Instant booking or not?

[Bari51]

Hi all, I need a piece of advice before publishing my new listing. I will work abroad soon and decided to list my entire home, three bedrooms of townhouse for eight guests.However, I couldn't make up my mind. Should I turn on the instant booking or not? My sister stays nearby. She will take care of the place. Thanks

[Emiel1]

@Bari51 

If you are a new host, i would suggest to turn IB off until you have more experience.

Also you are going to offer a whole house, so i assume you want to have some communcation with potential guests before deciding to accept them.

If you also want to offer stays more then 28 nights, then first take a look at the "long term stay" rules in the help section.

[Bari51]

Thanks so much.

[Arnie89]

I am new also.  Airbnb makes it sound like I will not get any bookings if I turn of IB.  I have my first guest right now who has good reviews and seems to be working out.  I have had other long term requests that have no picture and no reviews so I have declined them for those reasons.  

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Bari51 Unless you have a really good set of questions to ask if someone makes a request to book I would switch IB on.

[Sarah977]

@Bari51  I would advise new hosts not to use Instant Book. Better to get familiar with how to vet guests well before deciding whether to accept them or not.

Also, this seems to be your own home, not just an investment to Airbnb. So you are going to want to make sure you get respectful guests. 

 You might consider listing it for 6 guests, rather than 8. The higher the max guest count, the more likelihood of a party and damage to your home. Cramming more people in just because you can isn't a great idea.

[Linda108]

@Bari51   Will your sister be managing the listing while you are out of the country or are you managing remotely only asking her to help if needed?  I agree about reducing the number of guests for the search platform.  You can always extend the number on a case by case basis.

You are allowing strangers to be in what for most of us is the most valuable asset we own.  It is a huge risk and not only from the bad actors, but also from well behaved guests that have an accident.  Trying to manage remotely from a different time zone is problematic.

As for IB, once you or your cohost have a track record of good guests with good reviews, there are some advantages to IB.  While it might seem to make hosting easier, IB is really for the traveler so they can continue to make arrangements.  It more advantageous if you have host or cohost nearby.

[Bari51]

Thanks a lot.

[Lorna170]

@Bari51   I would recommend turning off IB until you are familiar with how hosting works and your sister has learned how to read between the lines and interpret the intentions of your guests.  I would also recommend that you not discount the value of your property and set a decent price on it.  I do not understand people who undervalue their property and offer discounts  -- a good guest is one who values your property and is willing to pay your asking price.  Also, do not take last minute bookings, and have a minimum stay of several days.  Once your sister is comfortable, you can turn on IB.  

You will also want to remove any personal or important items from your property -- I initially decorated with some much loved and valued pieces and was very upset when they were mishandled by guests.

[Dale711]

 Hi   @Bari51 

Welcome  to the community! 😊   

'In this business … it's all about Getting Booked!'

                                                 by Elena Badia, The Hosting Journey 

If I were you, I would leave the decision to my sister to handle the place and encourage her to be a co-host, read well Airbnb terms and policy and motivate the listing.

As a new host, it's always hard to decide, in fact, to boosting the listing by choosing to offer the 20% discount to the first three guests and turn on the instant booking. Most of the hosts wouldn't wish to prevent the party guests and circumstances happen.

Since the host stay nearby, to take control of the instant booking of an entire home in need,

1. Set a pre-booking instantly bookings message, ask them for the journey reason, who shows up, and other questions 
2. House rules with 'no parties' and the noise fine.
3. Deter a guest in the listing description. You use noise-aware systems. 
4. Meet the guest during check-in, pass the key and well communicate and screen the guest again
5. Reminds the guest that is an outside camera installed

The article below by Elena Badia, 

That is always the pros and cons of instant booking 

https://www.thehostingjourney.com/instant-booking-pros-cons/

Airbnb Resources Center

https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/everything-you-need-to-know-about-instant-book-17

 What is the co-host?

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1243/whats-a-cohost

Way to go! ✌️

[Bari51]

Just want to say thank you to every one for the advice.

Dale and Dan, much appreciate your suggestion and the links

[Helen3]

Most seasoned hosts would never suggest you use IB as a new host @Bari51 nor would they suggest you apply 20% discount for new guests.

It's far too easy for problem guests to target new hosts who don't know the signs to watch out for, for party bookings, problem guests etc.

It sounds like both you and your sister are new to using Airbnb so using IB would be risky as you won't be familiar with red flags to look out for.

There is no point offering a 20% discount for new guests as Airbnb offers an artificial boost to new hosts to push them up the rankings.

I suggest you and your sister read the useful tutorials on this community  forum and the Q&As on Airbnb Help so you understand the basics around managing your STR business on Airbnb.

Best of luck.,