@Lizzie
My first guest was great! She was a first time guest user, Henry and I were new hosts.......we all had no idea what to expect and were really nervous.
Once we got to know each other a bit we fell into a comfortable routine and she was always happy to share her opinion about questions/concerns we had as hosts and provided us with a lot of feedback during her stay which helped us improve our listing description and house rules.
She was our 3rd inquiry, 1 week after our listing went live..........and she checked in about 1 week after her 4 month booking was confirmed.
I still remember how surprised I was when I first got her inquiry - "so your coming next week? for 4 months? and you don't have a place to stay?" I wasn't sure what to expect 🙂 It was also her first international trip alone, first time in Asia, first time living with people who were not family. It turned out she was really picky about accomodations (she really liked that our guest room has large windows and a open view, and a private bath) and she told us later that she didn't want to share a room with anyone so the student dorm was never an option (plus dorms don't provide bedding & towels and they havr curfews), and had looked at dozens of places, mostly "homestay" options - there were a few that were *okay* but if the place offered a private bath, the bedroom window was small and faced a wall. If the room was nice and airy with a good view, the bathroom was blah~ or there was no guest kitchen access allowed (breakfast would be provided but guests were not allowed to cook) or distance to school was too far so she joined Airbnb as a last resort, thought if she didn't find anything she liked she'd choose between the 2~3 homestay options - and she found us!
Also when we didn't have any reviews but started getting inquiries from potential exchange student guests for the summer/fall semesters, she happily offered to talk/chat with them and answer any questions they might have which I think really helped us get booked before we had any reviews so this is something we will be forever grateful for. We send Christmas/New Year's greetings and stay in touch thru messages 1~2 times a year.
We are on our 6th guest now, 1.5yrs into hosting......and we are booked full till end of this year. We will also have our very first "repeat" guest arriving in about 2 weeks, and she will be staying for about 2 weeks so Henry and I are very excited!
Suggestions for new hosts........... always over-communicate, manage guest expectations (under-promise, over-deliver), trust your gut and don't forget "common sense" is not so common don't be afraid to state the obvious and show a little patience.