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I know this topic has been addressed before - but I’m anxious and would love to have a bit of hand-holding.
I just received a booking for tonight for 1 person. Their address is listed as the town one over from me. He says he wants to be closer to DC. He won’t be any closer to DC at all.
He booked for 1 person but there’s a child in his profile photo. Writing to him now with questions -
Thoughts?
seems not so good…
Just decline, he’s covering up something.
I’d just ask him. We recently stayed on the same street when maintenance work was being done on our building. So it’s not necessarily dodgy.
He says he lived in our neighborhood when he made the account but now lives much further out, uses Uber, and his kid’s mom lives here and will be picking them up on Sunday.
Added factor is his race, which has been such an issue with airbnb, and is totally an issue in our country.
i think you guys are too paranoid.
Perhaps. But when you have 3 kids and are sharing your home, paranoia may be actually wisdom.
It’s unclear, is he bringing his child? I would ask him to update his information with his correct address before booking.
This is healthy paranoia.
He responded quickly -
When I first made this account I was living in neighboring town. I now live in (30 minutes out) which is a bit further out. I use uber to get around and have my two boys with me. An uber trip from yourtown to DC is less expensive. This also aids my sons mother because it is closer for her to pick him up on Sunday. It will be my two boys (ages 2 &3), my girlfriend, and myself. We wont be in the house for too much more than dinner and sleep. Its more about location than anything. Is this okay with you? Thank you again for your time.
Yes, turns out there are 4 - two kids and a girlfriend. I put through the change and we’ll see what he says. Because of my configuration, 4 people is $15 more than 3.
I don’t see the problem. I’ve had 3 locals stay. (in my long 5 month stint of hosting). One of my best guests was a single guy who lives in the next suburb to the house. Wanted some peace and quiet to study in (this is a large 3 bed full house listing!). He ended up extending and stayed for 10 days. Perfect guest. Why is local seen as dodgy?
After explaination seems ok I would say
He is using a credit card which is tied to his address so I don’t see how it can be different as it is charged by Airbnb. Again, I would ask him to update all his contact info before allowing him to book. And is it four people?
Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the balance.
He accepted the change without hesitation, which is reassuring.
@Australia, some people have had problems with locals as they are people who have fallen on hard-times - they get into a property and then refuse to leave. They may be having a crisis in their lives which they then bring into your home.
Or maybe it’s just as he says and he just needs to get away.
I’ll let ya’ll know how it turns out!
Well my first thought was “No Tell Motel.” When I read that he’s bringing the kids and girlfriend, that seems unlikely.
What is your check-out time?
I would make sure he understands it’s a firm time and his kids’ mom needs to pick up before then. You could fudge a little and say you have other guests checking in that evening and need the time to clean.
All of my locals stays were with one purpose: sex dates. 3 of them did not even stay overnight. They just had sex and after couple hours left. Though nothing was damaged, just once the guy left everything very messy, i dont like these stays. Its a family home, and i dont really like hearing sex sounds when my family is watching TV in a living room. I dont know how people even come up with this crazy idea renting Airbnb private room for this purpose only and do it during the evening when everyone are still awake and can hear everything
hahaha, just the reason I wouldn’t have airbnb in my home 
. I’m 5 kms away so they can go for their lives!
Yeah, it was very awkward, especially when my daughter was visiitng and we decided to have dinner in upstairs bedroom, its like suit type huge bedroom with area for TV and a small table. So, we are eating and watching TV, and suddenly we hear sounds from female obviously and then like a slap, lol. We just starred at each other, and then i said: if this is what i think it is?? ANd my daughter said, o yeah, there is no mistake. We giggled, but it was really awkward.