Not necessarily true. It depends on your target clientele and market. We get 80%-90% of our bookings from VRBO. I’m trying to get that higher because of the guest-centric rules on AirBnB.
You’re probably in the US and have a long history of good reviews on VRBO. VRBO is relatively unknown here, and new listings on VRBO tend to show up on page 60 or something. It takes years to earn decent search position.
In contrast, Airbnb has become wildly popular here, and even if you list on both platforms, Airbnb will book it up before VRBO or any of it’s other platforms have any chance. So, a lot of hosts (including myself) have become much too dependent on Airbnb, and considering how obsessively guest favouritist Airbnb is, that’s a very risky position to be in.
Especially now with Airbnb’s new refund policy. Apparently as expected, refunds are quickly becoming a favourite pastime for certain Airbnb guests. Just submit a photo of a cockroach, and voila! It’s a doddle.
VRBO hasn’t ever produced much for us, and the quality of guest isn’t any better than Airbnb, and they have those extra charges such as 3% payment processing, and they’ve never responded to even one support ticket, so we’ve stopped listing on VRBO. Unfortunately.
It’s great that Airbnb has a worthy competitor. They just don’t have the market visibility here. I’d dump Airbnb in a minute if there were another option that were equally productive, even if their support is nonexistent, like VRBO’s. Airbnb’s support is woeful at best, and I don’t even bother with it anymore, but they do deliver the bookings.
Having said that, I’ve been spinning up boutique platforms which cater to specific demographics that render a better quality of guest. And they have very personal, effective host support, vet their guests extensively, so I don’t have to. But again, nowhere near the productivity of Airbnb. But I’ve figured out ways to circumvent most of airbnb’s guest-favouring, host damaging interventions. So I’ll just have to take my chances. For now.
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Hello, in terms of host liability - are we covered by the airbnb insurance? This scares me- what are we potentially liable for? I read somewhere that if you check off no children- then someone got sued for discrimination or something? Or if you have a longer booking- forget the number of days such as - for eg- if you go over 21 days- you can run into trouble about dealing with “tenant” laws? Any advice- want to make sure I don’t make any of these mistakes… Thx.
so what sort of insurance policy do you currently have?
You’re potentially liable for injuries of guests or others who enter your property. Get commercial insurance, for example Proper insurance in U.S.
If you rent for more than x days to a guest then they get rights under your state’s tenant laws in U.S. “x” depends on your state but generally is between 28 and 31.
I don’t know about discrimination if you check that box off for no children, except in Massachusetts where you cannot discriminate based on age.
You might want to search topics here to educate yourself.
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Well I just have ordinary property insurance- I thought airbnb covers the rest- is there a need for additional?
the more I research, the more questions come up, lol. I guess I am looking into worst case scenarios- so I can be prepared in case of emergencies. It is daunting- tried setting up my listing last night- and the host they have answering questions said you have to publish and then unlist- to finish your listing. I later thought good thing I asked- how would I know that- as there were very few description boxes to fill out… (such as queen size bed etc). Why not have all the settings available- as “in progress” -instead of giving you some and then requiring you to publish- etc…
You might want to get insurance in place before listing. Airbnb does provide sone coverage but many/most here feel it’s unwise to rely on it.
I really don’t understand you post but you can create your listing and then ‘snooze it.’ Google it.
Airbnb would like new hosts to think they will be covered, but the reality is that you are not. Making a claim for damages, etc, is usually a long, frustrating experience, taking months, being asked to provide proof of damage and proof of the cost of repair or replacement, and in the end, after putting in hours and hours on this and having to explain and submit the same things over and over again, having the claim denied, or them offering you $75 for a $2000 sofa that was destroyed.
You need to consider Airbnb as nothing more than a listing platform, getting your advertising out there to millions of potential guests. Don’t expect them to have your back- hosts are basically on their own.
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I quickly Googled the child discrimination issue you raised and was pointed to threads here. Yes, it is a potential issue. I asked you elsewhere a minute ago to tell us more about your intended rental to help answer your question.
My question is- I only want to host couples or singles right now- no children. There is a checkbox to mark off no children… But somewhere someone said they got sued for this. So I want to know how I can protect myself and if marking off this box- can somehow put me in some silly position where I can be sued by an unscrupulous guest. It doesn’t make sense but lots of things don’t make sense.
I don’t know laws in Canada, maybe someone else here might know for “Eastern Canada, whole house/cottage/bungalow/single family- one unit, live elsewhere” hosting situation.
It might be useful to know what province you’re in. Maybe also whether it is considered a residential area as defined by whatever laws apply to short-term rentals in your area.
Do you know the laws in your area concerning short-term rentals?
I found this. Don’t know if there is an exception for short-term rentals: Got kids? Find another place to live | CBC News
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I only allow children at 1 of my 4 listings. I stress in the description all the issues that make it unsafe - located on an extremely busy road, there are no front fences, the internal stairs are 150 years old and very steep and narrow.
Back area is used for car parking for multiple properties ……little ones are not safe
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@Letsgo Maybe I missed it, but can you describe the hosting situation you are considering? It’s difficult to advise you when we don’t know the situation, nor where you live or host. Is it an entire house or apartment? A room or studio in your home?
