First inquiry is for a month

[Jennifer842]

Hello, brand new here and to AirBnB hosting. We had our first inquiry from someone in another country who would like to book for a month. I do not have instant booking on, and have answered his questions and asked a few myself. We are a bit worried about getting long-term bookings when we have no reviews yet, as that limit how many we can have. I have not accepted or declined yet, but know I need to within 24 hours. I have changed the settings to require ID, and changed it to 21 days (to avoid rental issues after reading some of this forum.) So can I decline and say we would prefer to not have people longer than three weeks? Or what is the correct way to proceed with an inquiry such as this? I wish I had seen this forum before listing. Thanks, Jennifer

[Sarah977]

Your concerns are understandable, but it is really not fair to the guest to decline since you didn't state a 21 day limit on your listing in the first place. You CAN decline, though.

Also be aware that hosts receive many inquiries and answer those inquiries, never to hear from that potential guest again. This most often has nothing to do with your answer, but guests might be sending out dozens of inquiries when looking to book a place, testing the waters, so to speak.

An inquiry is different from a booking request, which you have to Accept or Decline. You can simply message back this inquiry saying that you just set up your listing and that you are very sorry, but you didn't realize you didn't have your max. # of days set correctly, and are not accepting bookings over 21 days. (I actually suggest you set it at 2 weeks until you get familiar with hosting- if you end up with a bad guest, you'll not have to put up with them so long)

You actually don't have to Pre-approve or Decline an inquiry. Just answer the inquiry, which will keep up your response rate.  Airbnb will keep promping you to pre-approve, but you can ignore that and eventually those prompts will disappear.

[Sarah977]

P.S. If you feel comfortable with this guest based on the answers you received from them, refusing the request just because you'd prefer to have more shorter term bookings so you'll get more reviews is not really a decent way to start out hosting.

[Jennifer842]

Thanks Sarah, this is helpful. No, we wouldn't refuse just because we wanted shorter bookings. I was just asking, and the difference between an inquiry and a booking request is also helpful because I was not clear on the difference.

Good to know also about guests asking questions and often not responding. He hasn't answered my questions yet but it's night time where he is, so I will wait. I responded as soon as I saw the inquiry.

Thanks again, I appreciate the info as we launch into this new adventure.

[Lina53]

@Jennifer842  it is not necessary to accept or decline an inquiry. 

It is necessary to either accept or decline a Reservation. 

Avoid long-term guest, especially as a new host. I made this epic mistake!! 

Besides the "tenant" issues (depending on your state), guests looking to stay one month tend to have unrealistic expectations! 

Just say "thank you for your interest. I cannot approve such a long stay at this time."  

Always put your needs, intuition and comfort level ahead of anyone else 🙂

[Jennifer842]

Thank you Lina. He has not responded to my questions yet anyway. I am glad to know the difference between the booking request and the inquiry...that helps. I’ve taken Sarah’s suggestion and changed my settings to two weeks maximum and thank you for your confirmation that short is better when new at this! So glad there is a place for us to ask questions and get some support. 

[Lina53]

@Jennifer842   

You have a lovely space (and ‘cozy’ is relative) 🙂 Highlight what makes your listing unique so it stands out in searches… … “Eco-Friendly. Sun deck. Private Bath - S. Langley”

This will attract the environmentally conscious (not everyone is into composting) and who does not love a sun deck. 

Indicate early on in the description that a friendly family with kids lives in the house, so it can get a bit lively in the morning and weekends (most ppl do not even read the house rule)….something like...Airy with lots of light! I’m renting a second-floor room with private bath in family home. My husband and kids are eco-friendly. Morning and weekends are busy and can get lively so if you like a little family noise in a warm home, my place is ideal.  This will deter those who do not want to deal with a family, etc.

I suggest:

- Removing “Just getting started with Air BnB!”

- under booking requirements consider 1. guests must book at least three days in advance and 2. minimum nights requirement (same day bookings for 1-2 nights esp during weekends night attract super sketchy types)

- do not turn on Instant Book especially since you have kids in the house

Hope this helps 🙂 

[Jennifer842]

Thank you for all this great info, Lina! I had considered using the eco-friendly angle...so perhaps that is something unique. Our kids are actually teens who live with us half-time, so they aren't that noisy...just we do run our blender on school/work mornings and they do make noise sometimes getting ready, so good thinking to include that. I just had an inquiry yesterday from some who hasn't seen her boyfriend in a long time so wanted to know how private the room was, haha! I did tell her it is a room right in the family home, so not sure what she will decide, but it made me giggle. We have also had one legit booking for April for some people coming back from the airport and heading up North...and need a place for one night on their way. Because we are not near transit or a major city...I'm hoping we avoid some of the "super sketchy" types you mention!  I love your suggestions for how to describe it and good to know that people don't read the house rules (why am I not surprised??)

I agree about Instant book. I have an acquaintance who has been doing this for a while and he and his wife have tiny kids and they screen everyone as a result, so he said whatever I do, not to turn that on. Makes sense.

Thanks again...it sure helps having this kind of info from an experienced host! 🙂

[Fred13]

Copying this to save lazy me the exercise:

A - Pre-Approval/Decline/Reply are the choices when receiving an ~Inquiry~.

B - Accept/Decline are the choices when receiving a ~Request~.

Btw @Jennifer842, three things caught my amateur detective eye: It is a 'foreigner' + a month stay (longer than 28 days) + last but not least, you are a new host with no reviews. An interesting combination.

[Jennifer842]

Thanks Fred. I wasn’t sure about this either. The guest just signed up with AirBnB and has no reviews either (but then, neither do we). In any case, he has not answered my questions so could be he’s not interested after all. Do I need to then decline or does the inquiry just go away? 

[Fred13]

Reply to it at least before 24 hrs, even a . (dot) will do, if you haven't once already so no need.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Jennifer842

I was exactly in your shoes a year ago!!!! My first inquiry was for a 4 month stay - exchange student who was a 1st time abb user - that quickly led to a reservation. Henry and I hadn't really thought about a long term guest and had to scramble a bit to add a few things to the room to make it more suitable for a long term stay. In our case, it was the right decision for us and because we kept getting so many inquiries from potential exchange students we just changed the listing description to target this niche. 4 out of 5 guests including our current guest have been long term exchange students. I have an 80% occupancy rate for the past year and hope to continue with this hosting style for the foreseeable future. 

Please don't forget long term guests have different needs and expecations than short term guests so you will want to have a conversation to set the ground rules and make sure you are a good fit. Good luck~!!