Hosting a first time Airbnb Guest

[Stella116]

Hello,  this is my first conversation with the community.

I have had a request for a 28 night stay and it would be their first time as an Airbnb guest.

Would Airbnb request an ID?  I can see they have an ID photo which is a group photo so not sure who would be the guest.  email and phone number have a tick so I think this means they are confirmed by Airbnb.

What is my safeguard if I have no reviews to go on or ID eg drivers licence.

Cheers Stella

[Tyrone6]

Way too long of a booking 

Make sure they have Work or Plans for there days, or they could just be there constantly in your place... it's very annoying 

Settings rules for the house is #1

Best of luck 

[Stella116]

Thank you so much for responding Tyrone.

The Airbnb space is a separate fully self contained flat downstairs where I live so a long stay is ok.

I will update the house rules to reflect some advice received in this forum.

Stella

[Linda108]

I see that you have a lovely apartment, @Stella116, with  8 very positive reviews.  Is this your first long term guest?  Have you read the Air BNB long term policies about payment and cancellation?  Might be useful if you haven't done so.  BTW verified by Air BNB does not mean that a government ID is required (as you do not have government ID on your profile), so if you want that, you can ask for it at the time of check in.  I have it as a requirement of Instant Booking.

Also, you can ask the booking guest to upload a single profile picture and make sure your house rules include, "only registered guests are permitted."  Is the plan for several different guests to share the apartment over the month?  Is that okay with you?  The booking guest can "invite" the other guests who will receive a link to your profile.  Good luck!!

[Stella116]

Hi Linda,

Thank you so much for your reply and contribution.

Yes this is my first long term guest.

I will go and read the Airbnb long term policies as I had not known about this.

I shall add Government ID on my profile.

I have not done instant booking as I require the capacity to be able to liaise before approving or declining.

Upload a single profile pic - will do.

And yes add only registered guested are permitted.

He has said that only he and his girlfriend will be coming.

Great to learn these bits and what a wonderful platform here to liaise with well experienced fellow Airbnb Hosts.

[Rebecca181]

@Stella116 Welcome to the community! Is your rental governed by any laws / ordinances that could result in your guest being protected from eviction if they do not leave on the agreed up on day? If so, I would not take them. Next: If it were me, I would need the primary renter to have a Government-issued photo ID uploaded with Airbnb, or sent to me on the Airbnb messaging system. I would also need the names and ages of anyone else residing overnight in the Home - Also, any day visitors they plan on receiving. I would need to arrange something to ensure home is cleaned and maintained well during their stay, so I would want to visit it personally during this time, or have a cleaning person going in to do this for me and be my 'eyes' and 'ears'. As for myself, I do not accept stays beyond 26 days, and I don't encourage them in general; however, I live on the same property so I am able to monitor things; if this wasn't the case, I would not accept stays over 2 weeks, myself, for many reasons.

[Stella116]

Hi Rebecca - thank you so  much for replying.  This is all great advice.

I will go and find where I can limit the amount of days for staying and change it to 26.

I also am the owner occupier who lives upstairs and my flat is downstairs, so I can keep an eye on things.

I will ask more questions.

Do you know if the Government ID is something they can initiate to upload on Airbnb?

It says that Airbnb have confirmed an email and phone number but that just in this case does not seem enough.

I am inAustralia and they say they live in another state in Australia and want a month off after taking a cruise from their state to mine. 

I guess if I was to follow my awareness, I will be saying no to this one. 

Any other advice/suggestions welcome.

Stella

[Stella116]

Hi Rebecca - thank you so  much for replying.  This is all great advice.

I will go and find where I can limit the amount of days for staying and change it to 26.

I also am the owner occupier who lives upstairs and my flat is downstairs, so I can keep an eye on things.

I will ask more questions.

Do you know if the Government ID is something they can initiate to upload on Airbnb?

It says that Airbnb have confirmed an email and phone number but that just in this case does not seem enough.

I am inAustralia and they say they live in another state in Australia and want a month off after taking a cruise from their state to mine. 

I guess if I was to follow my awareness, I will be saying no to this one. 

Any other advice/suggestions welcome.

Stella

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Stella116

Welcome to hosting! I was exactly in your shoes last year 🙂 My 1st guest was also a first time ABB user, and it was for 4 months - she was an exchange student in Seoul for 1 semester. For me and Henry, the experience was great! We have found our niche and now focus on hosting/attracting a lot of exchange student guests who attend nearby universities.

The other hosts made some good suggestions, but I would like to add that for long-term guests, you will need some additional rules or considerations about clean up (trash disposal), amenities, bedding and towels. Not all people will show the same level of care towards furniture, appliances, and water/electricity usage. Also, guests staying longer periods might want to have friends or overnight guests stay over (would you be okay with your guest bringing complete strangers into your listing?) And my experience is that the listing will need more time for a turnover after a longer stay (We usually try to block at least 2~3 days) I usually have extended discusions with potential guests to get a feel for them and to make sure they understand my house rules clearly. Good luck~!

[Stella116]

Thank you Jessica and Henry for your response.  That sounds like it was a great experience.  In this instance I declined the reservation request as they did not respond after I requested a Government ID.

With gratitude, Stella

[Roberta2]

Hi @Stella116 

If it was me, and if I was renting out a separate unit, I would agree with the guest that you would pop in once a week (maybe with the excuse to supply fresh towels, for example, every Monday), just to check the status of the property. I prefer to wash a load of towels / bed linen but have the peace of mind that I could pop in and check things out. 🙂

But this needs to be agree with the guest first, as I would not enter the unit without their consent.

And yes, they need a little more guidance - where to put the rubbish, if you recycle, how to use the washing machine, etc.

My 2 cents !