Monthly Stays on Airbnb - Guide Revised

[Joan2709]

Understanding Airbnb Monthly Stays (28+days) - GUIDE

Long Term Stays – Important Cautions

Long term stays can be an option for Hosts and can be very successful. However, be sure you thoroughly familiarize yourself with Airbnb’s long term stay policies (and other OTA platform policies) before offering them and fully understand the additional risks. This will help you avoid some common (and costly) mistakes made by other hosts. Some hosts prefer not to offer long term stays, due to these issues. Below are some of Airbnb policies and things to consider:

New Hosts & Monthly Stays

Your goal is to obtain your first 3-5 bookings (and 5-star reviews) as quickly as possible during the “New Listing” period. Airbnb gives you a temporary boost in search results rank for a limited time (about 4weeks). This sets the stage for continued success on the platform. Don’t accept long term bookings during this period, as it will delay obtaining those 3-5 bookings and ultimately negatively affect your continued success on the platform. The algorithm looks for a high number of bookings with good reviews and views those listings as “popular”. If you accept a long-term booking in the first few months (and you receive a negative review), it will have a significant, negative impact on your search results rank. After you get 5 bookings (or more), you might consider long term stays, but review the information below and be sure you are willing to accept the risks.

Monthly Stay Payouts May be Delayed for New Hosts

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/285

If you’re a new Host, Airbnb may hold your payouts for 30 days after your first reservation is confirmed.

Getting Started with Monthly Stays

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2729

Things to Consider Before Hosting Monthly Stays

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/805

Tenant Rights & Receiving Mail

In most states, if a guest stay is more than 28 days (sometimes less), they are now legally considered a “tenant” and not a guest. If they refuse to leave after their stay (squatter), you will have to go through court proceedings to get them evicted. Guests will also try to receive mail at the listing address to prove they are a tenant. Most Hosts add that guests are not permitted to receive mail or packages at the listing address.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/805

Cancellations

Cancellations for long term stays override your short term stay standard cancellation policy. Be sure to set your long term stay cancellation policy on the Listing, before accepting monthly stays!

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/475

Guest Reservation Alterations

Guests can alter a long-term stay reservation without Host approval in some circumstances.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1361

Payouts – Only Monthly

Payouts for long term stays are different than short-term stays. Guests pay monthly and don’t pay upfront for the entire reservation.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/285

Price Calculation Errors

Price errors occur more often with long-term stays. This requires the host to verify each one for accuracy (sometimes weekly or other discounts you have set are incorrectly applied to a long term stay). You might consider only using Special Offers for long term stays. Be sure you include all fees (cleaning, pet fees, etc.) in your calculation. Airbnb will add the Guest Service Fee and any taxes for you.

Potential Damage

The longer a guest stays, the more wear and tear and potential damage can occur at the property. Be sure to document the condition of the property prior to a long term guest with time-stamped video and photos. Advise the guest to notify you within 24-48hrs of arrival of any damaged or missing items and provide photos/video of the items/damage. Otherwise, the property will be considered in good repair with no missing or damaged items.

Rental Agreements & Security Deposits

Hosts can ask for a guest to sign a rental agreement, but the entire agreement must be posted clearly on the listing description PRIOR to the guest booking. Hosts must also inform guests a rental agreement is required. If a Host tells a guest about a rental agreement AFTER a booking, Guests must read the agreement within 48hrs of receipt and can refuse to sign it and ask the Host to cancel the reservation. The reservation will be canceled with no penalty to the guest. That said, many Hosts have found it difficult to enforce a rental agreement without being able to obtain a security deposit. Only listings that have 3^rd party property management software (channel manager) attached to their listing are allowed to ask for a security deposit and this is disclosed at the time of booking.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/465

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140

Utilities

Excessive utility usage (electrical, heat, AC), can be an issue for long term stays. Hosts should install smart home devices that can be used to remotely manage utility use. These include smart thermostats, smart mini-split remotes, and electrical usage monitoring devices. Some Hosts also only allow for cold water use for washing machines. You can set temperature limits on your heating/cooling and allow guests to change it within certain ranges. Restrictions on temperatures, and other utilities should be clearly shown on the listing, in additional House Rules and in the House Manual. Some Hosts also mention that electrical usage above “usual and customary” will be charged to the guest, but it may be difficult to collect that.

Scams - Long Term Stay Guest

Guests can ask for a steep discount in exchange for a 3-month stay for example. They know they will only stay one month, but want a larger discount. Then they either cancel the stay after one month, or cancel their credit card. Airbnb is not able to collect the next month’s payment from the guest and initiates the cancellation for the rest of the stay. The Host had their calendar blocked for 3 months (sometimes months in advance) and only got paid for one month at a very steep discount. Be aware the average discount for monthly stays is 20%.

Hopefully, this guide will help hosts decide whether they want to offer long-term stays to guests and provide strategies for managing potential risks.

[Anton7298]

@Joan2709 Such a nice post and very helpful for beginners. I wish I had such information on my rookie days. I might have avoided my only bad review which  came from a month stay.

