Sale of property - transferring Airbnb guests

[Mark330]

I am about to purchase a property - I already host another long term listing - the new property is currently listed and will be listed by me once we close the sale. 

there are bookings on the calendar of the new place that will be for after closing date. 

can I set up the new listing in my Airbnb account and then request current owner to co-host the new listing and invite all guests to be changed to the new listing at no cost to them? 

maybe this type of booking change from one host to a different host May not be possible?

if this is not possible how have others managed this situation so previous host and guests have a hassle free transition?

[Pat271]

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[Pat271]

This is how it could be handled if agreeable to all:

1) Specify in the purchase contract how existing bookings with stays after the closing date will be handled, e.g. who will host or co-host, who will get the payments, how any payments to the seller will be transferred, if applicable.

2) The seller snoozes the listing to avoid future bookings, or blocks off dates after the scheduled closing

3) Upon closing, the buyer sets up and activates a new listing, blocking off all dates booked before closing. I would only set up the new listing after closing, because if the sale falls through, it would get really messy with new bookings.

4) The seller notifies the guests about any new arrangements, e.g. whether there is now a co-host, whether there is a change in guest communications, etc. Give the guests the option of rebooking with the new owner, if the arrangement can accommodate it. I believe Airbnb will help them do this without penalty to either host or guest. Alternatively, the guest can leave the booking as-is.

5) When all of the guests booked before closing have completed their stay, the seller deactivates the old listing. The payments are handled as indicated in the purchase contract in 1) above. 

This obviously isn’t “hassle-free” as you requested, but it’s important to have clear-cut, written agreements in real estate transactions, and disclosure of changes to the booked guests.

I also recommend you not take legal advice from hosts on this forum. 🙂  Buy an hour or two of an attorney’s time to make sure you cover all the bases legally.

[Lorna170]

@Mark330   I agree with what @Pat271  says:   "Buy an hour or two of an attorney’s time to make sure you cover all the bases legally."

Here in North Carolina (USA), if we sell a rental property that has outstanding rentals on the calendar, BY LAW we have to honor the rentals that are within a certain number of days.  The policy is to send letters to the affected guests advising them of the sale and their rental status; the guests then have the right to arrive and stay or cancel their booking for a full refund (even if an OTA is involved).  

Many USA hosts will close their listing when under a sales contract, go through with the sale and then "rent back" for the period of time that they have to honor bookings.  The new owner will delay taking control until that period has passed.  

The seller should have snoozed their listing when they decided to sell.

[Shawn1061]

That's a silly statement , that the seller/previous owner should snooze their listings.  Some properties, especially High performing AirBnB rentals may have a contract in 48 hours of listing and close in 30 days, but have 6 months of bookings.  It also doesn't make a lot of sense, that potentially dozens of bookings are cancelled with the object to "rebook" on a new listing. Nothing like scaring your renters off.  AirBnB should keep the listing and allow to transfer to the new Owner of the Property, and put in like a 60 Day Evaluation period, if they want, to make sure the new owner is adhering to the same standards.  Overall, it's just insulting to a multi - property AirBnB owner, for over 12 years.   After all, the Renter is renting "The Property" , they aren't renting who owns it.  If the owner is doing a crap job, it will appear quickly in the ratings system.  We all know this. 

[Helen3]

I don't agree with you at all @Shawn1061  just because you don't agree with something doesn't make it silly . 

as you know the reason airbnb doesn't allow transfer of listings is because they are owned by the person who sets them up 

1. it means unscrupulous hosts with poor ratings can't set up a duplicate listing to hide poorly performing listings - anything under 4.6 

2. guests book in good faith based on the owners rating and reviews - it would be highly unfair to the guest to switch owner half way through the booking as the new owner may not offer the same amenity or may not manage bookings well

its really issue to limit your calendar when selling a listing . Thats what I did.

you are purely thinking about this from the point of view of your own convenience and not that of your guests . 

[Shawn1061]

Helen, you make some great points. I hadn't even thought about bad hosts , just setting up new accounts.  I think though, they would be able to do that anyway?   Also, it wasn't for my own convenience, I'm looking to BUY a property currently , so I'm on the other end of it.  Some of the Guests who already have bookings are getting "Spooked" thinking it's some kind of Scam, and refusing to "rebook" on a brand new site with no ratings or history, so we are losing reservations in the transition. I kind of don't blame them either, because their feedback was "that doesn't make any sense"   .......I concur

[Helen3]

Yes I know you are the new owner . What's happening is the original owners fault.

If they had blocked their calendar as I advised. You wouldn't be experiencing this issue @Shawn1061 

You can't blame guests for being spooked . Focus on getting your new listing set up . 

the other issue that maybe spooking guests is that you have quite low ratings for your established listings with a number of negative reviews .

[Shawn1061]

@Helen3 Not yet, we are in the inspection period, under contract on the property, so they haven't seen our 4.51/5.00 rating on nearly 100 reviews in less than 3 years.  I agree we have some older negatives and I believe have corrected any of those issues.  The last dozen or so have been 5 Star.   Not like what you have though, that's impressive. 4.95 average on over 400 reviews, really great work. There is a reason you are a super host.  

[Louise-And-Leon0]

Hi @Mark330 

How did you end up solving this?

I have just bought an apartment and need to do the same.  Would really appreciate any advice.

Thank you!

Kind regards,

Louise

[Helen3]

What arrangement did the owner make with you regarding this. Normally Airbnb will not allow you to transfer bookings from one owner to another.

The owner would need to cancel bookings on their end and guests be invited to book with the new owner once you have set up your listing @Louise-And-Leon0