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Hi I’ve been lurking here and have already learned a lot of good tidbits. My wife and I are new to Airbnb hosting and have just started about 3 weeks ago. We have had 3 guests so far (all one nighters) and things have gone well with all 5-star reviews.
We offer 2 bedrooms with a private bath on the “old” side of our house and we live in our addition.
We got an inquiry today from a woman with a single review on Airbnb (it’s a good review) and she is asking us to rent our space to her husband for February through May because he is in the Marines and just got orders to be based at a Marine Training Center nearby and they are having trouble finding a place they can afford. She won’t be joining him because she is in Nursing school and needs to stay put in VA.
We have our place listed with a maximum stay of 6 nights right now since we are so new and wanted to test the waters. We both admire military personnel and veterans and, of course, we like the idea of the potential revenue, so we are considering trying to help these folks out but we are not sure we want to make a 4 month commitment without knowing more about the “gotcha’s” of long-term renting. Also, on the surface, these seem like nice sincere people but it also strikes me as kind of an odd request since I would think they would be looking for a short-term rental and not an Airbnb. Is there some possible scam at work here? So far there has been no mention of circumventing the Airbnb Eco-system by them.
If it’s not a totally bad idea I’m wondering what to charge (we currently charge just $39/night with a $10-$15 up-charge for additional guests.). What would be a reasonable discount for a 4-month stay?
Anyway…we are kind of at a loss as to what to do with this potential opportunity…Any advice from you veterans would be greatly appreciated…I responded to the inquiry that we need some time to think about it…
I’d look into your local laws about guests staying for extended periods and becoming your LTR tenant. It’s not so easy to get a LTR/tenant to leave. In my area, a landlord needs to provide 45 days notice. Different areas have different laws.
re: how much. 4 months X your monthly rate. I wouldn’t want o lose income for the pleasure of having the same tenants for what could seem like forever.
Maybe start off with a six day trial and then as the period ends, add 28 days, then another 28 days, etc. Assuming you want to keep them as guests.
I would advise against such a long term booking when you are still rookies. Even if you weren’t rookies, 4 months is a long time to have someone around if they turn out to be someone you don’t like or who is a difficult guest.
Aside from all that, this woman cannot book for her husband unless both of their names are on the account. he would need to open his own account and book for himself. Third party bookings are agaist Airbnb TOS and Airbnb can choose not to support you if have issues with a third party booking.
I’m a veteran, and I say don’t do this Long Term stay. You’re so new to this rental business that things are almost guaranteed to go “pear shaped” as they say. It’s just not worth the hassle. The experience you’ll gain from four months of ordinary guests will be so much better for you.
I wasn’t a Marine, but if he’s there TDY (Temporary Duty) as an instructor, the USMC should have a billet on base for him, any way. If he’s there TDY to go to school, they’ll still have a place for him to stay. Having him in a place, by himself, could open a big box of bad if he starts bringing other Marines “home” with him…
I’m glad you’ve found this forum to ask a great newbie question.
I made the mistake of accepting a 3-week booking with my first guests. I used Airbnb’s price tips and their recommended weekly discount. I ended up inadvertently renting the room below market rate (what I could have charged even as a LTR). I lost the new-host bonus, and attracted really awful guests who cooked on the space heater, scratched the walls, and didn’t use the shower curtain. I learned a lot about hosting and guest-proofing when I fled to this forum for advice.
If I wanted a 4-month stay, I’d find a tenant on Craigslist and do a lease. There was a host here about four years ago who had an AWFUL professional squatter and the “guest” had gotten herself tenants rights due to the stay being 30+ days.
No reviews for 4 months for a new host is not good for your Airbnb hosting “career”.
It’s a 3rd party booking. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me, but for a 4-month booking, you are taking on more risk. For whatever Airbnb’s host guarantee and host protection are worth, they won’t apply to 3rd party bookings, so you better have genuine short term rental insurance.
