No, I don’t have my own site @Chris - and I’ve never handed a guest one of my biz cards and asked them to book directly. Isn’t that against policy if you’re an AIrbnb host?
If you already have a guest in your house that rented your place through AIrbnb, you definitely can offer this guest in the future to book through you directly.
What happens after the booking is noone business but yours. A guest who books through booking.com for example can book through hotel directly if he decides to prolong his stay. Booking platform has no control over it.
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Locals might have relatives or friends who are looking for accommodation. I am always thinkign of my 2 friends who are renting out their properties. ANd they do the same. If they are sold out, they call me in case they have am inquiry.
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@Yana already replied your question, it is completely legal to let guests contact you directly if they or their friends want to stay with you another time. You are not an “AirBnB host”, you are a “host” and AirBnB is merely a channel, like booking.com, homeaway and others.
My advice, build your own site, you have the pictures and information already.
It does not have to be much, a 1 page website is enough.
You can get easy templates to make them.
Like this one: http://www.ansonika.com/theme_selector/?t=BedandBreakfast
If you are happy with your guest, give them the business card with your site. You will notice that over time slowly you will get inquiries outside AirBnB. But you have to give it time, it takes 3 to 5 years to build a decent customer base.
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I have not done any outside marketing for my listings and Airbnb is the only site I use so I can’t give you tips there. I did look at your listing and think you should consider a few more things. Get wooden hangers that match,add a printer, an iron, an ironing board so that you could list as a business friendly unit for more traffic and bookings.
Another thing I have done is that I use a company called Beyond Pricing that adjusts my rates based on local events, holidays, day of the week, and seasonal demand. They offer a free month to see how it impacts your total income and then charges 1% of gross income. You are very close to other listings in your area as far as nightly rate and cleaning fee but the other 2 listings I looked at are not upstairs and one had a pool. You are the only one the can determine if you are trying to maximize income or just create some income with fewer bookings but I found by lowering my nightly rate, I got more bookings and more revenue for the mont. Currently staging Master Bedroom so I can offer Entire House listing with 4 beds and 8 guests to see if I move out what revenue it will generate.
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Before you take Chris’s advice; I would HIGHLY recommend that your research the local laws in your community/state. IF you accept a rental outside of Airbnb then you HAVE established a tenant/landlord relationship and instead of being under hotel regulations, you might fall under rental regulations. This is where you see horror stories about the Airbnb lady in California who let an Airbnb guest extend their stay by paying cash direct to owner and after the extended stay was up the guest refused to leave and had to be evicted MONTHS later.
Laws vary by state and city so before going it alone on your own website, find out how guests are treated under the law and the requirements each way.
Making a couple of extra dollars may or may not be worth the added liability.
I raised my rates, it only slightly decreased my bookings, so when I begin to feel the burnout building I block out dates that aren’t booked yet. And yes, I share my home but it’s only 3 months, last summer wasn’t bad but I had some guests that were very trying this year, not to group people together, I’m over 50, but 3 single women over 60 were the tipping point. I really enjoy the single men who are over 60, undemanding, busy and friendly. I think the women THOUGHT they were friendly but they were bossy, demanding and nosy.
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Just had one like this in this most recent group, I ignored her and told everyone what to do and ignored her stare. After two rounds, she threw in the towel and we got along famously. 
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I don’t see why a short term rental trough AirBnB is any different than a direct one.
Laws do not change because AirBnB is involved, they do not make illegal things legal. (I know AirBnB wants you to think that)
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Wasn’t the issue the length of stay, beyond 28 days, not the methodology of how or who the ‘lady’ paid?
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With Airbnb Bookings you have a WRITTEN contract between both parties that is enforceable under HOTEL laws and guests can be asked to leave at any time for violations and escorted out by local police if needed. It is NOT the length of stay that determines the contract or laws; it is the WRITTEN CONTRACT both parties have signed and agreed to.
IF you accept cash for an extension of stay then there is NO legal contract and it becomes an landlord/tenant dispute that the police can NOT enforce because there is no contract and the police will deem it a “civil matter” and that lands you in the eviction process under local and state laws. In Nevada I can evict a tenant for non-payment of rent in 15 days but in other state like New York, I had a Property Manager tell me that it took him 13 YEARS to evict a tenant.
IF you are going to secure your own guests then you NEED to have a WRITTEN agreement for EVERY reservation and ensure that you maintain your “hotel” rights of eviction and not enter into a landlord/tenant relationship and to do that you need to research your local eviction laws.
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There was a squatter in Watsonville who asked the host to go off the Airbnb platform and accept cash payments. The host agreed. When the guests became squatters the host did not receive assistance from Airbnb because the host was accepting cash payment.
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It happened to one of our forum members and was such a horrendous story I am surprised the mainstream media didn’t pick up on it. I tried to search for it here but I see the thread was closed because the case was ongoing, but trust me… it was our worst nightmare… And this was NOT a case of taking cash outside the platform. She had a two month reservation and when the second month (charged separately in chunks by Air) failed to post, due to no money, the woman simply stayed and said she wasn’t leaving. This was a home share situation as well. Guest started having all her mail sent to the host’s home, as that was HER home now.
Host had to follow eviction procedures to get her out and also had to cater to all of her needs or be accused of harassment. She had to provide all things that were promised in the listing such as wi-fi. Turning it all off ccould delay the process. The guest called the cops on the HOST many times, accusing her of harassment because she had asked the daughter not to eat ice cream in the house. This case, as it involved a minor, is still in court. She trashed the room and damaged furniture and ruined the host’s summer because she couldn’t make plans to travel with the parasite there. Mind you this parasite was considered a tenant because she had stayed longer than 30 days, entitled to due process like any other tenant. Airbnb eventually rehoused her but so much damage was done.
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Did you all just take off in the wrong direction? I believe what Chris is talking about is how it may behoove people to have a rental system of going via agencies (like Airbnb) OR direct. I don’t think he (or I) were talking about a quasi-arrangement of part Airbnb and direct payments within one booking.
Having said that, 30% of my customers are direct and they sign a contract and waiver of liability because 90% of my guests are Americans; a case of overkill really because here in Belize people are not armed with a slew of rights which con artists can use to game the system and abuse others without impunity - like it is in the US. By way of example, here you don’t leave the premises when your gig is up, two constables be in their face and helping them pack in like 30 minutes max. End of issue.
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Airbnb confirmation receipts, nor their terms of service protect hosts from guests trying to establish tenancy rights. As if the local police takes orders from Airbnb reps…lol.
Vegas,
It’s been 2.5 years as host and I have finally realized that Airbnb IS a rental situation.Whether you go thru Airbnb or not.
That sounds like an epiphany. Except I don’t understand it. What did you think Airbnb was?
Aye. What else was it suppose to be?
I respectfully disagree. More than half my bookings are now direct. Each signs our rental agreement sent by our channel manager software service. My rental agreement was reviewed by a RE attorney. Once signed, access information is provided. I do a background check for criminal convictions and unlawful detainers (eviction) on every single guest no matter where the res comes from. Airbnb reservations are no better or worse in terms of squatter threats than any other source.