Long stay is indeed a financially tempting inquiry but comes too many risks.

Cheers

-A-

[Joelle43]

@Joan2709  So glad to see this as an official post on Long term renting on Airbnb - thanks Joan🤗 and totally agree with @Anton7298 - I would have been so happy to know about this forum when I first started out - I thought there was only Customer Service at the time! 

[Mandrake-And-Karen0]

Also, a note to all hosts.  If you accept a few monthly bookings you may not meet your Superhost minimum number of bookings per quarter despite meeting the minimum number of days booked in order to maintain that status.   Also, it's been our experience that a negative review,  (anything less than 5 stars),  on longer stays, has greater negative impact.  It may result in having your Guest Favorite status stripped, and negatively impact your listings ranked appearance based on A1 interpretation.  We used to care  more about those things then we stopped using Airbnb as our primary source of getting rentals.

[Mandrake-And-Karen0]

Also, it's good to keep in mind that not allowing renters to accept mail at the address where the rental is located is one of the ways you can prevent, or if squatting is attempted, prove that guests are not residents beyond a temporary agreed upon booking.

Finally, I'd like to add to the risks of monthly or extended rentals.  The longer guests stay the more their stay may cost hosts on maintenance, wear and tear and damages to rentals. 

Because hosts aren't able to get security deposits, when guests book, for possible damages, it's good to factor in advance, any possible damages and maintenance needed, to your monthly or extended stay pricing. 

Include cleaning costs in your monthly rate.  Airbnb doesn't have any ongoing mechanisms to charge guests a monthly cleaning fee so I advise you add it into your monthly rate along with known maintenance and possible damages that may occur.

That way you don't have to argue with guests or Airbnb about damages and try to get paid for damages after guests leave. 

It's always good to take photos of the apartment's condition, particularly more pricey items to fix or replace.  If you live close enough to the rental do a walk through with the guests and point our any minor issues that you note in the apartment in advance and ask them to report to you anything else that they notice within 24 hours.  Let guests know that beyond that time they will be charged for any new issues or damage if it arises from their stay.

These pointers should help those of you who still choose to accept monthly, longer term bookings.

Karen

[Joan2709]

@Mandrake-And-Karen0 

Excellent Advice! 👍

Many Hosts put these things in Addl House Rules and ask guests to read and agree to them before accepting a booking. I never suggest Hosts do Instant Book for long-term stay listings. Some Hosts do though...I think that is just too risky.

Other Hosts also build in mid stay cleaning or inspections in their House Rules (with 24hr notice to the guest) so they can keep eyes on the property. 

[Mandrake-And-Karen0]

Thanks, all of the suggestions that I provided come from experience! We do list "no mail or packages accepted" in our house rules.  Advise against including cleaning fees for monthly/extended stay under house rules.  Why put it under house rules when people generally skim through that section and then hosts have to be reliant on Airbnb to charge guests? Easier to just add it into the cost of the monthly/extended rental price so it's seamless IMO.

[Joan2709]

@Mandrake-And-Karen0 

Agree about the cleaning fees...some Hosts I work with opt to just add they may perform mid-stay inspections "right to enter" with 24hr notice to clients. Other Hosts prefer to call it a "mandatory mid-stay cleaning at no cost to the guest". Their cleaning costs are built into the nightly rate, but the term "mid stay cleaning at no cost to guest" actually means, "we want to get eyes on the property". 😉

[Mandrake-And-Karen0]

Yes, that is why we offer cleanings every other week and build it into our listing price.  It reduces and addresses some avoidable, expensive maintenance issues like clogged drains! So are your direct clients Airbnb, VRBO, Furnished Finders or do you have private clients on those sites?

[Joan2709]

@Mandrake-And-Karen0 

Private clients...

[Joelle43]

Thank you @Joan2709 for this great guide on long term hosting on Airbnb.  A must read when you consider that Brian Chesky announced in September that the company is now focusing on developing it's long term business.  

I hope that the major pitfalls highlighted are taken into account by Airbnb so that hosts aren't left high and dry when they accept reservations of 28 days and more.  Will Airbnb have our backs when things don't go as planned?  

Wishing you all a very happy 2025🥂

Joëlle

[Joan2709]

@Joelle43 

Totally agree...it seems this is where the market is shifting; mid-term stays. I also agree the platform was developed with short stays as it's primary focus and has tried a "patchwork" attempt at handling longer stays. Couple that with many muncipalities requiring vacation rentals rent for 30+ days or more...the handwriting is on the wall. I think Airbnb sees that with all the legislation out there on restricting STRs.

Big issues stand out to me:

Squatters

Scams regarding payments

Lack of protection Hosts for cancellations of monthly stays

Search Rank algorithm not accounting for long term stays

No ability to upload a Rental Agreement (Vrbo allows this)

No ability to require a security deposit (unless using a channel mgr)

These leaves alot of Hosts reluctant to allow long term stays. Unfortunately, some Hosts don't have a choice. These are big issues for any OTA platform, and those that adapt to the changing vacation rental landscape will come out on top. You know the saying "Be proactive; not reactive." 😊

Regards to you!