Guest wants to see the place before comming in

John7
Level 1
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Guest wants to see the place before comming in

I have had several requests for people to see the place before they commit. Air BnB does not allow you to give information about address or telephone number before they receive the money. Is ther a way around this - I have absolutely no intention of short changing Air BNB. I also dont want to lose the potential client.  I would like some advice on how to handle this - Kind regards

 

John Mills

51 Replies 51
Michael4414
Level 2
Ithaca, NY

I'm not a host, but in recent years  I've stayed at Airbnb short-term rentals at least a dozen times in several countries.  I've never asked to see the property in advance (of course, in almost all cases I've been far away from the rental when I reserved it).  But consider this situation:  A young woman needs to find a 3-month rental in a large European city where she's currently residing.  She's had good experiences in the past with numerous Airbnbs, and so she's looking at the Airbnb website to see if she can find a 3-month rental in the area where she needs to be.  She would very much like to know about the street, the neighborhood, the noise level, etc.   She has no intention of 'scamming' anyone (a few comments here suggested that this often happens).  Isn't it reasonable that she'd want to have a look at the place to make decisions?  My opinion is that if this is ruled out for Airbnb guests, then Airbnb hosts should not offer longer stays.  

@Michael4414  The situation you posit does sound reasonable. Being reasonable is a different thing. This young woman who wants to book for 3 months- she is a total stranger to the host- how does the host know that what she's saying is true? How does he know if it is just an excuse to scope out the place, so her brother the thief and his buddies can come back and ransack the place?  

If I were in that situation as a guest, I'd first of all look for an established host with a string of great reviews. I'd read all those reviews, some of which would likely talk about the area, the noise level, the host, etc. I'd message the host to ask about the things that might concern me, making it clear that I was a single woman who was looking to book for 3 months. Experienced hosts don't give out false information or make their place seem better than it is, because that leads to unhappy guests, demands for refunds, and bad reviews.

If it all seemed good, I'd go ahead and book. If I still had some doubts, I'd book it for one night, as far in advance of when I wanted the 3 month booking as possible- one would assume if someone is looking for a 3 month booking somewhere, they are planning ahead and have many factors to get in order, so making a brief exploratory trip would seem prudent.

I see your point. Thanks for posting.

David192
Level 10
Norwich, United Kingdom

@John7 

 

John, I had a look at your listing. I suggest you get a lot more photos. It's hard to get a sense of what your place is like with the photos you have on there now. I am not suprised that someone looking for a month-long stay wants to come see what the place is like, because it's not at all clear. Try to get as many wide-angle shots  of the interiors as you can.

Steve3385
Level 2
Vienna, VA

What you hosts are missing is that choosing where to live for several months is a highly personal decision and different than choosing a place to stay for several days. What you are asking long-term tenants to do is to commit to a rental agreement without seeing where the property is located and being able to assess the property's true condition. Would you commit to spending several months of your life in a property sight unseen? Photos and Q&A are great. But photos can be misleading and words are cheap and subjective. Neither one gives an accurate picture of the property and neither one is a substitute for an in-person visit.

Sometimes guests need to be in a certain place for an extended period. Co-op placements are a biggie. My longest stay was 8 months. The digs are much less important than the reason why. Price is a big factor. 

 

On Airbnb, hosts who offer extended stays are unusual. Whereas it's my preference. I make a terrible pen pal, and don't like extended negotiations. What you see is what you get.

 

A preview is a massive waste of time, unleash you have blocked off certain time/dates and bring them in en masse. They could be visiting a dozen places that day, and wasting everyone's time. You can bet money that they will haggle, and circumvent the fee. Cheap  cheap cheap.

 

A long booking is a few clicks on a keyboard. More often than not they are coming from a great distance. They can always ask Air for another place. 

If the photos are misleading then the contract has been violated and you submit photos to airbnb and have them cancel as misrepresentation.

 

 

The only time it's reasonable, perhaps, to request a viewing is if the listing is new had has no reviews.

 

Otherwise you can presume prior guests would have made clear any anomalies in the listing.