How do you maintain a good relationship with neighbours?

Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

How do you maintain a good relationship with neighbours?

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Hey everyone,

 

I think several hosts agree that maintaining a healthy relationship with neighbours can be vital to hosting. Having a supportive community who are on board with having Airbnb guests in the area might be just as important as having a clear listing description.

 

It’d be great to hear about your experience dealing with neighbours to find out what are the best practices when it comes to being considerate of them and making sure you’ve got their support.

 

I’ve seen CC members talking about different approaches such as enforcing house rules to keep guests from disturbing the community and always being available to neighbours in case they need to report something.

 

Have you ever had any hosting issues involving neighbours? Is there anything you do to make sure neighbours are on your side? 

 

Thanks,

Liv

 

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39 Replies 39
Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

One way I look at the neighbour situation, is that the comings & goings of my paying guests is often no more than the comings & goings of neighbours' friends & family....... We all have visitors, it's just that mine are paying guests, not family. (A concept which can be hard to understand in an area with very few incomers/outsiders, where people who are born here never leave, where housing is almost the cheapest in the country, and house sharing with people outside your family is almost unheard of...) 

M199
Level 10
South Bruce Peninsula, Canada

@Liv 

 

Thaks Liv

 

No, so far I've been lucky with our guests, but we do keep it limited to four maximum and gear towards families.  Our neighbor hasn't needed to call, but makes no bones about the fact he will call us at the slightest hint of trouble.  I think he gets a bit lonely being locked down, so he will make a point of trying to make friends with guests.  He even invited guests to come over to his place to look at his 1909 Ford Model A. He always has an "at my hotel..." story for me.

J-Renato0
Level 10
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Usually I do not talk specifically about Airbnb with any neighbour. In general, it is not necessary if there is not issues.

 

To select good guests, I have my house rules that are short and to the point.
Usually the guests that agree with this type of house rules does not bother neighbours. It works on 99,9% of the cases 🙂

 

"Parties not allowed.
It may not exceed the number of people stipulated at the time of booking.
The property can not be used for illegal activity.
It is not allowed to bring strangers into the building or overnight guests."

 

I think a listing will succeed only if you do not have troublemakers as guests.

 

I know some neighbours of my listings by chance. I always say a friendly hello to them and I get on well with them.

@Liv 

We live in an apartment complex and our building alone has about 75 units - we are friendly with only a handful of neighbors (we don't know most of them) but Henry and I made a point of maintaining a very good relationship with the management office employees and the guards at our main gate.

 

Many are aware that we do homestay and host foreigner guests - seeing a foreigner in our residential complex is very rare so it's something people notice. They don't necessarily know that we are Airbnb hosts and we usually don't mention Airbnb when someone asks about our hosting because in Korea, unfortunately, Airbnb is associated with "illegal hosting". But since most of our guests have been exchange students, we simply say that we are homestay hosts for foreign exchange students - and the reaction is usually a mix of surprise (you let strangers sleep in your home) + awe (you LIVE with foreigners) + envy (of our English skills). 

 

In our house rules, we have the usual rules about quiet time, being mindful of noise that could disturb neighbors, and a reminder not to STOMP (and we provide padded slippers) as any apartment would have. 

Dale711
Level 10
Paris, France

Salut @Liv ,  


As not suppressing, in France neighbors do ‘hate’ Airbnb host.

Nevertheless, money and honesty do solve everything. 


We proposed the same floor neighbors and guardians  join as a go host.

 
We open up to neighbors that we are the Airbnb host.
Invited the neighbors to homes, good wine, tasty home made oven baked bread and  different cheese varieties definitely in the  evening menu.

“ Petit ” commission fee and gift offer to them times to times.
In exchange to help to open the door and do the apartment tour with the guest during we’re in absence. Also keep on  eyes for any incident happened.

 

We’re glad that the few properties we has the neighbors are understanding. And still working on with the unfriendly neighbors....lol.     

 

  

Melodie-And-John0
Level 10
Munnsville, NY

@Liv , Bearpath Lodging's neighborhood has far more four legged and winged residents than two leggers!   We know most of the folks that live within 1/8 mile at least by wave or nod at most a beer or a cup of Joe, people around here are pretty relaxed and chilled.  "Looks good from my house" means we have lots of space between us to buffer our lives from each other, not much nosey neighbor stuff going on but almost always helpful neighbors when you need it (our fire department and rescue are all volunteers from our town).  We're very dependent on each other to look out for each other cause the police or hospital are at least 15 minutes away at best, an hour at worst.    Its not uncommon to hear a gunshot or 5 from nearly any direction on the compass and even right next-door but that only means one less varmint or a neighbor who just went to the outdoor grocery store.  More neighborhood problems are solved by a phone call or friendly visit than a court or village office, few rules mean lots of freedom to do what we feel is right without having to ask permission.  Life in the boonies is not always perfect but its always better than good and thats good enough for most of us.   Stay well, JR  

Laura4663
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

thanks @Helen350 for showing me this.

 

Im about to put my place on airbnb, but since using it more often and allowing friends to stay, the new neighbors (its their second home and they found out they didnt own the drive) hey have been increasingly difficult. Im worried they will disturb guests...i hope not, but what would be the best actions? would bad reviews help a legal route?

 

My initial thread  https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/neighbors-bothering-guests-not-guests-bothering-neighbors/m...

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Liv My neighbours have generally been great: I've never had a problem with them complaining about the Airbnb, but it's also a very low key apartment that has never caused any disturbances or parking issues. 

 

However... the neighbour on one side subdivided their lot, and an oversized and ugly home is being built very close to the property line. It's caused issues with noise and construction vehicles being parked everywhere. It's really annoying, and the new people moving in have generally been pretty crappy about it. It's really unfortunate. I hope it improves once they move in, but I fear it will not. I also don't think they're going to be thrilled to find out that the family they purchaed the lot from (who still live there) have regular domesic disturbances and parties, which they will now have a front-row seat to observe. On the plus side for me, their house is now a barrier between the old neighbours and the Airbnb. 

 

Hey ho! Difficult to choose your neighbours. 

Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Some neighbours are difficult to deal with  ;>)

Almost shot and killed Airbnb guest

 

Deidre1
Level 4
Nashville, TN

I'm friendly with them. I chat with them and give them my name and phone number so they can text me if there's ever a problem. If there's ever an issue with something my neighbor has done, I give them the benefit of the doubt, and I seek to understand before jumping to conclusions. I exercise patience and restraint in the hopes they'll do the same with me.

I don't allow guests to have parties or exceed the number of occupants. I use Nest cameras and NoiseAware to insure guests are not disruptive, rude, or overly noisy. 

I make sure my properties and their outdoor areas look tidy and I take time to clean up garbage and debris in the yard, courtyard, or alley.

In short, I am a good neighbor and it helps my neighbors be good neighbors to me.