BEING A HOST ON AIRBNB….sad experience

[Raquel808]

We had a guest stay 3-4months at our home. This was our very first guest. We remodeled and renovated our home. We took pictures and the pictures are as they seem. The guest just checked out and there are so many damages to our home we are DEVASTATED. The guest are not communicating and we are dealing with Airbnb now…they of course are denying the claim. i am willing to do whatever i can to make this fair. Our dryer was completely taken apart- we have pictures, evidence and even they signed our contract…i’m shocked how airbnb has given us such a hard time as a host…i have also another home on airbnb but man i almost don’t want to work with airbnb anymore because of this horrible experience. 

[Maggie633]

I’m so sorry for your experience it must be a nightmare and something we are all at risk for.  Ion all my years with Airbnb I haven’t experienced any claims, for this I am extremely thankful.
The only insight I can share is that I don’t do long term rentals for many reasons, legal and otherwise. Tenants rights  in the state of California overly exceeded those of landlords. In the rare occasion that I do more than 7 days max 30 day rental I have housekeeping at the property weekly. For two reasons one to clean and maintain the property and have an insight on any malicious intent.  Hope this was helpful and thanks for sharing res flag for me to stay vigilant. Maggie 😊

[Elaine701]

@Raquel808 

I couldn't agree more. Long term rentals are very dangerous for all the reasons @Maggie633  mentions.

You really need to get in and control things every couple of weeks at least. I have a 28 day booking limit, but only allow trusted guests to book for more than 2 weeks.

And for those that book for longer than a week, we offer them free cleaning service every 7 days (actually mandatory after 14 days). The cleaning crew, overseen by myself, enters the property with full approval of the guest.  Full clean - bedding, towels, bedrooms, floors, windows, kitchen, dining, bathrooms... everything, just the same as a regular turnover.

And in that way, I can see what's going on, and avoid imminent disasters. And guests tend to behave very differently when they know it's coming.

I am fully sympathetic that you've had a very bad experience with Airbnb. But most of us have had pretty bad experiences at one time or another. You definitely should consider listing with other platforms, but don't be naive - bad guests come from all directions, and you're not going to get better guests on another platform.

Except... look at the bigger picture... If you take time and thought to make your place highly attractive to a better quality of guest, allowing you to put your prices up, and then screen your guests before they book, these things have enormous impact on your overall hosting experience over the long term. It simply attracts better guests.

But be very careful with long term stays. Actually, just be careful, in general.

Good luck and happy hosting!