Another side effect is of the 3rd party booking is that the single good review isn’t for the person that is staying.
You currently have a maximum stay of 6 nights. Think carefully about why you put that rule in place and why you would be willing to make an exception.
Are you worried about tenant’s rights? I doubt this would be a problem for an active military person, but with a 3rd party booking, do you even know if this is true?
If the wife isn’t coming, why wouldn’t he just stay in a place provided by the military?
Bad guests are known to prey on new hosts.
So, if you decide it’s all legit and you want to go through with it, make the husband get his own account and book himself, and also assume that the wife will visit occasionally so that should be priced accordingly.
I’m a veteran host and I advise against doing this for all the excellent reasons already listed here.
One more, once the stay ends and it’s time to gear up for high season of travel in most of the US and you will probably find that having your place blocked off has hurt you in search. One the tidbits of advice I offer here is “the busier you are, the busier you will be.” Keep raking in those one night 5 star reviews.
I’ve never had four month booking but I think people have reported here that after they had a long term guest booked on Airbnb it took awhile to get going again. I’m not going to go research it though. That’s just off the top of my head.
This is a crucial point. I didn’t realize the host had a 6 day maximum. A guest that starts off ignoring your availability settings or asks you to waive any of your house rules or maximum guest count as a special favor to them is a huge red flag. Guests need to look for a listing that conforms to their needs, not try to convince a host to bend their rules just because the guest likes the place and the price point. That’s the definition of entitlement.
That is a very suspicious inquiry. The MOST I would consider with them is to let them do a 1-7 night stay. The person BOOKING it MUST be the one staying.
Then you can figure out if this is really on the level. A long term stay should be separate of airbnb, so you are covered with a PROPER lease for your state, and not give away any money to airbnb or hotel taxes, etc.
Careful. It could be innocent. But if they are trying to find a place they can afford, why are they using ABB? - it’s expensive compared to using Craigslist or asking the military for places to stay if you need help with finding temporary housing.
Tim, yet another veteran host here. And yet another to advise against a long term tenant.
An important thing to realise is that sometimes, when people are using Airbnb to find long term rentals it’s because they have bad credit. Other landlords and apartment agencies would insist on credit checks.
They might be lovely people and the military are definitely to be admired but this wouldn’t be good for you.
I have my own horror story which I’ll touch on briefly. We had long term tenants who just stopped paying. It took six moths to get them out (via the courts) and during that time, we were paying for all the utilities of which they made extravagant use. I’m not saying that these people would do that but you have to protect yourself.
Take heed of the advice above and ask yourself why the military admin haven’t arranged for accommodation for this guy.
Wow!..thank you all for the great replies and things to consider! I am going to take the general advice and not allow a long term booking…you’ve all convinced me it’s a bad idea. I think we will offer to allow her husband to book a week with an option for a 2nd week if both parties are satisfied…this will allow him time to look for another place while actually staying in the area. I assume they will not do that but at least I’m giving them an option to buy some time to find something suitable. If they are interested in that idea I’ll tell her that her husband has to create a profile and book the room himself.
Again thank you so much for painting a clear picture of the potential risks! I’m so glad I found this forum!
One thing I feel is important to mention is that Airbnb has a long term cancellation policy. I don’t think 95% of users on this forum even understand it.
BTW - everyone should read it carefully. Just because your guest books for months does NOT mean you are entitled to that money. Your guest can still cancel and you will be left holding the bag for other dates that you had blocked off for months.
Read the policy carefully. The guest does not need your approval to make certain changes.
Just as you should be worried about a professional squatter lying to get tenancy, you should worry about a potential guest lying about being military to use that to their advantage. If you do decide to take this guest, they should have no problem with your checking up on them with their commanding officer at the base.
This also has the benefit that if you do have problems during the stay, you can go up the chain of command to resolve them.
Hey…maybe this a new one. I come from a military family too. But maybe next time asking for a discount…“Sure… no problem. As long as you provide me contact details of your commanding officer.” - lol.