I’m a home-share host and only host solo travelers. They have a private room and a private bathroom and share my kitchen with me. The guest room has a single bed. So while I did mark not suitable for infants or children in my house rules, it’s a non-issue, because there is only a single bed and not enough space to put in a larger bed, or a crib, without having the room feel cramped. I started hosting in 2016, and I’ve never had anyone who inquired about, nor assumed they could bring a baby or a child.
BTW, I love hosting solo travelers. They have all been self-sufficient, appreciative, and respectful and I’ve met some awesome people, some of whom I still keep in touch with.
There is no “Airbnb insurance”.
As a host, you could be liable for anything that damages the guest. For example, they slip, fall and hurt themselves. A storm comes and blows a tree into their car. A fire. Or worse. You should always have liability insurance.
Tenant laws are different in every country and region. We have a 28 day limit, which prevents any problems.
In terms of “discrimination”, Airbnb has some rather illogical rules about this, particularly regarding age of guests, but legally, it’s perfectly rational to discriminate between different age groups, since statistically and verifiable, certain age groups are far riskier than others (e.g., groups of 18-22 year olds). And it’s entirely possible that the accommodation you offer is not suitable for children, lacking pool safety features, for example.
Any insurance company legally and necessarily discriminates different age and gender groups, for example, an 18 year old male driver will pay a far higher insurance premium than a 38 year old female. Because statistically, the former is a far higher risk. It’s simply a verifiable fact.
Does that help?
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@Letsgo I’d say you are overthinking the getting sued for discrimination because you check “not suitable for children”. I can assure you that tens of thousands of hosts check that box, ask guests who didn’t bother to read the listing info to please withdraw their request when they say they are intending to bring children, or decline the booking. Worrying about getting sued by the guest for this is like worrying about a guest burning your house to the ground because you said they would have to pay for the extra guests they snuck in. The chances are infintesimal.
And Canada is not a sue-happy, litiginous culture like the US.
Here’s an interesting discrimination story- years ago I applied for a Westjet credit card. I already had one credit card that I had had for about 5 years. Although I was about 50 years old, I just had never needed a credit card before that- I was a single mom with 3 kids, who had lived in the same small city on Vancouver Island for 20 years, didn’t live beyond my means, and just paid cash or cheque for everything.
I got rejected for the Westjet credit card, even though I met their mimimum income requirement, and had a good credit rating from my other card.
I forgot about it for a couple of years, and then, because my girls were now grown and on their own, wanted to do more travelling, so I applied for the Westjet credit card again, and got rejected again.
I called Westjet, who said that they actually didn’t administer those cards, a company called BSBN, or something like that, did. So I called them and asked why I was being rejected. The guy asked if he could check my credit rating, and I said of course. After a few minutes he came back on the line and said he saw that I had an excellent credit rating. And said nothing more.
I asked again, then why was my application being rejected? He hesitated before answering and then said “Well, it has to do with your age”.
“Excuse me, my age?”
“Well, yes. We would expect to see someone of your age having had a credit card for much longer than you have.”
“So you mean to tell me that if an 18 year old, who had never had any credit card before because they only just reached adulthood, applied for a card, you would give it to them?”
Another hesitation, and then, “Well, yes.”
So I got off the phone with him and called the anti-discrimination dept. of the Canadian govt., told them this story and asked if this was not considered to be age discrimination.
She said that it most definitely was, but that credit card companies and banks can refuse people for any or no reason, that the anti-discrimination laws did not apply to that.
There are plenty of seniors complexes where you have to be above the age of 55 or whatever, to purchase or rent a home, and they don’t get sued because of that, so I don’t think a guest would have much of a leg to stand on in court because a host has an adults-only listing, especially since there are lots of listings which do accept children. It’s not like guests can’t find anywhere to stay because they have kids.
If no hotels or short term rentals accepted children, that could be grounds for a discrimination suit, but no one has some legal right to rent an Airbnb they happen to like the looks of, if they can’t or won’t comply with the listed house rules.
The article that was linked to by HostAirbnbVrbo concerns landlords and tenants, not strs. Just make sure you have a 28 day or less maximum allowed stay, not take longer term bookings, so that you can’t be classified as a landlord.
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So @Letsgo @Debthecat makes an important point by listing in the description aspects of the listing that make it unsuitable for children.
But again I stress the importance of knowing the rules precisely where. you live. For example the rules in the city of MA where I live are different from the rules that apply in the same state but a different city (Plymouth), where they have very specific rules on many aspects of the listing (e.g., maximum occupancy).
I would think it is an easy thing for you to Google the STR requirements, if any, for your particular city. For example, there are no city-specific requirements for the city I’m in, just statewide requirements.
Thank you- I probably am over thinking… hahahaha… but a different
post talked about a troll going around in the US suing people who did
that-marked not suitable- specifically targeting them- but I believe
that was about 4 yrs ago and I think airbnb changed their wording…
I will try to focus more on the positive to get this done this week-
but wanted to try and prepare for anything that could go wrong and it
was slowing my progress…
I lived in Qualicum for a spell- beautiful area!
thanks again for your advice
What is air bnb cover- insurance- doesn’t that protect you if a guest falls etc?