AirBNB Long-Term Stays

[Laura2217]

I wanted to start a thread to address some of the issues with long-term reservations, so AirBNB is aware of the issues.  Please add to the list, by sending a reply:

-There should be a penalty for guests who try to shorten their stay after check-in, to discourage them from doing this.  A minimum 30 day notice, which is taken care of by the last month’s rent.  This should be automatic, so hosts aren’t taken advantage of.

There should be a penalty to guests who change long-term reservations before check-in.  Maybe a percentage of the total reservation.  This is to discourage guests from blocking the calendar when they don’t know exactly when they plan to visit.

-There should be two deposits, one for long-term and one for shot-term.

-There should be the option to bill for regular cleaning and add that to the cleaning fee.

-AirBNB should charge for first and last months rent.

-AirBNB should confirm with hosts receipt of payment within a certain amount of time after booking.  I had one guest who’s payment did not go through and they had checked in. 

Please add to this list, and hopefully AirBNB will take notice!

[Dave52]

@Laura2217 In my opinion, airbnb should charge for the entire rental period, up to 60 days, upfront.  If rental is more than 60 days, charge again at 30 days, and so on every 30 days.  So its basically first+last.  And notify the host of any payment failures immediately.

[Ann72]

@Laura2217  I like your idea for weekly cleaning.  This year, for the first time, I had multiple long-term stays because of the pandemic.  I can't allow people to stay in my places without weekly cleaning, and since they were paying me very well, I just arranged for the weekly cleanings and paid my housekeeper.  The guests were of course very happy with the arrangement, and so was my housekeeper, because more long-term stays mean fewer turnovers for her.  But I sure would have preferred your option!

[Debra300]

@Laura2217,

In regards to a fee for scheduled cleaning during a long-term stay, I think that Airbnb would recommend that it's handled similar in the manner as @Ann72, include the cost in the nightly rate.  I have been lobbying for a weekly cleaning option for years, but don't think it will happen anytime soon.  It was through a discussion with a Smoobu representative that I gained insight into the reason it's unlikely to come into fruition.  It seems that rental sites are built with the nightly rate as the base for most fees, and they don't have the flexibility to calculate fees in other increments, such as weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.  

Currently, this doesn't apply to either of you, but I am going to copy it here for others.  Aibnb says:  

"If you manage 6 or more listings, you have the ability to add and collect additional standard fees from your guests at the time of booking. These include resort fees, linen fees, management fees, and community fees.

If you’d like to use this feature, you can sign up for professional hosting tools.

To add or change your standard fees

You’ll need to set up the fees individually for each of your listings. To do this:

1. Go to Your Listings
2. Click Edit on the listing you’d like to update
3. Go to the Pricing tab
4. Next to Standard fees and charges click Edit
5. Under Add a standard fee select the fee you want update
6. Update the information and click Save

Fee types

The linens fee is added to the cleaning fee. All other fees are rolled into the nightly price for guests when they book. You'll get a full rate breakdown in your payout report. Here are descriptions of the available fees and how they’re calculated:

Resort fee: The cost for additional amenities or services that are provided because the listing is located within a resort or a hotel

• Calculation: % of nightly rate, calculated nightly OR flat fee, fixed per booking

Linens fee: The cost for linens or towels to be provided for each guest

• Calculation: Flat fee, fixed per booking and added to the cleaning fee

Management fee: General admin fee to cover business expenses

• Calculation: % of nightly rate, calculated nightly OR flat fee, fixed per booking

Community fee: Covers cost for building, community, or HOA fees that are associated with short-term rental stays

• Calculation: % of nightly rate, calculated nightly OR flat fee, fixed per booking."

[Ann72]

@Debra300  Very helpful to know how these fees are calculated and added in.  You don't have to have 6 listings to get this option, though, just a pro marketing page.  I have the option to add those fees, but haven't done it because as noted rarely had stays of more than a week until this year.  Since guests have to ask me if they can book for longer than a week, in future I might be able to use the linens fee to add extra weekly cleaning.  Or ask them to book each week separately.  Would be nice to add the weekly cleaning, though.

