AirBnb no longer sticking to April 14.

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AirBnb no longer sticking to April 14.

Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes

They are now giving “extenuating circumstances for Covid-19” much like if a guest calls and says their brother died and they let them out if the cancelation policy. I would expect the April 14 cancelation policy to get pushed back to May 1 very shortly.

The following guest was set to check in April 15.

The policy as of 3/27/20 is below

typed on an iPhone

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Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2014 · 730 posts · 1k+ votes

@Lucas Carl I agree with most of what you are saying and have empathy for yourself and others who are feeling the pain of this crisis.

You mention that your STR market was not effected in 2008. Problem is that STRs really weren't that popular, outside of vacation destinations, in 2008. Air BnB did not exist. Today, everyone and their mother is doing "rental arbitrage". I know you aren't, but you have to admit that every Tom Dick and Harry has been talking about it.

I know someone here in the SF Bay Area with 29 of these. Completely empty in April. At least $50K in rent due to the owners just for April. I know another local guy who raised $500K in VC money to open STRs nationwide. He was about to buy a 12 unit in a major Midwest city and have them all be STRs. I’m hoping he can back out of that one.

Many of these STR operators are going to get hit very hard. Especially if they don't own the real estate. Luckily you do, and that should help weather the storm. Good luck, I really do hope this is all over soon.

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Chris Gottshall
Rental Property Investor · Portland, OR · Member since 2017 · 92 posts · 80 votes
6y
I'm expecting this to last all summer if not all year at this point.
1 Reply
Alan Ford
Rental Property Investor · Temecula, CA · Member since 2020 · 128 posts · 55 votes
6y
@Chris Gottshall I have never been happier to use a property manager.
3 Reply
Jon Weber
Rental Property Investor · Everett WA · Member since 2008 · 10 posts · 15 votes
6y
It took two weeks but I just got my 50% deposit back for a Disneyland AirBNB for April 4-10.
0 Reply
Luke CarlPro Member
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Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Luke Carl:
Originally posted by @Alan Ford:
@Chris Gottshall I have never been happier to use a property manager.

Not sure how that’s relevant?

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Alan Ford
Rental Property Investor · Temecula, CA · Member since 2020 · 128 posts · 55 votes
6y
@Lucas Carl PM is handling it fair, not screwing anyone. They are allowing cancellations but not anywhere near as liberal as AIRBNB. I think there has been only two circumstances so far where a guest was screwed, and it looks like it’s being taken care of. I can only go by their Facebook page which they purposefully left open for dialogue (they didn’t have to)
I for one am happy that my May reservations and late April reservations are still on calendar. If the travel restrictions stay in place, I’m sure my PM will extend the cancellation periods.
Having said all that, I have gotten loan payment deferrals on all my properties for three months, no impact to credit, no penalty. Adding it on to the back end of the loan an extra three months.
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Alan Ford
Rental Property Investor · Temecula, CA · Member since 2020 · 128 posts · 55 votes
6y
@Lucas Carl you edited your post and now my response doesn’t make as much sense lol. Too lazy to edit mine. But that’s my answer to your original comment about my PM screwing people.
Based on the vast posts on this forum, the news, Reddit etc. it’s clear that AIRBNB put their guests first and not their hosts. I don’t think anyone can argue that.
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Luke CarlPro Member
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Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Alan Ford:
@Lucas Carl

Based on the vast posts on this forum, the news, Reddit etc. it’s clear that AIRBNB put their guests first and not their hosts. I don’t think anyone can argue that.

Share link for mortgage deferral with the rest of us please

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Alan Ford
Rental Property Investor · Temecula, CA · Member since 2020 · 128 posts · 55 votes
6y
@Lucas Carl sure - just call your bank and say you
Have been affected by a loss of income from
The Virus. If your loan is Freddie or Fannie backed they have to at least give you three months. That’s guaranteed. The exception is Bank of America. They are only Doing one month.
It took me an hour or two on hold but it got done. My lender is Wells Fargo.
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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
6y
@Luke Carl so dumb question then.. does airbnb actually hold the guests money take their rake then cut you a check ?
you dont get paid directly ?
So they can unilaterally give the money back and nothing you can do ?

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Luke CarlPro Member
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Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
@Luke Carl so dumb question then.. does airbnb actually hold the guests money take their rake then cut you a check ?
you dont get paid directly ?
So they can unilaterally give the money back and nothing you can do ?

Not a dumb question but yes. Airbnb does not pay until the day the guest checks in. Less the rake.

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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Luke Carl:
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
@Luke Carl so dumb question then.. does airbnb actually hold the guests money take their rake then cut you a check ?
you dont get paid directly ?
So they can unilaterally give the money back and nothing you can do ?

Not a dumb question but yes. Airbnb does not pay until the day the guest checks in. Less the rake.

I see I suppose they are just trying to follow suit with the airlines and hotels who have waived all change and cancellation fees.
but those are their assets to do that with.. ABNB is just a broker that owns nothing right ? does VRBO work the same way ? As you can tell I don't use them.. I have one prop in Indy that we have on STR but its with a PM so not sure how that is set up.

