How hard is it to become a host?

[Anonymous]

https://skift.com/2021/05/13/airbnb-posts-1-2-billion-loss-and-turns-attention-to-expected-supply-de...

So I didn't find anything particularly new or interesting in this article until a little bombshell at the end:

"Chesky said Airbnb will announce its largest update to its platform in 12 years on May 24, when the company will unveil improvements to the guest experience, and an easier path to becoming a host."

The times when I've taken a chance on a new listing, I've always come away feeling like my experience as a guest would be better if it wasn't so dang easy to become a host. Not to say that there aren't some difficulties - navigating local regulations, hotel taxes, and STR insurance are all potential headaches for new hosts. But one can easily get a listing live without thinking through any of these things, and guests suffer when hosts start hosting without being prepared.

Did any of you face difficulties in your transition from non-host to host?

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Anonymous , Airbnb needs full private spaces for prospective guests and they will dredge the bottom to get them if thats what it takes.  People that have not been hosts probably don't grasp the great differences between landlords and Inn Keepers (Hosts for those that prefer that title), the LTR and STR customers are very different POVs.   Even within hosts, there are those that do this like this job and their guests are most important and those that don't and if your not in STR'ring already, there is a good chance your the second one not the first.  

As a needlepoint my grandmother made for my Grandfather over my desk in my office says, "Dont start vast projects with Half-Vast Ideas".  Most of us that are successful doing this as a real business did it with skill, purpose and determination.   Those that don't make it their business to be the best Keep around will likely die a million deaths to just as many possible guests in the ratings pool, good luck to them, they will need it!  Good Hosts and great properties will do well regardless of the posers.   

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Anonymous 

I've also thought it's too easy to become a host, and Airbnb makes hosting sound like a walk in the park, easy money - which it is absolutely not. After Henry and I started hosting, many of our friends and family expressed interest in hosting a spare room as well. We talked them out of it. 😁

[Sarah977]

@Jessica-and-Henry0  I've talked a few people out of it, too. I could tell they thought it was a piece of cake way to make some money, and I knew they didn't have the organizational skills, the time, the cleanliness standards, or the patience to do it successfully. 

[Michelle2475]

@Sarah997 as a relatively new host (one year in) I too thought it was going to be a bit easier.  I'm a bookkeeper by trade so that makes things easier on that end.  I found a fabulous, reliable, cleaner and landscaper for plowing etc. who is also reliable.  That's not typical in my area. 

Here's the however - I let lots of things bother me too much.  My kids are always stressing to me the fact that guests just don't care when it's not their home.  The utility bills are about 3x what I thought they'd be due to not closing the door in the winter, etc.  I learned the hard way that having a house that hosts 12 at a somewhat lower price attracts young people looking to party.  As suggested by another host in the neighborhood, I decreased the number of beds and increased the price.  It has helped a bit.  The things people do, and steal, never cease to surprise me. 

It has been an uphill struggle but I keep changing and refining as I go.  I'm not sure it was worth the investment though and I don't think I would have done it had I known then what I know now.

[Alexandra316]

@Anonymous I truly can't imagine how they could make it easier, short of setting up the listings for hosts. I think a huge number of hosts have no idea what they're getting into before they take the leap. How many people actually read the terms and conditions before opening up a very expensive asset to strangers? Based on the issues day to day on the board, there are many who just click yes I understand and agree without taking more than a cursory glance at what they have to say. 

Trying to find a place to stay for me and my dogs the other week was quite an eye-opening experience, and it was a little disappointing. I found many listings that didn't meet Airbnb's rules - security deposits requested outside the platform galore, for example, but I encountered a lot of issues that should have been flagged. Guests don't really understand the rules either in a lot of cases, so I think a lot of it just must go unnoticed. They just put up with it and the brand gets eroded a little more. 

Some other recent examples of hosts here on the board have also made me think that Airbnb just doesn't care: as long as the host is making them a buck and isn't actually murdering guests or doing anything else to them that could make the company look bad in the media (cameras, harrasment), anything goes. 

I live in a market in which there are already significant legal hurdles involved in hosting. Encouraging unprepared people to turn to hosting isn't going to help with that either. The more issues there are, the more likely it is that there will be regulations put in place.