[Fred13]

If I learned anything in business and specially dealing with Americans, which I am also one  - do not show separate fees or charges - all most people want to know is 'Are there any other charges, does that price include everything?'. The phrase 'nickel & diming' immediately comes to mind to guests when they see added charges listed and definitely after the fact (i.e. their stay); the cruise industry is notorious of this and it may be profitable but incredibly annoying.

Just a general point, not too applicable to the above two discussions. 

[Ann72]

@Fred13  It is applicable.  I agree and don't like the nickel-and-diming some hosts on a Facebook group I visit talk about.  One guy will give two logs for his fireplace and charge after that.  As a guest I would be sitting in front of the fire thinking "I'm literally burning money."  Who wants to instill that feeling in guests?

People are afraid to raise prices, because Airbnb convinces them they can only get bookings with lower prices, so the nightly price is cutting too close to the bone on their expenses.  

[Fred13]

   Imagine, you trying to enjoy the fire place all cozy, and the log starts to look like a burning rolled-up 'Jackson' ($20 bill); end of that enjoyment.

   You are so right @Ann72 , this 'Battle for the Lowest Price' game Airbnb pushes unto hosts tends to put hosts at a bad spot. The way I look at it, the benefit of this 'no extra charges' smoother approach will be shown in positive guest reviews; if anything because the guests were able to relax.

[Ann72]

That's how I look at it, too, @Fred13.  Don't want my guests to have to think of a thing except relaxing and getting away from it all while they're there.

[Fred13]

@Ann72 I have missed this point myself: when I started I used to tell the inquirers (or guests) if they want to go to town (from the island) it would be $25 in gas; how absolutely tacky. Upon further thought, it turned out, when I did the math, it is only 6.2 miles - 18 minutes - $15 in gas - I was charging $495 per day at the time - few guests even wanted to ever leave the island anyway once they got there.  Now when they ask I say enthusiastically "Of course", just call and we be there in 30 minutes; no mention whatsoever of surcharge. The option was exercised a mere 4x during all of 2019.  

[Ann72]

@Fred13  We all refine our hosting as we go along!

[Huma0]

@Laura2217 

I get your point re the penalty for shortening stays or changing dates around. This could be seriously annoying if a guest wanted to shorten the stay or change dates significantly. However, if there was a blanket rule like this, it would cause a problem for me. I often have long term guests wanting to amend their stay (whether that's shorten it, lengthen it or move it) by a day or two. If someone is booking with me for one month or several months, that really doesn't bother me and I wouldn't want them to be penalised for it.

I definitely agree about having a larger deposit for long-term guests and that any payment issues should be brought up ASAP. I recently had Airbnb sitting on funds from a cancellation for no apparent reason. When I contacted them, they said it was because they had been unable to collect full payment from the guest. She had booked months before, so I really couldn't understand this and also couldn't fathom why they had made no further attempt to collect these funds. Anyway, it turns out they were wrong and she had actually paid the correct amount but the point is, why do I only find out there is a problem five months after the booking was made and only when I called to ask?

One thing I would add to the list (although this may be relevant for shorter stays too) is that there is no way to add a second person to the booking for only part of the stay. As my guests stay for weeks or months for work, study etc. it is not uncommon for them to have a partner, family member or friend come for a visit. I cannot add this second person fee and have to send it as separate requests for 'something else'. I would much rather have an official way to do this via the booking mechanism.

[Cormac0]

@Laura2217 

In my opinion you would want to be bonkers to use Airbnb for long term letting, you've lost control of your property period, Airbnb is now in charge and you have to put up with the decision they make.

1. You almost always  have to accept the people Airbnb send.
2. The security deposit is more honored in the breach then the observants...
3. The tenant can make up any old nonsense and you have to defend your corner with Airbnb, rather than making a decision yourself and getting them out. 
4. Airbnb is taking a circa 20% wedge of you income, every month!!!!
5. You're paying for all the utilities, which in not normally the case in long term rental, so there is no compulsion on your tenant to manage their utility usage, Ouch
6. Realistically, no due diligence is done on these tenants, they could be pedophiles, drug dealer, criminals.

