18 year old rentals in NJ

[Michelle2562]

Hi,

I have been trying to help my daughter and her group of six friends find a rental near the beach. They have had a TOUGH year and have barely seen each other. Junior trip cancelled, junior prom cancelled, senior trip cancelled. Trying to help them have a weekend to relax after a crappy year. They are all being vaccinated in May and we want to find them a place for early June after their AP's. These are a group of girls that are honor role, valedictorian that don't drink or smoke. Their idea of a party is wrapping each other in toilet paper and timing it to see whose lasts the longest without falling apart. BUT, it seems that my daughter and her friends are among the minority of responsible people that care about other peoples property. Apparently most under 25 don't follow the rules and thus we can't find a place to rent. We have sent a video of my daughter asking if she could stay and describing what they were looking to do (RELAX at a beach). I've offered to stay nearby with my husband. I've offered to pay an extra security deposit. Any advise?

[Emilia42]

@Michelle2562 Third-party bookings are not allowed on Airbnb. So who is preventing your daughter from making a booking? Airbnb or hosts who won't accept the reservation?

[Michelle2562]

airbnb hosts who won't rent to those under 25 or 21

[Lorna170]

@Michelle2562   No property owner is going to rent to a group of 18 year olds UNLESS a responsible adult is present, IN THE HOUSE, at all times.   If you are willing to stay for the "girls weekend", then there may be someone out there who would welcome your girls.  

[Michelle2562]

actually it isn't true that NO property owner will rent to them and 18 year olds ARE adults. Not willing to stay and thus this post. Looks like there is a site for under 25 year olds. But it's slim pickings so was hoping someone here would have some advise that could help.

[Sarah977]

@Michelle2562  As Emilia pointed out, you can't book a place for your daughter, she would need to book under her own account, or if you booked, also stay there. The person who books has to be among the group that stays. What you might do is look for a place that maybe has a separate studio or room attached to it or separate cabin on the property, where you could stay, without Mom feeling like a fifth wheel. Like I used to make myself scarce up in my bedroom when my teens had a party at our home.

You're right, most hosts won't rent to a bunch of 18 year olds. And hosts have also had experiences where the parents vouched for the kids, saying they weren't partiers, only to have the house left in disarray and damaged.

But I raised 3 myself, so I know that lots of young people have been well-raised, aren't in any way wild and are qulte respectful. I used to let my girls have parties at our house because they and their friends were like that.

What you might consider is a campground- the kids could have a great time celebrating in that venue. 

I love your image of them wrapping each other in toilet paper as about as wild as it gets 🙂  But even that would be disrespectful to hosts- if that innocent activity means they use up a dozen rolls of toilet paper, when that is what the host reasonably expects a group of 6 to use up in a 3 day stay, they have already cost the host more money than what the host bases their average expenses on.

Guess what else girls that age do? Throw glitter around, which gets into every nook and cranny and hosts are still trying to vacuum up 6 months later, use clean towels to wipe off make-up, go to bed covered in lotions and oils which stain the bedding. None of it willful damage, just a natural unconciousness that is understandable at their age.

[Inna22]

thanks @Sarah977 ! I was about to go to bed but now will have to face nightmare of images of glitter from past guest stays. THE WORST. Probably up there with smoking. I'd rather they break something than throw glitter around.

[Sarah977]

@Inna22 I think I had one of your past posts in mind when I mentioned the glitter. Also I raised 3 daughters 🙂

[Lisa723]

@Michelle2562 Airbnb is perhaps not the right platform for this, because of its sad history of young people booking for disastrous parties and its policy of no third-party rentals. You *might* have better luck with Vrbo, but your best bet is probably a friend-of-a-friend kind of situation. (I would rent to this group if I knew someone who would vouch for them.) There are numerous facebook groups for vacation rental owners, including some for specific regions. That might be another avenue to explore.

[Anonymous]

@Michelle2562  It would be against Airbnb's discrimination policy for a host to charge a security deposit based solely on the guests' age - actually, it doesn't really charge the security deposit that's specified on a listing, so that's a non-starter.

As an in-home host, I've welcomed 18-year-old guests who were perfectly well-behaved and lovely people, and would gladly do so again when the pandemic is over. But it makes a huge difference that I was onsite and able to keep an eye on things, so there wasn't much of a chance for any funny business. I'd be much more reluctant to hand an entire property over to a group of teenagers, and there is zero chance that I'd rent to someone whose parent got involved in the request. I accept that a person is a legal adult at 18, but if I heard from her mom or dad, it would undermine my confidence that she was mature and independent enough to handle the responsibility that comes with keys to my house. 

If one of my teenage relatives asked my advice on how to book their first Airbnb, I'd recommend that they start out with a Private Room listing whose host will hopefully write a review vouching for them. It's far easier to book a place later on when you have even one positive review from another host. But for this particular trip, your daughter will probably get better traction on a less intimate platform that doesn't have gatekeepers.

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  As Andrew mentions, hosts who are on-site are much more likely to take a chance on a group like this, because they are close by to monitor what is going on.

What you might do is look for listings categorized as Private Suite. That generally means a self-contained unit with a private entrance, but attached to the host's home. Some would be too small for a group of 6, but not all.

And since you can't do a third party booking for your daughter, she should open her own account and message with hosts herself. A parent communicating on behalf of their 18 year old can make a host wary that the daughter isn't mature enough to take care of booking on her own, and can't speak for herself. If she sends an articulate, polite message to a host, which mentions her understanding of why a host might be wary to accept a booking like this, gives info about herself and her friends ( I.e. Our idea of a wild night is sitting down to watch our favorite movie, dressed up like the movie characters, and saying their lines with them- we're considered nerds at our school) 

A guest posted on another forum who was 20 and wanted to book a place for himself and 3 of his friends.  He was having a hard time getting accepted. It was one of their birthdays, but they were all computer geeks- their idea of a party night was ordering pizza and playing video games. A host accepted them and he posted again, the day before check-out, saying he wanted to leave some gift for the host in appreciation of the trust they afforded him and wanted to know what would be appropriate. We said leaving the house clean and tidy with a note expressing appreciation is the best gift he could leave. 

I imagine that young man earned himself a good review and won't have trouble getting accepted next time he needs a place.