[Debra300]

@Anonymous,

We opened our guesthouse in the fall 2016, and didn't start listing it online until the winter 2017, because I wanted to get the hang of hosting first before expanding availability.  I think we put a lot of thought into the spaces before listing them since we wanted  to avoid the disappointing experiences we have had at some vacation rentals.  However, I would say the biggest hurdle I've had to adjust to is the business and financial sides of hosting, because I had to learn not to try to offer more than what's needed to provide a good value.   I still continue to learn a great deal from personal experiences with the platforms and guest relations, and reading about the experiences of others that are shared here.

[J-Renato0]

@Anonymous 

Good post !

Maybe, to become a host is not so hard.

But to become a good host is really hard.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Anonymous 

[Ann72]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

[Christine615]

Airbnb could start by removing all the illegal listings in areas that require licensing. Here in Kansas City we worked with AIrbnb to make hosting legal. Afterwards there was an explosion of out of state investors buying up properties (or pretending to) and Airbnb didn't even look for verification that the properties had put in applications. At least 3/4 of the Airbnb's in our city are not legal and operating out of site because the city doesn't have enough people for compliance. So i wonder why the rest of us bothered to pay the licensing fee and agree to random inspection when the others are flouting the law and well over the city limits on number of guests. I was required to get approve of 55% of adjacent neighbors even though my daughter lives on-site and I live a half block away. We got 100% signatures on the block and the block behind us for peace of mind.  Homeowners are fed up with the STR's that didn't bother. Not a good way to show the corporation is trying to be a good "neighbor".

[Kelly149]

@Christine615 this is totally true in the city nearest me. Strict rules and ABB does nothing. Another instance of 'let me invent some beautiful, flowering rhetoric (or "protocol") rather than just following the simple steps of doing what's right'

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Christine615 , as @Ann72 showed us with the Harry Pooper closet listing (Harry's place was a bit nicer), some folks dont have any standards and many dont follow laws unless they are forced to.  I tried to get our local County Tax Collector to note the majority of Airbnb listings in our county didn't collect and more than likely didn't remit bed taxes.    She wasn't impressed by my noticement and told me to send her their names and addresses and she would look into it!   Really?   She can find them the same way I found them, do a local search and some research!!!!!!    She wanted me to first do her job and second, crap on my neighbors.  Then she went on to blame Airbnb for not having them collect the taxes automatically at the booking because they refused to give her the names and addresses of every Hosts and property in the county.  So I actually collect and pay the taxes and 95% of my "competitors" don't,  not fair but not much I can do.  

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Anonymous , I'm not sure Airbnb or we as hosts have any choice but to change with the longer term shifts in traveling when it comes to share space properties, bucket list and business travelers, they just aren't happening in so many places as they were before covid.  No doubt some of that will come back but it could be some time before it does and may not ever be as lucrative as they once were due to a new found fear of catching some kind of a bug and possibly being trapped somewhere. 

The whole feel of Airbnb probably will have to change cause for the 3rd or 4th time in a century, the purpose, ways, means and modes of traveling and collaborating are changing.  After all, its roots and name are built on a home sharing concept that most travelers dont dare or care to partake in and the "nb" part of the bnb equation rarely exists in modern day hosting either.  Modern day Inns will need Keepers and spaces that can change with the tides cause constant change is here to stay.  

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Melodie-And-John0 

Agreed!  Resilience, flexibility and resourcefulness are necessary in every industry, especially ours and especially now. Every hands-on people-service industry is constantly challenged to adapt, and ours more so than others; now as always. Constant change and adaptation is what makes it interesting to most of us. 

Just for the record, we will continue to provide breakfast to all our guests. It is just not in the spirit of our homeshare to do otherwise. Per innkeepers legal we only stock manufacturers sealed items, ands fresh fruits; in the fridge and on the shelf. We will continue to stock a large variety of coffees and teas from various sources, and the means to brew them. 

I believe that our unique location and personal, custom, hands-on hosting will continue to bring guests who are attracted to what we provide. Perhaps we will not be inundated with reservations immediately, but that is OK. We've been isolated on this mountain, in the wilderness,  for more than a year; so like everyone else, we are fine with easing back into being in-person social.