Guest Screening

[David13757]

I have a guest who is inquiring on a month-long stay. My concern is that she is new to Airbnb with no trips for review. While Airbnb affirms, "identity verified," she has no reviews that give me confidence she will be a good, respectful guest for a 30-day stay. What can I do to help affirm her credibility? 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@David13757 

Hmmm...good question! I'd start by asking her a lot of questions, get to know her. Inquiry is not a reservation request, so you and she have no deadlines on the conversation. Good luck, and I hope she is a good one! If not, nothing lost.

[Elaine701]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 @David13757 

I agree with kitty, but I'd only add that screening without offending the potential guest is a bit of an art. 

Try to avoid sounding "sceptical" or "difficult". This could be a nice, desirable guest. Or it could be a disaster 

Ask benign questions in a positive light. "Are you coming for the golf tournament?".

It doesn't matter if there's a golf tournament or not. The objective is to get them talking about why they are coming, and from there you can have a friendly conversation about who they are, sense their ages, and at some point, your instincts will tell you how you feel about them. And you should trust your instincts. 

It's important to screen the guests, especially by when it looks suspicious or just doesn't give you enough data. 

But don't worry about it too much. Especially if they don't respond, don't respond with anything useful, or don't give you what you asked for (diversion). These aren't the kind of guests you need. 

Good luck with that. 

[Joan2709 · Accepted solution]

@David13757 

In addition to all the other great advice from @Elaine701 & @Kitty-and-Creek0 , it usually isn't advisable for new Hosts to accept long term bookings right away. The reason is you have a short window to get as many bookings (with 5-star reviews) as possible to maximize the search boost that new listings get from Airbnb.

Additionally, scammers have figured out how to get steep discounts from a new Host (they aren't knowledgable), and then make up fake issues with the listing. They contact Airbnb and say the listing has mold, smells bad, has bugs, isn't safe, or items are damaged. Airbnb then gives the guest a full refund (despite your cancellation policy) and the scammer gets a free, long term stay.

We do not allow long term bookings unless the guest has at least three, 5-star reviews. Even then, I wouldn't recommend my Host clients accept long term bookings right away.

Here is a Guide to Monthly Stays on Airbnb and some of the pitfalls:

Host Guide Long Term Stays on Airbnb

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-guides/Monthly-Stays-on-Airbnb-Guide-Revised/m-p/2066547#M2...

[Elisa]

Hi @David13757 😊,

Thank you for asking this question here, it’s a really interesting one!

I’m glad you connected with many hosts to talk it through. 😍

What did you end up deciding about this guest?

Looking forward to hearing from you!