I'm sure others can make additions to this not so definitive list.

[Huma0]

@Cormac0 

I pretty much stopped hosting short-term stays and switched to long-term ones some time ago and it has worked very well in the vast majority of cases. I have had far fewer problems with long-term guests than short-term ones, believe me!

However, I do agree with some of your comments, if not all:

1. You almost always  have to accept the people Airbnb send.

Not true. I have never accepted any long-term guest I didn't want to. You don't have to use IB and, even if you do, long-termers rarely IB in my experience. If they do, you can cancel penalty free if you are uncomfortable with it.

1. The security deposit is more honored in the breach then the observants...

Not totally sure of your meaning here, but the Airbnb security deposit is fairly meaningless, so I guess I agree! However, I've never had to make a damage claim for a long-term guest, unlike long-term lodgers who, by the way, can simply stop paying their rent if they suspect you might deduct something from their deposit, making that deposit meaningless anyway.

1. The tenant can make up any old nonsense and you have to defend your corner with Airbnb, rather than making a decision yourself and getting them out. 

Not true in my experience. Getting a long-term lodger out is not straightforward. When I needed a long-term guest to leave, it was easy. Airbnb backed me up, no problem.

1. Airbnb is taking a circa 20% wedge of you income, every month!!!!

Not really. They are taking more money from the guest, who pays significantly more than a long-term lodger would, easily making up host fees, plus some. At the same time, Airbnb is doing the marketing, bringing the clients to you, rather than you having to schlep around doing it, which takes way more time.

A letting agent would also do this, but they are taking their commission off a much lower rental rate, so you get much less. Anyone charging the same for Airbnb guests as long-term lodgers or tenants needs to re-evaluate your prices! The whole point is that long-termers book Airbnbs and pay MORE for them than normal rentals because they are not signing a 12 month rental agreement.

1. You're paying for all the utilities, which in not normally the case in long term rental, so there is no compulsion on your tenant to manage their utility usage, Ouch

True. So, you need to factor this in to the rate you charge and have some rules about it too. By the way, I have had plenty of tenants and lodgers who had to pay a share of utility bills and, with most, it didn't make any difference to their usage. People are either frugal/environmentally conscious or they are not. It's surprising how little impact the cost can make when it comes to utilities. It makes no sense, but that's my experience.

1. Realistically, no due diligence is done on these tenants, they could be pedophiles, drug dealer, criminals.

True, Airbnb's vetting and verification of guests is really not good enough. It is certainly nowhere close to the reference checks etc. I used to do with potential lodgers. Surprisingly though, the long-term guests have turned out to be SO MUCH less of a problem/risk than those reference checked lodgers. Many lodgers lived like pigs, constantly damaged stuff, threw parties, had people staying round all the time or boyfriends/girlfriends moving in and living here for free, and some had prostitutes and drug dealers round. Long-term Airbnb guests occasionally accidentally damage something small, but are otherwise unproblematic.

So, while on paper it doesn't sound so promising, after four years of hosting long-term guests and many years of renting long-term the conventional way, doing it via Airbnb wins hands down.

I really don't know about your personal experience with long-term guests, but what I have noticed is that most of the hosts on the CC who rail against them and make out that it's a very bad idea turn out to have pretty much no experience actually doing it. Their opinions are based on fear rather than fact.

Of course, every host considering it should make sure they are aware of rental laws and tenants' rights in their area so as not to get stuck with a squatter, but anyone can squat a place. They don't need to be an Airbnb guest to pull that one!

[Laura2217]

Hi there.  Thank you for your response.  The purpose of starting this thread, is to encourage AirBNB to make some simple changes to protect hosts for long-term stays.  There are some significant gaps in the way they handle long-term stays and if they fix these issues, it will be a win-win.  My goal is for them to look at this thread and make some improvements, they didn’t think through this.  

Thanks again for your response!