I’ve had a mouse infestation before and it didn’t take a month to clear. There was even minor construction work involved as they had to re-build the back of my kitchen cabinet to close off access and close up small gaps that mice could fit through – that took a day and half. An exterminator came into my apt twice in 10 days. It was so unsettling that I ended up moving out anyway. “Educational social venture” – what is this?
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that so sound harsh. I guess I just get so tired of repeating this advice and not having it taken seriously. Please, read the squatters threads here, right in this very forum, and you will never want to take along term tenant again. The host went through an absolute nightmare and is STILL going to court months later as the squatting guest attempted to extract revenge. She has spent thousands and thousands to get her out and what was worse, had to live with her and cater to her while she was still in the home. I don’t want to see it happen to anyone else. 
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I hate suggesting Facebook, but have you tried Facebook? 
Most areas have a flatmate-finder type group. My guess is that a long-term tenant would be found in there.
I’d still echo the others’ thoughts though. Long term is a can of worms. Law or no law they’re a pain to deal with through AirBnB. 
I’ve had many guests ask if they can look at my place before they book; almost always for events, filming or long stays. I always say that it’s fine for them to come over and see the place. The people who are interested in having an event or filming do come over to have a look. The people who are interested in long term stays never seem to follow through. The strangest time was when I hosted a man who stayed with his son, while his wife stayed with her daughter (my guest’s stepdaughter). The day before his stay; his wife came over unannounced because she wanted to inspect my house and see what I would be feeding her husband and son for breakfast.
I’ve had long term roommate-tenants. It was how I paid my mortgage when I bought a house during the recession. I was 25-28 at the time and didn’t mind sharing a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with a total of 5 people, including myself and my partner. Some were great, some where awful, some were in between. I found some on Craigslist. Some were friends. Some were friends of friends. We never had a lease, and it was just a month-to-month verbal agreement. We did collect last month’s rent. I kicked two people out. One for being a slob and annoying, the other for being a slob and asking me to check on him every day to make sure he didn’t commit suicide.
Thankfully nobody tried to squat. Without a lease, the law was in my favor in my city, but it would have probably still been hard to legally remove someone. I probably would have just changed the locks when the tenant wasn’t home, which is illegal but I didn’t really know any better back then.
I have really preferred AirBnB to roommates, and wish I would have done it all along. I make more on one room than I did when I had three tenants. However, since I’m having a baby in November, my best friend is moving in for a while (and will pay rent) because I can’t deal with hosting and having a new born and four pets.
BTW, I would not trust tenant references without doing a credit or background check as well. I’ve had many 20- and 30-something acquaintances over the years ask me to be a fake reference since I am a homeowner. Or past tenants would ask me to lie about how long they lived with me.
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I think it sounds rather strange that it it is taking a month to clear the infestation on her flat and her insistence on seeing the property beforehand. She can see your location, images and reviews.
I would suggest if you are going ahead, ask for references from her current landlord.
Do ask questions about her lifestyle habits to make sure it is a good fit.
Not sure about your house rules but hopefully there will be rules around noise, whether she can invite guests etc
Personally I don’t like long term guests in case there isn’t a good fit and I enjoy time to have the place to myself/for family/friends but I appreciate it suits some.
Finally I know US has quite tight laws around rights for longer term tenants - what would you do if she refuses to move out and goes over the 30 days.
As hosts, we routinely let guests see rooms in advance. Though the logistics can be a bit of a hassle, it significantly increases the likelihood of a good fit. For example, our house is rustic and, while most guests love it, occasionally we have a guest who clearly wanted something more like a modern, cookie-cutter, hotel. I’d much prefer to have a guest not book than book and be frustrated that it’s not what they wanted.
Part of our sympathy for guests wanting to see rooms is that when we travel, whether with Airbnb or hotels, we always ask to see rooms, too. We do this because my wife has serious allergies and we simply can’t book somewhere that won’t allow her to gauge the air quality in advance.
How though? On Airbnb it is a violation of the TOS and they block you from communicating addresses. I don’t get how you guys are getting around this but most of all I don’t understand the logic of catering to the lookie loos… Most won’t book and just want to waste your time.
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More likely she wanted to check YOU out! Probably didn’t trust the hubby. 
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If you write the address this way Airbnb won’t block it.
Address Number: 12345
Street Name: Main Street
City, State: Anytown, CA
Zip Code: 12345
I don’t think that Airbnb really cares if you let the guests see your listing before they book. I believe that this rule is to discourage hosts and guests from using Airbnb as a advertising platform, then making a cash deal without either side paying Airbnb.
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That’s funny. My looks don’t usually make wives fear that their men will stray. That’s because they don’t know that still waters run deep.
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You underestimate yourself. All women are beautiful and we all have something special to offer… 
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Well, here is the latest update for my “request to see before booking” guest… Since he had concerns about staying long-term and since I have a strict cancellation policy, I suggested that he book a shorter stay, and then extend if needed. He let the approval expire and then asked to book two-weeks instead of the month, at which point I let him know that it would be easier to send a new request for the dates he wanted. LOL, he decided on 3-weeks, hoping that he would be able to move back to his place by then. He seems to be satisfied for the moment and has not asked again to see the house before arrival. That’s the update for now. Fingers crossed.
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I was going to ask you what “still waters run deep” means in that context, then I decided to look it up rather than show my ignorance (which always seems to be at the forefront anyway).
I read that it means: “a quiet or placid manner may conceal a more passionate nature.”
Ooooo, EllenN, you little minx you!
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