ocean view. Last year, our first seasonal rental to 5 adults ended up being a 50-60 high school students holding a drunken graduation party. We were out of state, and unfortunately no neighbors bothered to call the police when drunks were hitting our landscaping with their cars, throwing up in the yard, having loud music or blocking the private street with their vehicles, breaking windows etc. We learned a lot of valuable lessons. But, in the end most of the damage (around $4000) was covered by their insurance policy we force them to purchase due to it being such a large house.
I’m less concerned about this with our Airbnb listings because we are in the house and frankly, I’m comfortable with confrontation. To me, this news article begs the question - how did it get so out of control in such a short period of time? When I saw the 5th, 6th, or 7th guest arriving, I would have been giving them the boot. Certainly when the loud music and smoking started, I would have immediately confronted them. I honestly do feel bad for this guy. I’m sure it was some rough lessons learned. Also, how is a house like that rented for only $40 a night? We’ve discovered that a certain price point, it just isn’t worth the risk anymore.
It is a shared listing. The owner became scared, retreated to his/her bedroom, and called the police. What would you have done if you felt that your home was being invaded?
@anon67190644 That was my feeling as well… I think the initial shock of never having been exposed to terrible human beings before and he just locked himself in his room / didn’t know what to do.
I don’t think that I would confront 8 people who had bought tickets to a party. Personally, retreating and contacting the police seems like a prudent response. All I can figure is that it took the police a while to actually respond.
Here in the US I’ve seen multiple cases in larger cities like Cleveland where the police are called for a disturbance and it’s hours before they show up. I could definitely see the $10k in damage and going from 8 to 250 people showing before they showed up.
10 years ago when I first started being a host, I would agree with you. I’m not sure in his exact situation, but confrontation with 8-10 people would absolutely be something I’d have considered. What do you fear more? The 8-10 thugs or financial ruin?
To me, this article is a lesson in don’t wait till it’s out of control. Don’t rent a whole house at $40 a night because at a certain point the risk / reward isn’t worth it. And, I have a question for Airbnb renters - what do you do for insurance on larger homes? We haven’t looked into it thru Airbnb because we’re just renting a small portion of our home in the off season - our larger rentals are all VRBO.
In my case the police would be there right away and it’s the renting revelers who would be calling the police. I’ll leave it to your imagination why. LOL.
K9KarmaCasa5m
In my case the police would be there right away and it’s the renting revelers who would be calling the police. I’ll leave it to your imagination why. LOL.
That’s my thought. LOL
My experience has been the police won’t show up for a “disturbance” like that for hours. But, on the other hand you can always call and say, “I feel the situation is going to get violent”. They’ll show up a lot quicker!
Brandt2m
Do you think Airbnb will ever institute a minimum rate? Seems like not much revenue and a lot of work for these types of listings.
If they did I hope it’s by market / season. But, you bring up another good point. Why not use their recommended rate? It’s the school of fish philosophy. You are statistically less likely to get eaten if you stick with the rest of the market rates.
I don’t know a lot about that guy’s area. But even for a single room, $40 seems ridiculously low for that area for that time of year.
We used their recommended rates before we had reviews on our half-home / daylight basement rental. Honestly, found them a little low but for the time of year and compared to hotels in the area, they seemed pretty close and got us the bookings / initial reviews.
I think I’m kidding. I’d like to be a non-violent person but I do own a shotgun and if my home was being violated like that, I don’t know. That said, the police in my town are very responsive. I had an airbnb guest who was on my street at night taking pictures and someone called the cops on him. They were here quickly (3 officers in 2 cars). Of course, it wasn’t New Year’s Eve either.
For my guest who booked New Year’s Eve I said this upon booking and again as the date grew closer:
I know you said that you are looking for a quiet weekend with your girlfriend and dog, but - just because it is New Year’s Eve and one can’t be too careful - I just want to remind you that I don’t allow guests on the property who are not on the rental agreement without prior arrangement.
Plus, I have cameras - which I advertise heavily - and I can tell how many folks are connected to my wifi. I would have driven up there myself on NYE had I see ONE person more than allowed on my camera or WiFi.
