Help.... new host feeling a bit overwhelmed

[Paul736]

Hello.... I just listed my condo yesterday and I have questions. 

First, I am requesting a seven day minimum stay. My first booking was an automatic one for only four days. What are my options here?

Second, I had someone inquire about use of my condo for the month of February but wanted more information on the golf options before booking. I reached out to the club and no one returned my call. In the meantime, I have another request for use of just one week in February. Is it rude to advise the second inquiry to wait until tomorrow for the first one to decide yes or no for use of the entire month?

[Girija0]

Paul, 

1. Recheck your listing to make sure the 7day minimum is in fact setup. When editing your listing, you will have to ‘save’ every section of the listing where you’ve made a change. In the current situation, you can always choose to accept/decline the 4 day booking. 

2. No, it’s not rude. In fact, I think it is proactive to inform the guest that you’ll respond after a day.

Good luck! 

Ash

[Paul736]

Thanks Girija. Hoping there is a “learning curve” here without too much pain.

[Matthew285]

@Paul736, you are doing a very wise thing in posting your questions here.

I couldn't imagine trying to figure out some of this stuff without the experienced hosts offering advice....

[Emiel1]

Hi,

If you set the options correct for 7 nights minimum stay, is is not possible for a guest to book 4 nights (The calender will not allow to choose a check-out date less then 7 nights after check-in). Are you sure it was set correct at time of booking ? BTW Looking at your calender it seems to be OK now.

You must respond to inquiries within a certain time limit, to keep your respons rate on an acceptable level.  If you have to check things first before you can answer a question, it's not rude to ask guests for some patience, without explaining all the details. But offcourse this potential guest can continue his search for accomodation and book elsewhere !

Best regards,Emiel

[Paul736]

Thanks Emiel. Hoping there is a “learning curve” here without too much pain.

[Mark26]

@Emiel1

> But offcourse this potential guest can continue his search for accomodation and book elsewhere !

Yeah, this potential guest can continue his search, but he's going to have a very difficult time finding anything in the area available during that time period.  I'd suspect that there is nothing else available, and the potential guest, just like this new host, is completely unaware of the absolute dearth of availability.  I'm already fielding inquiries about February 2019. 

@Paul736has a very desirous property.  He just doesn't quite recognize that yet.   Raise your rates Paul.

[Mark26]

@Paul736   You're not charging enough.  Also, your rates are too low. In fact, your rates are too low for any time of year.