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Caleb Heimsoth
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y
@Lucas Carl you should expect this to last all summer.
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Bruce C.
Seabrook/Galveston · Member since 2018 · 274 posts · 178 votes
6y
@Jay Hinrichs
Yes, they both hold the money until the guest checks in. I think it is probably smart as it ensures there is money there if someone books 6 months in advance and then cancels 2 months out.
It is also VERY smart on their part. They do billions ins transactions. Would be interesting to see how much of their income is due to parking billions in a money market acct.
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Luke CarlPro Member
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Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Caleb Heimsoth:
@Lucas Carl you should expect this to last all summer.

I love when people that know nothing about STR throw in their 2 cents.
I’m not “expecting” anything. But I’m prepared for everything. Including a pandemic

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Caleb Heimsoth
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y
@Lucas Carl assume and be prepared for the worst and hope for better
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Don KonipolBusiness Member
Investor · The Woodlands TX / Avon, CT · Member since 2009 · 6k+ posts · 10k+ votes
6y
@Jay Hinrichs, although as you state AirBnB is just a broker, the success of the network is affected by the actions of all individual STR owners. So if a customer ends up with a bad experience, for example the rental is nothing like what was presented, by issuing a refund AirBnB provides everyone with a level of confidence that AirBnB will handle "problems". I for one would probably be very weary of paying anything to a small STR owner not part of AirBnB or VRBO, and I rent STR for 4 months every summer!
This is somewhat similar to a fast for restaurant; if Mcdonalds didn't enforce minimum standards of cleanliness and operations, a few badly run franchises would end up lowering sales volume across the chain.
The issue seems to be when STR operators feel that AirBnB has unjustly taken the side of the renter when the operator has perceived that he has done everything correctly and the renter is just taking advantage of a situation, such as he really wants to cancel a reservation past the cancellation period and so uses an excuse to get a refund.
I think most STR owners/managers realize that AirBnB is going to do whats best for AirBnB in any situation, just like McDonalds Corp is going to do whats best for McDonald Corp, not necessarily the franchisee. As a side note, in 2016 I set my daughter up to run a STR utilizing AirBnB in NYC; three apartments in one building. Everything was great for 3 months; then the building was threatened with fines of $100,000 per day by the city. The building used an escape clause in our leases to terminate them if the city determined them to be code violations. I don't blame them as $100,000 per day adds up quick.
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Robert S.
Contractor · Milltown, NJ · Member since 2016 · 297 posts · 213 votes
6y
@Jay Hinrichs As a STR owner, I use the internet to generate exposure for my property. If I choose to use a web site and their function is to offer STR's to the masses, then they should offer travel insurance. Protects the consumer against unforeseen circumstances that prevent them from traveling, i.e. - pandemnic, and the property owners are protected from cancellations. Sooooooo simple.
2 Reply
Greg CampbellPro Member
Investor · Park Ridge, IL · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 6 votes
6y
@Alan Ford - I have discussed mortgage loan deferment with my lender (SWBC) but they are only offering a 3 month forbearance where all payments will be due on month 4, including that month's payment. Is CA offering better terms? They do say I can call back just before the deferment ends to look at other options such as deferment.
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Ruth Blue
Realtor · Pigeon Forge, TN · Member since 2018 · 230 posts · 111 votes
6y
According to what we are reading if the simulus package gets approved we all should be able to qualify for some type of stimulus through the hotel/motel bail out. Fingers crossed. Definitely keep track of all your losses!
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Robert C.
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 338 posts · 444 votes
6y
I'm also not an STR person. How is VRBO handling this?

I do think there is an important question as to whether AirBnb is a “platform” or if they are a hotel/franchise like the McDonald’s example. As an outsider from Silicon Valley, their image has always been that of a platform. To me, that means they have no business adjusting the cancellation terms that are already spelled out for the hosts who are then technically individual business owners.
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Luke CarlPro Member
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Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
@Robert C. Since this post has gained such steam I should elaborate on the OP.

Airbnb has always had “extenuating circumstance” policy that if you call customer service and tell them your uncle died, they will let you (the guest) cancel penalty free. Furthermore.... this “extenuating circumstances” dead uncle system is an easy google search for any guest looking to break the policy.

COVID is not the first instance that Airbnb is Guest friendly and seems they couldn’t care less about their hosts. They prove that often.

All that being said it is my opinion that changing the cancelation policy and letting the guests decide was the correct option with the current pandemic, the likes of which we’ll never see again in our lifetimes.
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Cheryl Vargas
Rental Property Investor · Rohnert Park, CA · Member since 2014 · 307 posts · 160 votes
6y
@Caleb Heimsoth
They say that typically the flu ends around April or May with the warm months because it can’t flourish in the heat, so I am hoping that this virus follows that same trajectory.
Do you have some inside scoop that says otherwise?
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Cheryl Vargas
Rental Property Investor · Rohnert Park, CA · Member since 2014 · 307 posts · 160 votes
6y
@Ruth Blue
So how do we apply to qualify under the hotel bailout?
What exciting news!!
0 Reply
Ruth Blue
Realtor · Pigeon Forge, TN · Member since 2018 · 230 posts · 111 votes
6y
@Cheryl Vargas -

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/us/politics/virus-fineprint-stimulus-bill.html

This is all I see so far. Bizarre that it reads that there are special stips in the package that looks like it will benefit people for tax deductibles from 2017. UGH.
1 Reply
Daniel PurcellPro Member
Rental Property Investor · New Orleans, LA · Member since 2018 · 66 posts · 41 votes
6y
@Lucas Carl
If I could vote this 100 times I would
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