All Forum Posts by: Chris Gottshall

I’ve seen that message when the guest had requested to cancel and AirBnb did it for them, but not when they haven’t made such a request.

What's the penalty for violating these rules? If they are going to fine you $100 / month until you stop violating, then maybe it is just a cost of doing business. But I know that many HOAs will have escalating fees for 1st, 2nd, 3rd+ violations, and they may fine you by the DAY which would make it hard to offset with rents. I would probably go the long-term rental route if I were in this same situation.

Airbnb allows you to set both check-in AND check-out days. I have mine set to allow either on any day except Sunday. Works great. This should be editable on the "Availability" tab of your listing. You should be able to uncheck every day (to prevent) check-in and check-out, which should strictly limit Saturday to Saturday bookings for you.

I have experimented over the past 24 months with the break point for extra person charges at my place. I can accommodate up to 8. At first, I charged extra only for guests 7 & 8 but I had a higher base rate. Then, to make my base rate more competitive in search results, I lowered it quite a bit and made it only good for 2 people. That had mixed results, so at this point, I have my base rate good for 4 people and charge extra after that. My Ring doorbell records everyone who checks in, so I spot check occasionally. Most people are honest most of the time, but I have been able to collect extra guest fees on 2 occasions. As Julie mentioned, you'll go crazy if you try to monitor it at all times, so I only check in when I have time or my spidey sense says something might be off based on communications (or lack thereof).

I'm working on going through the underwriting process for a mortgage on a new primary residence. One of my existing rentals is an Airbnb/VRBO rental and I was told today that if there isn't a long-term lease in place, the underwriters will completely exclude the income when calculating the debt to income ratio. This is new to me, and I'm wondering if other people have seen this before. The loan is a high balance loan because it is a little over the limit for a conventional loan. Is there any way to push back on this and get them to count it somehow? 

It isn't a deal-breaker for my transaction yet, but I'm concerned about it becoming one, potentially. 

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions.

That doesn’t make sense because you’re not directly renting your property to that person. Airbnb is reselling your property, so the transaction is actually with Airbnb, IMO, not with you. You’re simply the supplier that delivers what Airbnb sold to the customer.

The way we operate, everyone who wants a showing must apply and pay the application fee (including background and credit check) before we will schedule anything in person. This way, when they show up, they have the option to secure the property on the spot by paying a deposit amount. This only really works as well as it does because we have professional photographs and 3D virtual tours available so there's truly no surprise about the layout, configuration, etc. (a couple folks have said it felt *bigger* in person, otherwise everyone has said it is "just like online"). I highly recommend this approach to anyone thinking about it. While some people are miffed about needing to pay and apply up front, I explain it using the logic that we value OUR tenants and do not disturb them for showings unless it is a serious prospect, just as we wouldn't disturb YOU if you were living there. Most people get that; and if they don't, I don't need them as tenants.

Yes, this means that only about 3-5% of all leads actually turn into showings, but I've never had to do more than 3 showings for any of my properties before I had someone sign a lease. All of my time gets eaten up by emails & phone calls up front, not in fruitless showings.

If the neighbor didn't complain, I'd say he was not bothered. ;-) 

Someone mentioned on a different thread that they are likely going to drive their branded STRs to homogeneity much like their hotel chains - you get the same product in every city if you stay at a Courtyard or a JW Marriott. I'm not sure how much that will draw away from Airbnb/VRBO where every home is unique.

Yes, I received the same thing, and I’m happy to see they will be authorizing the amount of the deposit before checkin. I also agree that having a security deposit amount helps influence people to not lose that money. 

I also read that they said if you don’t have a deposit amount, they’ll make one up for you based on the cost of the reservation? Not sure how that’s going to work. But it’s nice that they’re doing something to benefit hosts after all the guest-first policies.