I agree totally that we need to be more diligent about safety and shouldn't have to respond to inquiries with a decline or pre-approve if they don't meet our criteria. I have had a few bad Airbnbn experiences.
We unwittingly rented a room to a young woman who had a warrant out for her arrest. She was arrested during her stay and left a room full of drugs, mess, and junk to be cleaned out. It would be nice if Airbnb could partner up with the DMV or law enforcement in some way to ensure guests have valid true ID and don't have any warrants.
I also have concerns about the properties just being posted on the site. I have 4 cottages in a row. Two are listed on airbnb and exterior photos were posted online. Those two rentals got burglarized in one night. The other two homes were not targeted. I can't say it's because they were listed on Airbnb, but I have since removed the exterior, front-of-house photos.
On another note, even though we select that an instant book traveler must have only positive reviews, this doesn't guarantee they have all positive reviews. I am currently having an exchange with Airbnb to get to the bottom of this loophole, so I can make sense of it. I had posted a review explaining the house rules that a guest violated. I explained that she was dishonest with airbnb and got a refund despite being in violation of the house rules from the very beginning. But, apparently "Content that refers to the details of an Airbnb investigation" is not allowed in reviews. I guess since Airbnb was asked to mediate the matter, that constitutes and investigation and my review of this guest has been removed.
So, Hosts, beware of instant book. It is better to read reviews and read between the lines. I always read between the lines because some hosts (including me) don't want to seem nitpicky and some are just are overly nice. There have been a handful of times that I didn't leave a reveiw for fear of retaliation from a shady guest.
These are things to keep in mind.