Selling my condo, transition process is just dumb

[James207]

Posted this to ABB feedback, but posting it here as well.

Probably selling one of my condos and checked with ABB about how to transfer reservations. The response was basically 'Cancel the bookings. Cancel them ALL!'

This is complicated and stressful for everyone. It means the booking gets cancelled outright which is super stressful for guests. (According to ABB if I have the sale paperwork, the cancellations don't affect my Superhost status, so it's not a big deal on my end but it sucks for the new host and guests)

There really should by an easy way of allowing the new/old hosts to send an email to the guest announcing the changeover and giving them two buttons: 1) Rebook  - instantly and easily transfers the booking to the new host/listing or 2) Cancel - which cancels the booking. That would give the guest some agency over what happens and allow hosts to gracefully hand things over.

I get not wanting to force guests to book with a new host but I don't see how forcing hosts to cancel everything helps anyone.  It's frustrating they don't have a better solution.

[Sarah977]

@James207  Well, the solution is to stop taking bookings when you decide to sell the place. This business of trying to wring every last penny out of the place until the sale is finalized has always seemed pretty greedy to me.

The bottom line is that you can't sell an Airbnb "business". The business is the host, not the property. You are only selling a house and perhaps the contents. What the buyer does with the place is up to them.

[James207]

Ah, right. The internet and the usual assortment of ignorant, self-righteous posts.

The condo is in Maui. I already have bookings into next Winter. The condo was booked solid through June when I decided to sell the place. Of course I've stopped taking bookings.

The suggestion to Airbnb is to help those of us that have bookings when they decide to sell and make life easier for the guests that have bookings. In periods of high demand (Winter in Maui), getting your booking cancelled is stressful.

Sending guests a link to the new listing is, of course, the solution. But it's still stressful for the guest and rates vary so the new host then has to do a bunch of work to make sure the rates for a given guest are what they originally paid. it'd be better if Airbnb had an easy, streamlined way of letting the guest rebook with all the same terms.

Anyways, I'm not looking for suggestions (and self-righteous rants even less so, but have at it if it makes you feel good). I know how to use the platform. This is a suggestion to ABB and a heads up to anyone in the same situation.

[Gordon0]

See it from Airbnb's perspective. Host 'sells' listing to new host. New host doesn't give a flying fig about Airbnb business (or future guests). Rubbish experience for guest - who'll argue (probably successfully) Airbnb has broken contract.

You can't force a new host to accept the same terms, and what they say today - despite how lovely they may seem - may change when they discover that more can be made. 

And as for being a suggestion for Airbnb, good luck if you think they come in and read this stuff.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gordon0 @James207 @Sarah977 @Andrea4731 

I think there is a difference between home shares - where the host is critical and whole home listings where the host is very important but less critical.

I do like the idea of Airbnb offering a re-confirmation to guests when a listing is sold.

I also think Airbnb might listen as hosts cancelling reservations when properties are sold will reduce their revenues.

Also @Catherine-Powell should not forget that when, in the UK, Cottages.com etc list their properties on Airbnb then Airbnb have no knowledge as to who actually owns the property.

[Andrea4731]

@James207  You can contact your guests & send them the new hosts/owners listing and tell them that they can rebook with them if they would like. @Sarah977 I do think (hope) most hosts stop taking bookings when they decide to sell their house. But also most hosts can be booked a year or more in advance & did not plan to sell within that time, but plans change 🤷‍♀️

[Sarah977]

@Andrea4731  Sure, plans can change. Guests plans can change, too, but I don't see hosts thinking that's fine and not minding if a guest books a year or more in advance, and then decides to cancel a week or two before check-in.

I just don't quite see why hosts think Airbnb should be responsible for transferring bookings just because they decide to sell. If I decided to close down my upholstery business and had deposits clients had given me for their projects, it would be up to me to either stay open long enough to do their project, or  return their money, and I could give the names and numbers of other upholsterers to recommend to them. But it would be my own responsibility to deal with the orders I had already accepted, because it is my business and I accepted those orders.

[Kelly149]

the proposal has merit...and leaves the choice in the hands of the guest. Frankly, its a much better solution than the 'oh well, find something new' that abb does now.

