Hosting families longer than 30 days with children and pets

[Carol8771]

Hello everyone, 

We are fairly new to the Airbnb world (a little over a year), located in N.C. While we have been getting a steady stream of guests, when we host a family that includes children and or pets, or any long term rentals (more than 30 days) we have not been so lucky. We already encountered broken furniture, coloring on the walls, shelves in our fridge broken, as well issues with the pets urinating inside the home and that's just to name a few. While we recognize the fact there will be wear and tear, we were not prepared for the amount of "damage' done on an ongoing basis. In fact, our cleaning company who does other Airbnb's in the area has told us we by far experience the most damage of homes she cleans. 

My question is, we do have "house" rules, that we send prior to arrival, and are posted inside our home. If you have encountered these issues how did and do you handle? Or do we just have to decide if we don't want children/pets, yet that is the mainstream of our income.

Any input would be grateful. 

Thanks so much.

Carol

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Carol8771 I guess its a simple cost vs benefit analysis. What does it cost to host pets/children and what are the benefits (revenues)  that you would lose if you didn't. We choose to accept the loss in revenue associated with no pets. No children is another matter as this may be deemed discriminatory depending on your laws.

[Carol8771]

Thank you for your input, you said exactly what we were thinking and yes, totally agree with all you said. We originally had no pets, and once we added pets we saw increase in damage. We come from a very loving large family, and were surrounded with children, and I even have an education background, but we were taught to respect other's properties, so I think we are just dismayed and in shock at the lack of total disregard in that matter in some cases.  Appreciate the feedback!