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New host here, have used Airbnb as a traveller for a few years.
I’ve been lurking on this board for a while (thanks for all the tips!) and it seems that the common wisdom is never to rent to locals.
I thought it might be fun to book an Airbnb nearby us some time while guests are in our home. We live in a great area and I’d like to stay in a home that’s very different to ours, as well as support local hosts.
Has anyone had good experiences renting to locals?
I rent to locals and I’ve had only positive experiences. I’ve had locals stay for a variety of reasons:
One woman stayed here because she had an Airbnb guest rent out her whole apartment.
A couple stayed here because they were moving to Northern California.
Several guests have stayed because their residence is an hour or more commute and they had a project at work with long hours so they wanted to be closer. Yes everyone, in Los Angeles it’s common to have an hour or more commute and be local.
We had a mother and daughter who had left their apartment because the neighbors were making so much noise they couldn’t sleep. They are staying at Airbnbs and with friends until they find a new place.
We had a woman who lives in hostels and switches to Airbnb when she reaches the maximum number of nights she can stay in the hostels.
I had couple of locals staying for one night for sex dates . It was not that much fun for us as we heard all kinds of noises. Then I rented to locals longer term and all went fine. Now i have 2 locals staying long term and I like both of them.
I would not exclude locals but just be careful to evaluate their situation and ask additional questions especially if they are in for few weeks.
Be careful sometimes they are under eviction and have nowhere to go and they will trash the room that happened to me. Sometimes they are just getting their house terminated and they need to be somewhere for a couple of days . And I’ve had somebody stay whose house was being completely painted inside and they needed to stay out for a couple of days so it just depends !
Termited I meant to say
We’ve rented to quite a few locals. Mostly people that live outside the city limits that had out of town guests and wanted to be in the city proper for a night or two. Same deal with folks wanting to be closer to an event that’s happening downtown, as well as folks that live and work remotely most of the time, but need to stay in town now and then for business. Around the holidays we had a few couples coming to go shopping downtown and enjoy the holiday lights, festivities, etc. These are all folks that live within 1/2 hr. to an hour away. I haven’t had anyone stay that lived extremely close by, although lots of their friends and relatives have booked when the visitors needed more space or privacy. So far so good, no issues with any of them.
I’ve rented to a few locals, and I’ve had no problems. One couple were moving to the US, but their visas were delayed so they needed to stay in town after they had vacated their apartment. The other was a guy who was between houses because his new landlord wanted to do some repairs and renos on the place before he moved in.
I usually just ask. Something like, “I see you live here in town, may I ask why you are looking to make a booking?” The honest ones have no problems answering that question, and are not offended at all. The troublemakers are the ones who are vague or reluctant to answer.
I check their record while they are right there in front of them. I tell them about it that I am checking them for evictions. 2 people I refused right away . One of them had 3 evictions since 2012.
Nice to see there’s a mixed bag of responses. I guess it’s the same as with all potential guests - ask a straight question in a nice way and use your instincts
We are staying in a high rise about five blocks from our house tonight so we can have a terrific view of the 4th of July fireworks. The host is very new, so I assured him we were old and boring.
We’ve rented to many locals who want to be downtown for concerts, games, events, etc… We’ve had one not so great experience, but all the others have been perfect. We’ve had several couples who were just looking to get away from their kids for a night or two.
Yes. Not very many but all good experiences.
Just as a point of interest; how do you all define locals. Guests who live in the area, but are moving away? Guests who live afar, but are moving to the area? Guests who live in the same city, but over an hour drive away?
Fair question. I live in the Netherlands now and you can drive across the whole country in 2 hours so I would class a local as someone who normally lives within 20 minutes bike ride.
When I lived in Australia I would call someone local if they lived within an hour’s drive.
People who are leaving the area or arriving are a slightly different case, as I guess I would only know that after asking what interests them about my place
In Los Angeles, CA during rush hour it can take over an hour to drive ten miles.
I’ve heard differing reasons that hosts don’t want to book locals; they might have a party, they might case the house, they might rent just to have sex, etc. I live here so they won’t have a party without my knowing, I don’t worry much about being robbed, I don’t care if people have sex and I’ve had people from far flung places come here to have sex. I guess the reason the host thinks it’s a bad idea to book locals would determine who they count as locals. Personally, I’ve had wonderful experiences with local guests.
When i think of an hour’s drive = around 60 kilometres.
Totally unrelated question: Why would anyone drive an hour to get just 10 miles? Are there no buses or bikes?
In Los Angeles, CA public transportation takes longer than a car even during rush hour. Buses rarely come more often than once every half hour and there aren’t enough bus routes. As an example, The Getty Museum is about a 10 minute drive from my house. By bus, it takes over an hour. There are rarely separate lanes for buses so they are in the same traffic as cars. It’s unusual for people to ride bikes as transportation here. It’s frowned upon to arrive at work sweaty and bicyclists are at risk of being hit by cars.