@Laura2592 per your recent post

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149 right. We are considering selling and have already started pulling back the calendar. The plan is to put the place on the market after our bookings are complete if we go that way. It could be tough for a host to carry the property if it doesn't sell for an extended period, so I do understand why people want to keep it open. I just don't know how that might happen. Would guests be there for the open house??

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 I don't accept far out bookings, but for a host who does that is a real struggle. Just another example of how abb is kind of real estate and kind of tourism and kind of customer service, but not really a true example of any of the above

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149 yes, part of the reason we are considering selling is that we CAN'T use our space without ABB giving  us permission. Ludicrous. If I need to cancel a booking or even several because a friend needs an emergency spot to stay in, I am not allowed to do so without penalty. I understand how disappointing it is to have a stay canceled as a guest (I have had it happen) but the lack of flexibility for real world situations is just absurd. Even selling requires a lot of planning. This space doesn't belong to ABB. Theoretically a property owner should be able to make financial decisions without consulting some third party web platform. But isn't that way. 

If I sold a hotel, I would be able to honor bookings. I could rebrand and decorate, etc. But part of the deal would be the income generated by what I had on the books. I understand that "hosts are special" however my property is remote. I very rarely meet guests. Other people can clean, answer emails and put out a goodie basket. This is a transferrable skill.

[Pat271]

@James207  I see no practical problem in implementing what you suggest, and I agree that it would help Airbnb retain listings that otherwise might be lost to cancellations.

The reluctance of Airbnb to implement this would be purely technical.

The front end (i.e. the user interface) would be a breeze - a button to issue a command to transfer all bookings from one host to another.

The back end, however, would be more complicated.

There are a lot of data references that are stored when a booking is made, and in a good database design, this data is not all in one place. Data from one table references data in other tables. Airbnb have it sorted out to remove all the references, create all the event log entries, update the user interface, etc. when a booking is cancelled, but not when a booking is transferred. That’s a whole ‘nuther animal.

If Airbnb were to decide to implement the transfer of bookings host-to-host, all of the above would have to be implemented, along with how to reflect the new implementation in an version upgrade, handle all the cleanup if something fails part way through the transfer, handle unwind all the changes if the wrong target host is chosen, all the testing, documentation, etc. That takes time and money, and would have to be prioritized along with other (much needed) functionality and bug fixes.

In summary, Airbnb hasn’t implemented a “Transfer bookings” function yet not because they can’t, but because it is a big project that has been deemed low priority. Much easier, although certainly not ideal, to just have the selling hosts and their guests use existing functionality to cancel and rebook.

By the way, I’m just an engineer who is not affiliated with Airbnb except as a host and guest. @Quincy  maybe you can get the ability to transfer bookings added to a list of potential new features, if it isn’t already there.

[Suzanne250]

I love this line of thinking.  For anyone selling, especially if the new owners are Airbnb hosts already, there should be an option for the guests who booked to be able to accept a transfer of their booking to the new hosts. This would include that it would be at the same rate, same options and class of service.  Some people sell complete with the furnishings. An experienced, or unexperienced, host should be able to provide/complete the bookings IF the guest opts to do so.  The guests are the ones being put through the stress and should have this option if the new owners are willing to provide it.

Airbnb, do this !! 😉

[Helen744]

Helen@744 . You cannot sell guests bottom line. Make sure your contract to hand over keeps you in the listing and then lose a week or so bookings and the new host will have to generate the new bookings there is no real business to hand over . Its just your listing if you are trying to sell "a business ' then its only the furnishings and the house not 'goodwill' or anything like that because you are only a destination on a computer really . If your house has a name then that may be an identifier and if the new hosts puts up the same pics and maybe says 'same business just different owner.H.

[Helen744]

Helen @744 another major problemo is that all of your future bookings are for different prices and need to be honored at those prices. If you feel someone else is able to do the same work you have done then print them all out and help the new owner contact all of them and ask if they would like to continue with the booking . Block the new owners calendar until everyone is contacted.The guests will also have to cancel and agree to book with the new owner. better get your skates on and get the new owner on board as quick as possible . it is not all salvagable by any means as you will have a different ranking to your new host who has a superhost up front. May be easier to take on your new owner as a co host for a few weeks and then they can start the new listing as themselves.As someone says if you have a cleaning group or do the cleaning yourself that may make a difference . All the best H