Checking out a guest before hosting

[Laura912]

I've just gotten a request to rent our home, but the person has never rented before and doesn't say anything about herself. My gut is to decline because she doesn't take the time or effort to share something about herself. Maybe that is how she will treat our home.

Any suggestions? Is this normal? Am I being overprotective?

Thanks for your help,

Laura

[Jack90]

Nope Laura, I feel the same way when a guest enquires without saying anything. 

Just explain to the guest that Airbnb is a community built on trust, you are renting your room/house to a complete stranger! There is an expectation that the guest would tell a little about themselves, their guests and the purpose of their trip. Many guests aren't aware of this standard so just explain it to them and see what their reply is. From there, you can pre-approve or accept.

Good luck,

Jack

[David126]

At least half my Guests fall into that category, I assume to most it is just another booking system. Which of course in reality it is.

[Chad-and-Char0]

@Laura912, go with your gut.  Everytime I have overcome misgivings about a guest I have regretted it.

[Ali40]

Ask questions. Simply say something like "before approving your request to book, ........" then ask the specifics that you'd like to know. 

[Todd-and-Reese0]

You should state in your house rules and pre-booking message what you want to the guest to provide in their booking inquiry. "Tell us about yourself, your guests, and your reason for visiting in your booking request."

Also, I looked through your house rules. I would recommend removing all the "please"s as that makes the rules optional. Especially things like "Please no more than 6 guests." to "Maximum 6 guests."  You will learn and add more rules as you go.

[Zacharias0]

Depends on how much the reservation is worth.  Many time if I send a guest a follow up query they will respond late and not include much more information. It becomes a futile task of getting to know someone. Eventually, I just way to pros and cons. If its two people  for a long term reservation and the money is reasonable then I let it slide. If its a group of people then I tend to decline.