Odd requests for long term stays

[Jocelyn456]

Hi everyone, We started hosting in December and it's been going well. We are in a busy ski/outdoors area and so far all of our stays have been 2 nights to a week, which is what we expected and is fine with us, and as expected the spring months are looking quiet. Guests have been great so far (knock on wood!).  

In the last two weeks we've had 4 inquiries about long term stays and wondered if anyone has some insight. Each was for a stay of 35-45 days  - starting within a week  of the inquiry - and although each message was articulate they said something vague about a stay of 'several weeks' or '1 to 1 1/2 months,' two asked a random question, and two said something circumspect about why they were coming to the area. There were some red flags, like being members for years without any reviews or nothing in their profile. We've answered the questions and asked for them to tell us more about them and the reason they are planning to be in the area. Zero response. Previously if our space wouldn't work out for a potential gust they sent a polite note. One of these probably wouldn't get my attention, but 4 in a row is just weird.....

Of course it would be nice to be booked during the normally quiet spring months, but only for that long if we felt really confident in the guest. Are these inquiries some sort of scam and if so what is the end game? I don't think I'm being overly suspicious, but am I missing something that could lead to a good guest?

Thank you!!

[Huma0]

@Jocelyn456 

It sounds odd to me. I host long term stays and, although I do occasionally get bookings for them a bit last minute, it's unusual. Guests staying that long tend to book at least a few weeks, if not months, in advance. Of course, that all changed with COVID, but I am finding that bookings wise, things have gone more or less back to normal patterns for now.

Of course, there are genuine reasons for a guest to book a long term stay last minute. I have had perfectly good guests who needed to because they had a host cancellation or because the new home (renting or buying) that they were planning to move into has been delayed, but then they usually provide an explanation of that in their booking. Also, I live in London, where there is a high demand for long term stays compared to areas that tend to attract only holiday makers in general.

If you get a series of similar, strange requests, yes I would suspect that it's a scam. If you are not using IB and they are only sending enquiries, you don't need to do anything. Just respond to the first message. I would not accept bookings anyway until I had sufficient information from the guest as to the purpose of their stay etc. and a good feeling about them through a few messages back and forth. If in doubt, it's best to say no. It is tempting to accept if you know a quiet period is coming up, but it's not worth the risk in my opinion. 

[Huma0]

@Jocelyn456 

PS Also, do you know the laws regarding tenants rights etc. in your area for stays of 35-45 days? This is very important. You don't want to end up with a squatter that you have to spend months and who knows how many $ to evict.