Hosting a extra bedroom in the house that I live in.

[Mark4168]

Hi all, I have a question for other hosts who have hosted a extra bedroom in a house that they live in.

I just had a guest who I checked in and when I woke up in the morning, I saw that their bedroom door (it has a bedroom door lock, not with a key) was open. I thought it was strange that they left their door open.

Later today I got a email/text from Airbnb saying that my guest was asking for a refund because he felt uncomfortable staying here.

I got a call from Airbnb and asked why the guest was uncomfortable (he was I think in his 20's as well as his girlfriend. I could barley understand his English).

I explained this all to the Airbnb caller and told her to give him a refund on his remaining stay which she did.

In the past in another house I used to host extra bedrooms in that house when I was living there. One guest from Tawain started singing at 2am and woke me and a roommate up. I opened my bedroom door and asked him what he was doing? He left very early the next day. Another guest from Long Island would talk loudly on his phone outside and hang his clothes on the backyard fence bothering the neighbors.

I have had good guests but it seems like a crapshoot. I have turned instant book off and require a photo to book.

I have had roommates before but they have to fill out an application for me to review before I take their deposit.

I have stayed in guests Airbnb rooms where they live in the house and I guess rent out extra bedrooms I guess as a sort of extra income stream.

Any feed back on this?

[Huma0]

@Mark4168 

Yes, it can be a bit of a crapshoot. As a host, it's up to you to vet your guests as best as you can to make sure the listing is a good fit for the guest and the guest a good fit for you and your listing. Airbnb only gives you limited tools to do this.

It's good that you have turned off instant book and require a profile photo. That's a first step in the right direction. I did use instant book for quite a while but would personally not recommend it to new hosts and I did turn it off too a few months ago due to repeated problems.

Firstly, I would suggest that you make sure you ask guests to verify their ID and write profile information/send you some information about themselves before you accept a booking. The communication with the guest prior to booking is one of the most important elements for me to assess whether they should stay in my home or not.

Secondly, maybe have a more detailed description of the space, your interaction with the guests and house rules. Ask the guests to confirm they have read and understand and agree to all of this before you accept their booking. I include an 'Easter egg' question in my house rules for this purpose as a lot of people will not read anything and then lie about it.

If the guests have previous reviews, also check out the reviews they have left for their previous hosts as these can be quite telling.

I'm sorry to say this because I don't mean to be harsh or criticise, but judging by the photos, your listing is quite basic. There is nothing wrong with offering basic but clean, economical accommodation, but I'm afraid  it's going to sometimes naturally attract not so great guests. 

If you'd like some advice on how to make it more appealing to better guests, let me know and I'll be happy to make some suggestions.

[Mark4168]

Hi thanks for the advice. I have one review and it says 'great host'. I gave him a review, 'great guest'. At this point I have one more one night reservation. I will see how that goes but I have blacked out my calendar for the rest of the year. Long term my plan is to finish minor rehab work and rent this house out to a tenant on a one year lease like I did with my first house. He is a great tenant that a real estate agent found for me. He pays on time and takes care of the house. All I have to do now is minor repairs. I don't live in that house so no drama issues. The tenant just sends me the rent check on time. So much easier than renting out rooms where I live in the house. I was just trying to make extra money.

[Huma0]

@Mark4168 

Yes, I understand. I won't lie that while hosting can bring in more money than renting to a long term tenant, it is also a lot more work than most people realise. Sharing your home with strangers can also be challenging. When you get the difficult or just plain weird guests, it doesn't seem worth it. The Airbnb review system doesn't help at all as it can feel like we are held hostage by bad guests for the fear of receiving anything but a 5* review or having to dole out refunds for no logical reason.

Fortunately, those guests are a minority. However, you will see from other threads on the CC that a lot of hosts (myself included) feel like guests are getting more problematic since COVID. On top of that, Airbnb's recent 'Summer Release' seems to have really mucked up visibility in the searches for a lot of us and Airbnb suddenly doesn't seem that lucrative at all when you have big gaps in your calendar to contend with.

So, if you can find good long term tenants that you are happy with and you don't need to rent out your spare room, perhaps that's the best solution.

[Suzanne302]

@Mark4168 

It can be a crapshoot renting a room in your home but there are things you can do to mitigate the possibility of bad guests like turning off Instant Book, requiring an ID, and clear communication prior to accepting a request.

It's also important to remember that to be a successful host, you can't just open up your spare room and watch the money roll in. Hosting in your own home is still work.

To be blunt, your pictures are dark and uninviting and the pic of your bathroom would really turn me off as a guest. You mentioned you are aware the home needs some work. Maybe do some work on making the space feel more comfortable and inviting and then try again?

[Mark4168]

Hi Suzanne, thanks for the feedback. Take a look at my listing again. Some of the pictures I had taken at night, I just put some new pictures up. I have taken off instant book. I also set it for only one person, not allowing couples because I live in the house. I will also ask a few more questions before I accept their request to make sure it is a good fit. Most of the reno work is done just have some finish work.

[Mark4168]

By the way it turns out why the guest cancelled the rest of their stay-

Hi I really apologize but my girlfriend couldn't sleep because of fear and it was not comfortable, so I had to go to the hotel this is subjective, I will not leave a review and of course we didn't take anything from your house and etc

But if you look at Devins review (he stayed with his girlfriend for one night)-

July 2022

Great host!

Unfortunately his girlfriend had heavy perfume and I had to use an ozone machine to air out the room for the next guest. I have also had a traveling nurse who stayed for a month in one of my rooms and she burned incense. When she checked out it took a week to air out the room.