I was doing great on bookings; then I put a 40 cleaning fee; Im getting inquiries, but not many bookings. Also Im getting people who want to stay 3 or 4 weeks and want “the best price possible” ;( or people who want to just rent mon through Friday (with their dog) and want a break in the rent because they would be “long term” WTF??? I wonder if I should take the cleaning fee off since I have only had one solid booking in 2 weeks.
Cleaning fees might be the reason for less bookings or might not be. May be its the seasonal thing. I don’t charge cleaning fees, but a friend of mine does. She gets more booking than me because she has a pool. The funny part is that people always negotiate with her the cleaning fee. Not the price of the room. She always tells them that the cleaning fee is not for her , it’s for the cleaning lady. Also cleaning fee prompt people to stay longer than they would without it. Try to take it off and see what happens.
I personally don’t like when people negotiate with me. Even now during very slow season for us people still negotiate when prices are literally half of what they were during winter. I have weeks rates that already lower than if they paid per night. They still negotiate. I tell them that for me long terms are not better than short.
1 Like
The thing is, short term stays are better most of the time, so letting these people know that would be doing them a favour. (I.e., all hosts will think this way.) I have a hard time believing a cleaning fee is the problem. I would look elsewhere for a solution. Do you do instant book? I found my bookings went up then.
Hi Billy,
As a matter of fact, we can!
Always here to help 
Diamond…NEVER take a booking longer than 30 days. That will turn your guest into a month-to-month tenant, subject to different laws in your state. If they decided to squat and not leave they could do it and you’d have to go to court to get them out. I never give discounts for long stays. I’m already budget priced. Take them for 29 days and then renegotiate. Also, keep the cleaning fee on and tell the tightwads and the divas to pound sand. You don’t want those kinds of guests anyway. There will always be someone to book!
1 Like
Things have picked up, I’m glad I left the 40 cleaning fee, no complaints about it so far. Part of the problem was I had little gaps in my calendar,it wasn’t wide open. I put insta book on where if they have at least 1 positive review they can book…that helps
1 Like
Yes, I wouldn’t do 30 days, I would make them check out for a day and check back in. I prefer shorter stays anyway…like 4 day stays
1 Like
Why is that guy still on this forum?!
2 Likes
I’ve been getting some of those long term requests too. I just tell them that my rates are already among the lowest in town so I won’t discount. For the ones that want multiple months I tell them I require security deposit, prepayment through airbnb, and a background check at their expense prior to booking. That shuts them down.
2 Likes
Stephanie, you would have to do a month-to-month agreement the old fashioned way. With a written rental agreement…which of course puts you negotiating outside of Air. If anyone is ever tempted to do longer than 30 days, take a gander at this story:
I have never understood why these tightwad guests think you should give them a discount to stay longer. Does a hotel?
Shorter stays are more profitable (if you do your own cleaning.) The turnover is easier on your place and if they are bad you don’t have to endure them for long.
Thanx kona. I’ll remember that if I ever get someone who wants to go through with the long term booking. So far I haven’t had a single second contact. I do get nervous about the squatter thing. Here in Florida they only have to be in your house for 3 days to claim resident status.
1 Like
Three??? Gaaads… that would make AirBnB rather scary!!!
Thanx a lot bg. I’ll definitely look into it.
I wonder how many hosts in FLA know that?!!!
I have had a LOT of weird long term requests!!! And they ALWAYS want a “quote” like they are doing you a favor. I believe a lot of people who may have bad credit and dont want to pay a security deposit on an apt are trying to just cheap out. A few I suspect have some drama going on in their life too. Then when you give a quote its just not cheap enough!I suspect they send out mass emails to find a sucker who will reduce the rate significantly.Now that I have the 40 cleaning fee Im fine with a 2 day stay! Noone has complained about the fee and Im getting bookings even in the slow season.
I told you!! A cleaning fee is expected and now you won’t feel resentful! $40 is low for cleaning, but I don’t know the average in your area.
As for the long term requests, it might be people who cannot get regular housing or have no credit… ? Are you in an area with a housing shortage?
The quote asking for long term discounts makes me laugh. That Florida thing would scare me into not doing Air there. All if would take would be one kook to find that out and make your life hell. So BG and BBm are smart to be licensed there in Florida.
Hi Diamond.
Just say no. Honestly. The more you say no to this particular “channel” of people, the more you make space for your ideal guest.
(I wrote about this in much greater detail here on my blog: http://theabundanthost.com/attract-ideal-airbnb-guests)
Also—make sure your place looks like the kind of space that quality, high-class guests would want to stay at. If you’re renting a dorm-room style room, or clearly don’t take too much care with your place, OR if you’re already the lowest price… you may be attracting those low-ballers in the first place.
Craft the experience that you would want your ideal guest to have, draw boundaries (especially with pricing), and expect that you’re going to get what you put out there.