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Pre-COVID, when the majority of my guests were tourists, I had no issue with people inviting a small number of day guests. As long as people tell me who’s coming, this has never been an issue.
In the past I’ve only charged for the number of people staying, and have a $25/night extra guest fee for each person over 4 guests.
Now, the majority of my guests are locals. I’m getting a ton of people booking to hang out with their family and friends, and renting the space to throw small birthday parties.
Some will book with 4 people staying, but with a much larger number number - say, 10 total - that spend a good chunk of the day in the apartment.
I’m considering revising my policies. How do you all handle situations like these?
We have rooms in our house so people are less apt to abuse our no guest policy. However, when we get to know people we let them bring over 1 or 2. You’ll get better hints from those who rent whole spaces.
I always allowed extra day guests as long as people told me that they were coming and why (it was in the house rules). The purpose was just so that guests didn’t think they could invite a bunch of people over for some purpose but claim it wasn’t a party or event.
Right now, during the pandemic, it kinda seems like a bad idea to allow groups of 10 whether they are day or night guests. Groups of 10 or more are forbidden in many places right now. Could that be the reason they want to rent your place?
An extra 6-8 people hanging out all day is totally taking advantage of your hospitality, IMO. You’re providing toilet paper, soap, coffee, towels, and whatever other amenities you budget for 4 people to two or three times that many. A couple of day visitors for a couple hours seems reasonable, but what you are describing means they are just acting as if it’s their home.
No. Day. Guests. Think insurance, liability, damage to your property… Just No. You provide a place for people to sleep. Not a daycare center for their friends. They can go to nearby beaches, parks, etc. to socialize.
I have never said no to guests having people over during the day, but my city limits the number of people allowed. I do however agree with muddy that additional guests, even if they don’t sleep over, are a lot to expect of a rental - and it’s actually somewhat abusive of the hospitality. It’s a bit stressful to give people access to your home and trust them in your investment, but when they use it as a daytime crash pad, it’s not very respectful and it always left me feeling uncomfortable.
I will say, the majority of the guests I hosted pulled stuff like that unexpectedly. It didn’t matter if it was a group of young people, a couple of older folks, or a professional couple, they always seemed to have some other friends in town and they would want to hang around the rental during the day using the pool and whatnot, completely oblivious to the liability it put on me. Some even had children that didn’t swim running around the pool. People have zero respect or consideration, they only care about their own immediate needs. Never think otherwise.
Thankfully, I haven’t had to deal with anyone lately. I think you kind of have to separate yourself from what you think is right, and what you want/expect, and just let people take advantage if you’re going to short term rent your place. In some ways, I think a property manager might have worked better for me, let them handle it. That way I can detach from the drama - and there was always abuse happening. I don’t miss dealing with the crappy people. The few good ones I do miss.
You can’t be serious, but I fear you are. Maybe you’re the kind of person who lets others take advantage of you, but I, for one, don’t. It’s no wonder you say that guests taking advantage seems to be the norm for you- you sound like someone who is quite conflict-averse. I have a daughter like that. Lets people walk all over her.
People take advantage of you when you allow them to.
Just bought a new washing machine, supposed to be delivered Monday… I waited all day without word… ring the company and won’t take so sad too bad! They refunded me $400.
Supposed to be delivered Wednesday, forgot to put it on the truck… I am refunded another $400.
If it doesn’t show on Friday with a big red ribbon it, they said I will get another $400…cost of machine $1216.
I will not be walked over!
Not my experience at all. I’ve had almost nothing but lovely guests. Guests who asked before they came if there was anything they could bring me that I needed that I couldn’t get in Mexico (Yes! Mr. Clean magic erasers), guests who brought me “hostess gifts”, guests who took me out for dinner, or made beautiful meals and invited me to partake, guests who left me handmade cards thanking me for everything, guests I still correspond with.
Your attitude reminds me of one of my son-in-laws, but he has a bit of an excuse- he grew up in a tough ghetto. He says “Everyone’s out to screw you, so you may as well screw them first.” What an awful attitude to carry through life.
I stopped renting and it’s been great! That is the positive. I actually think it’s the area where my rental is located. I am sure if you rent in a different city the experience is different. It’s good that we have a market for short term rental, but the people who come here are asses. I guess if you built up a clientle of renter’s that you knew were decent, it could work out, but the people I’ve dealt with were almost all cheapo-takers.
I am thankful to not be dealing with them anymore. Of course it’s always better to not have to share your space. I was doing it for money and it made sense at the time. I sucked it up and took the cash and did my best to ignore the douchbaggery. Hopefully, I don’t have to do it again. If I do, I learned a lot about weeding the good from the bad.
Hehe. I’d love to rent one of your houses, and be annoying, and see what happens… I can guarantee nothing would happen. It’s not that easy to stop people from doing what they want once they have the keys.
And you’re wrong btw, i am very upfront and I have zero problem confronting people. I almost never get ripped off, and if I do, I am very quick to rectify the situation. I am not a push over in the least. That said, I wasn’t particularly happy with the quality of people that typically rented my home and I am happy to be done with them for a while. I have a job and I am busy. I don’t have time to police adults.
And your son in law is right. People suck for the most part. Stay away from them. They will either prove to be crap or waste your time!
No day visitors allowed because we have two full time residents on either side of this golf course home, and I’ve got personal experience with renters handing slushy wonderful alcohol drinks over the low fence to the putters on the green, making the very same residents on either side spitting mad.
I rarely rent to locals and always ask why they’re renting. Due to insurance and liability concerns I never allow parties and day guests are limited to swinging by to say hi and go out being tourists.
I’ve been asked about parties because I have a nice pool. I will not do it under any circumstances, even if I like the guests and they’re repeat visitors. I’m just not taking on the liability if there is a problem. And God forbid someone drowns. I couldn’t live with myself.
We have big problems with this in Milwaukee and it has gotten much worse with COVID-19. I’ve seen the aftermath of these parties about 5 times in the last 3 months at some of my customers rentals.
When I first got started 4 years ago this was a big problem for me too, so I wrote a whole bunch of language into my house rules and send a reminder with every booking message that mentions that I am very strict with guest counts. No guests other than those that are booked in the reservation without written permission from me in an Airbnb message and that I verify with exterior cameras. This has basically made it a non-issue at my places for the past 2 years!
I also charge $20/person after the 2nd guest. Helps me balance the pricing and costs associated with more guests and ensures that I have accurate guest counts if anything goes wrong. Also it’s great to share that info with city leadership and local businesses when you can show the tangible economic impact of 500-1000 money spending tourist visiting my neighborhood every year.
We used to allow guests of guests, with no problems. But because of Covid, we’ve added a rule prohibiting any visitors or guests of guests for now. I mention in the rule that it is because of Covid. Anyone who has a problem with that isn’t the guest we want right now anyway.
Of course it’s always better to not have to share your space. I was doing it for money and it made sense at the time. I sucked it up and took the cash and did my best to ignore the douchbaggery. Hopefully, I don’t have to do it again. If I do, I learned a lot about weeding the good from the bad.