Attracting Long Term Guests

[Huma0]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had tips for attracting long-term guests, including ideas for additional marketing that would draw them to my listing. By long-term, I mean between one and six months.

I currently have two rooms listed in my home that get pretty much booked back to back by short-term guests and another room where I currently have a long-term lodger. His lease is up later this Summer and, while I'm reluctant to have a third bedroom with short-term guests (too much for me to handle, plus I like the security of having at least one long-term person here), I'm also reluctant to get another lodger because they pay much less than Airbnb guests but usually make more mess/ignore house rules, and this effects my business as a host.

So, I thought a long-term guest would be the ideal solution. When I first listed a room, I had a few of these (between one month and four months) and everytime it worked out brilliantly. These were people coming to London for work, study or internships. I don't get them anymore because the rooms are booked up months in advance by short-termers.

My problem is that the room that I want for long-term guests only barely gets any views at all because the calendar has been blocked since last Summer. I have opened up some dates now, but the room only has a handful of reviews (100% positive) from the brief period I hosted guests in it while I was inbetween housemates. Any ideas on how I can get the listing noticed/attract the long-termers without having to use Instant Book? I have thought about approaching universities, but other than that, I have no idea...

[Cecelia13]

please adviise on legal rights as i have no knowledge of it .  thanks

[Huma0]

@Cecelia13 

So sorry, I realised that I responded to your other question but not this one. Most probably you don't need this advice anymore, but here goes.

Last time I checked, tenants (where you rent out a separate property where you don't live) are very much protected by the law, e.g. you have to put their deposit in an official scheme. You cannot simply evict them even if they stop paying rent/bills and are trashing the place. You have to get an eviction through the courts. This typically takes at least two months and can be costly. If you try to evict them without the court order, e.g. by changing their locks or putting their stuff outside of the property, you are the one breaking the law and can be arrested.

If you are renting rooms in your own home, on the other hand, those people are lodgers or licensees, not tenants and do not have the same rights. The law is more protective of the landlord in this instance, because no one should be forced to live with anyone they feel uncomfortable with. So, you are allowed to ask your lodgers to leave without going to court, providing you give them 'reasonable notice'. This is usually considered to be the one week if they pay rent weekly or one month if they pay monthly. After that, you can change the locks and dispose of their belongings, having given them reasonable time and opportunity to collect them.

However, it is worth bearing in mind that in the current COVID-19 situation, none of that might apply as the Government has put very strict restrictions on evicting anyone.

[Fred13]

I always thought there are a lot better places to find LTR tenants than in Airbnb, which is more suited for STRs. 

[Huma0]

@Fred13

Yes, there are and I have used them, but I'm not really looking for the typical LTR. I've had ten years of those and am sick of them!

I'm looking for the kind of long-term guest I've had previously (between one and four months, but I'd be happy to stretch to up to six months depending on the person) as that was like having the ideal balance somewhere between a lodger and a housemate. It also pays more!

[Fred13]

Young proffesionals make for good guests? I always wondered.

[Huma0]

@Fred13mmm, maybe not, but my experience is that Airbnb guests are better than long-term tenants. My lodgers have always been young professionals and they have ranged from the good to the bad to the downright ugly. I'd be reluctant to live with anyone who works in Finance or Banking again (sorry for anyone I've offended with that).

Maybe I have just been extremely lucky with the long-term guests I've hosted. All were first time Airbnbers with no reviews, but they were all fantastic, we still keep in touch and I'd happily host them again. I'm not sure any of them fit into the typical 'young professional' category you're referring to.

The first was an English guy in his late 30s planning a change of career and therefore coming to London for a course at Sotheby's. The next was a 21-year-old student from The Netherlands coming here for an internship. He was very mature and respectful. Then I had an 18-year-old Amercian model here for Fashion Week. She was lovely. Lastly, I almost had a 30-year-old American PhD student doing reserach for a month, but the room was only availabe for two weeks and so that's how long he stayed. Although I would have earnt less money, I would much rather have hosted him for a month if I could have because he was the perfect guest.

