Shooting at Airbnb party kills 2, injures 8 in Pittsburgh, city says

[muddy]

@Annet3176

I write reviews like this all the time.

Those aren’t the kind of reviews I meant though. You have a good system in place for reporting and assessing how the guests left the place. I was thinking of those property manager types who just leave “Great guests!” for all their guests, as long as they didn’t burn the place down.

Or the hosts who submit reviews before they have even looked at, or had their cleaner or co-host tell them, the state of the place.

And of course, “Great guests!” isn’t a review- it tells me nothing of value.

[Annet3176]

@KKC

It’s the host’s job to monitor their rental and to be available or have someone available if something comes up.

Sharing a resource & discount

https://noiseaware.com/cart/?fbclid=IwAR3ijJ7yWw1VXVgNZMntZztpbu4XUOTU9uwSRn2gBI8xI0DVER-Ii8ENcFs

Discount code

Notice to get the discount include the name of your Airbnb related Facebook group

[Annet3176]

@gypsy

I for one am guilty of calling my str an “Airbnbn”

Me too and
Tissues = Kleenex
All carbonated drinks=coca cola (for me its co-cola)
All sticky notes = post its
All machine made copies = Xeroxes (shows my age)

Feel free to add more!

[muddy]

@aelilya

So much of this is just plain trust. We trust people aren’t lying to us. & I’ve seen lots of support for “new account/no review” guests, for example. Who’d guess someone from 85 miles away is throwing a 200 person party?

This is true to some extent. But some savvy hosts are good at ferreting out lies by asking certain questions designed to catch them out and providing info to discourage the booking (like that the host lives on the property or 5 minutes away).
There’s a host in Chicago who has 3 or 4 big houses she manages herself with the help of a co-host. They sleep a lot of people, so they are ripe for parties, and in fact she gets a lot of bachlorette groups, but she seems pretty adept at picking up when someone is BSing her. She’s posted some message exchanges with guests as examples of how they were lying and how she routed out the lies.

[muddy]

@Annet3176

Me too and
Tissues = Kleenex
All carbonated drinks=coca cola (for me its co-cola)
All sticky notes = post its
All machine made copies = Xeroxes (shows my age)

Feel free to add more!

I would guess that is every marketer’s pinnacle of success, to have one’s brand name be used as a general term for the item, even if it’s a different brand.

Others I’ve heard:
All plastic wrap- Saran Wrap
All plastic storage containers- Tupperware
All disposable diapers- Pampers

[KKC]

@muddy

marketer’s pinnacle of success, to have one’s brand name be used as a general term for the item,

The term for that is “proprietary eponym.”

Another of example of "Airbnb" as Proprietary Eponym

Say what you want about Airbnb; the ubiquity of their brand name can’t be argued with. I wonder what that value translates to in dollars? The model was pioneered and popularized by Airbnb, the now-ubiquitous home-rental platform. When Airbnb started in 2008, the idea of turning your house into a crash pad, or paying a few hundred dollars to sleep in a stranger’s guest room, was still fringe. There were some full-home rental websites like V R B O at the time, but single-room rentals were an op…

[muddy]

Thanks- learn something new every day. (Yesterday I learned here about “thermal paper”, which I’d never heard of before)
Probably won’t have too much opportunity to drop the term into casual conversation, though.

[Helsi]

Actually you said in your original post ‘the neighbours should contact the police or the host’ so that’s what you were implying.

Again hosts should not rely on neighbours to be the eyes and ears for your STR business - it’s up to us as hosts to 1. Vet effectively 2. Monitor remote properties so we shut down parties and other anti social behaviour.

Yes some hosts have good relationships with their neighbours who will flag issues - but it’s not something you should tell neighbours ‘should do’ unless you are paying them to monitor your place.

[zillacop]

Airbnb says it’s “working with police” on the shooting case. No arrests so far but they’re doing the unthinkable by banning the renter of the shooting property from Air forever.
That ought to teach them and everyone else. What a bleeding joke.

[murphysranch]

The host of that home was a company - xx, LLC.

[Annet3176]

@murphysranch

a company - xx, LLC.

That’s common for individual owners with one or two listings to operate as an LLC. In my area it makes it easier to get a business bank account & business credit card & debit card so for easy accounting & points building you use resources dedicated for business use only.

[Robin]

@Keugenia

use cameras at the entrances,

Not always allowed! We have a condo that does not allow any sort of outside cameras. (As this is a shared space in the common areas, so not even a ring doorbell is allowed, and honestly that thing would drive me absolutely bonkers with the foot traffic at a condo. And having cameras in the unit would be just weird IMO.

[bnbmonthlyandrew]

This is truly unfortunate.
Some ways to help negate large parties/gatherings is to include noise monitors in your listing. Once the level of noise reaches a certain level, you will be notified. Additionally, having a security system with web cams outside, would help be further evidence of what’s happening at the property. Both pieces of evidence would help to kick out these violators while working with Airbnb support. This both protects your airbnb and our ability to airbnb in the communities we live.

[Annet3176]

@bnbmonthlyandrew

include noise monitors in your listing.

Earlier in this thread, I posted a link to a noise monitoring company offering anyone in a STR host Facebook group discount.

[Annet3176]

@Robin

a condo that does not allow any sort of outside cameras. (As this is a shared space in the common areas,

I am working with a host with this kind of HOA requirement—high rise elevators, enclosed hallway, many condos sharing the hallway, common massive lobby. Because of the emphasis on properly disclosing cameras, we disclosed the HOA maintained video cameras in the lobby, parking deck & pool. It may be too much but better safe than risk “refund hungry guest” claiming undisclosed cameras.

Btw-I disclosed my HOA video monitoring of the gated entrance & dumpster area in addition to my ring doorbell.

[JustANewHost]

@gypsy

exactly. I for one am guilty of calling my str an “Airbnbn” . I try not to because it is the name of a company, not a place.

Remember when people would call a photocopy a Xerox ? It happens

[Quinnie]

I understand @Annet3176, How Airbnb Is Responding To A Mass Shooting At Pittsburgh Rental Property

[Quinnie]

Also @Helsi How Airbnb Is Responding To A Mass Shooting At Pittsburgh Rental Property

Though the job rest with the host and all measures needed to be taken, the article does measure in on the need for neighbors to chime in. What’s the saying? “If you see something….”
The other one comes to mind is “it takes a village”. Though yes I am responsible for my own child.

[Helsi]

Sorry can’t see anything in the article you’ve linked to that say neighbours should be responsible for alerting authorities know if there are parties at short term rentals.

That is absolutely the responsibility of the host to monitor although the reality is that neighbours are likely to complain in these situations

[Monique]

Yet another reason Airbnb needs to give hosts last names (instead) of just first … so hosts can at least TRY to vet their guests!!!