So I’m Exploring Accepting Pets

[Adele46]

Any tips? Ps. I will be doing so in one of my two 8’ x 20’ shipping containers... bookings have been very sparse on reopening, so I thought I’d give it a go. Deposit? How much? Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

@Adele46  The two things to be aware of:

1. Damage caused by pets is very explicitly NOT covered by Airbnb's Host Guarantee. 

2. Even if you put a "security deposit" in your listing, it's effectively nonexistent because Airbnb does not charge or hold it against the guest's payment method. So in the event of pet-related damage, the only way you're likely to get compensated through Airbnb is if the guest voluntarily agrees to it.

There are a lot of discussions here about pet incidents. Here's a recent one that had mixed results: the host got some compensation because the guest was willing to take responsibility, but it doesn't appear to be nearly enough to properly repair the damage.

It may be that the benefits still outweigh the risks for you, but the questions I'd ask to make that assessment are:

- Would you be willing to keep Instant Book disabled so that you can pre-screen pet requests and decline those that don't earn your confidence?

- Do you live close enough to the property to monitor the outdoor area? Or are there neighbors who would be disturbed if dogs were left barking in the backyard?

- Are your surfaces and furnishings tough enough to withstand sharp claws and repel urine stains? Or would they be affordable to repair/replace if you had to do this out of pocket?

- How much would you expect to be compensated for the extra cleaning time typically involved with pet hair (aside from incidents of damage or neglect)? 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

as a host, guest and a pet owner I would like if actual security deposit would be taken from guests like at VRBO, and if it would cover pet damage as well.

Pet owners would have more listings to chose from because more hosts would accept pets.

It also depends of your location. For example, we had 200 bookings last year but just 4 were with dogs so it makes me wonder if, by being pet-friendly listing we are losing more than we get because maybe someone doesn't want to book a pet-friendly place.

[Anonymous]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  I do know people with allergies who won't book pet-friendly places because they don't trust that the triggering allergens can be properly removed before their stay. If a host isn't certain that pet owners are an important market for them, that's a thing to consider.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Anonymousyes,  I know, that's why we were experimenting with and without this policy

[Nanxing0]

@Anonymous It's not "don't trust", but it's virtually impossible to eliminate the allergens no matter how you clean it. My wife is allergic to pet and we had a long term tenant with a dog she claimed to be emotional support animal but to us it's not trained like a service animal so we consider it pet. Anyway after the tenant moved out we ordered a professional cleaning and spent like $250 for a deep cleaning for a ~800sq ft apartment but my wife still can't step into it after the deep cleaning. We have an Airbnb listing that we don't allow pet but the previous owner had pet before the we took ownership of the house. The house has been deep cleaned and it's been at least a year with no pet in the house but we had a guest with asthma very sensitive to it and he complained about allergens in the house. A few other guests also reported feeling sick due to pet allergy in the house.

[Adele46]

Yup... we were thinking of making one unit pet friendly, one not Also, thinking of requiring crating when leaving pets, leashed outdoors, size limit...extra fee + pet security  deposit... (is that doable?)

[Sarah977]

@Adele46  Not "pet security deposit". It's a "pet fee".  And it shouldn't be something you offer to refund to guests if their pets do no damage- that can just lead to an argument over whether there was damage, whether the damage was already there when the guest arrived, etc. You simply charge the Pet fee and it is non-refundable. They want to bring a pet, they pay for the privilege. Hopefully this will balance out the costs of allowing pets as far as some pets causing damage or leaving the place covered in dog hair, and those with pets who leave little evidence.