That's what I'm looking for now. All of these people came to me but I reckon that was luck and now I have to go find them...

[Fred13]

Well they sure sounds like an interesting lot, that surely have kept your hosting fun. You also are fortunate, as to location, for you get to draw from a great pool of visitors. 😉

Good for you @Huma0.

[Huma0]

Sorry, I meant the ideal balance between a guest and a housemate.

The long-term guests were so much more considerate and helpful than lodgers, always offering to empty the dishwasher, take out the trash or feed the cats when I wasn't around.

One of them even carried a five door wardrobe up three flights of stairs and then helped me assemble it! He also once checked in short term guests while I was away, including making up the bed. That guest has been back to visit me and of course I let him stay in his old room for free because now he is a friend.

I tried to make them feel as much at home as possible and that's what they loved about staying here. Yet they never behaved like they owned the place. They knew they were visitors, albeit long-term ones, in MY home.

In contrast, my current housemate, who is by no means the worst I've had, creates more dishes and waste than me and the two guest rooms combined, but wouldn't empty the bin even if the rubbish was spilling onto the floor. I am run ragged already juggling hosting with my job and the last thing I need is another person to clean up after, especially when they are paying half of what I am getting from my Airbnb rooms.

Sorry for the long explanation, but those are my motives for looking for a long-term Airbnb guest rather than another lodger via Spare Room.

[Ange2]

There is also a healthy market catering to the UN, Consulates and Embassies for  3-6 month periods. I have had a number of those in years past and all worked out great. Plus teachers on sabbatical is generally a good one, as are Museum curators who are visiting for 3-6 month stints, they often get subsidies to cover some of the cost.

[Huma0]

@Ange2

That's fantastic. All avenues I never would have thought of.

I guess it might be good to create a Facebook page for the listing? Maybe I could ask my previous long-term guests to post on there seeing as their reviews are on different listings.

[Fred13]

Half the good fortunate in hosting is the pool one gets to draw from or gears their place to.

[Robert-And-Nancy0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0  Yes, you  really have to gear toward what is in demand in your area and what works for you in renting the space.  You sound like you have a great plan in place.  I agree with you sooooo much about the breaks in between.  We just had someone for 3.5 months and she left Mother's Day.  It is nice to have a break.  Even though long term guests tend to be less demanding you are still always "on-call".

@Huma0  Best of luck.  It took us some time to find that type of guests.  When we realized they were not really looking on Airbnb I took our listing out to them on Facebook sites and even listed with a on-line company gearing to short term furnished.  Now, we have a choice of who we want.  Sometimes through Airbnb and sometimes via placement agencies.  It may take a little time.

[Huma0]

Thanks @Robert-And-Nancy0

I realise this might take a bit of time. Also, the handful of long-term guests I've hosted have been great, but I'm fully aware that the next one might end up to be a nightmare. Who knows?

I am definitely going to advertise the listing through other avenues, including most of the ones suggested so far. I will have to hold back for a while on things like Facebook though as I haven't told my lodger yet that I'm not going to renew his lease! I'm not expecting him to want to anyway (suspect he plans to move in with his girlfriend), but in case he does it could be very awkward. I will of course give him ample notice, but I don't want to bring it up earlier than necessary as he's a rather touchy person.

In the meantime, advertising at the kind of companies and institutions mentioned by all the helpful hosts on here will be enough to get on with!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Huma0

Just a thought.......how about looking into becoming a homestay host?? I have a coworker who spent 3 months in the US (more than 10 yrs ago) to study English - company paid for part of it so he could afford to stay in a nicer place than the average college student, he wanted some privacy but also wanted to be "live like a local". He still talks about the homestay experience and the people he met thru his host. 

[Huma0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0

Thank you. Do you know of any particular organisations that arrange these? I looked at the website of the same name, but it's a similar set up to Airbnb (tourists as well as students etc., nightly, weekly, monthly prices). The differences are that the guests pay you when they arrive and that you have to provide breakfast, neither of which suit me very well. I'm guessing this is not the same thing your colleague used?