How to transfer an airbnb admin account?

Jean-Luc105
Level 2
Bangkok, Thailand

How to transfer an airbnb admin account?

Hello! I'm about to purchase an apartment and the place was used as an Airbnb.

It has 140 reviews with an average of more than 4.9 and also got the status of Airbnb plus, the previous owner agrees to give me his account so I can continue the business and keep the reviews, plus he has bookings for the next 3 months.

How can I do that? Can I simply go to his admin account, change the name, bank account and change the password so the account belongs to me and his listing too?

Thanks for your answer.

13 Replies 13
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Jean-Luc105 

The excisting account is verified on the current owner. It can not be transferred to somebody else. Also the reviews are "earned" by current host.I fear you have to start from scratch with new account, listing etc.. Maybe you can act as a co-host temporary, if the current owner agrees.

Otherwise contact Airbnb, explain situation and maybe they can help you out:

Contact Airbnb - Community Guide [Updated]

Best regards,

Emiel.

 

@Jean-Luc105 you can change anything you want in your profile. That person can transfer it to your name. 

Philosophically, yes, there is something to be said about the account status being earned by the other host however if the new host is subpar, it will all change fast enough

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Jean-Luc105  If the seller told you he could transfer the account to you, he was either not telling you the truth, or he was uninformed. As Emiel said, you need to relist under your own account. Reviews stay with the account holder, and are not transferrable to the new home owner. 

I'm sure this is disappointing for you, but when someone sells a home they using for an Airbnb, they are just selling the home, not the business, and the buyer can choose to run it as an Airbnb or not.

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Jean-Luc105 transferring an Airbnb account to another person is a violation of Airbnb terms of service.

Mike1034
Level 10
Mountain View, CA

 

@Jean-Luc105 Just let you know that new host also has more advantages than existing hosts in terms of the return result of search. New listings often appear on the first page in the search. You can list your property in very short-term such as minimum one night or two nights stay. It may just take you one or two month to get the super host status if you manage the listings well. A friend of mine started in mid of August and by October 1, which is the date to evaluate super host, she has earned it. She has only one property with three bedrooms. She created three listings one for each room. 

 

You may ask the seller to see how many repeated guests. Normally it is not a very large percentage. The repeated guests are normally those who are business travelers. You don’t expect many repeated guests for sight seeing.

Naj5
Level 1
Paris, France

Following the topic

Jean-Luc105
Level 2
Bangkok, Thailand

Thanks everyone for your answer! I'm going to follow your advices. Anyway I have an account with already more than 20 reviews so it's not like starting from 0.

Susan17
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

What @Inna0 says is correct - hosts can, and do, change all sorts of details on their profiles, all the time. It's common practice amongst certain sectors of the "host base", particularly those with multiple accounts and multiple profiles. Indeed, Airbnb allows its own employees to do it all the time. Very often, when Airbnb staffers are travelling for work, they appear to switch profiles on a whim - I've seen many, many examples of  heavily-reviewed employee profiles, with the reviews referring to up to 10 different names as the "booking guest"

 

As for transferring an account to another person being a violation of Airbnb's terms of service - like so many of the other restrictive, oppressive policies and practices that regular hosts are bound by - this is also subject to the subclause "...unless authorized by Airbnb", which features liberally throughout the entire document. Which means of course, that the T&Cs are selectively applied, and exemptions are selectively granted, depending on who/what you are, and how much you're bringing to Airbnb's table. 

 

One rule for one, one rule for another. 

 

 

I have a related question.  What if the Airbnb is family owned and operated and the current administrator is no longer able to maintain the site and wants to transfer it to a sibling?  The Airbnb is still owned by the same people, just want to change administrator contact.

Michal21
Level 2
Seattle, WA

@Jim1885 - i am in a similar situation. My Mom and I have been hosting for our listing and she is the admin but I do most of the communication, etc. She no longer wants to be involved but cannot transfer the listing to me solely.  Even though I have been the co-host/primary on it. It seems I have to start new and lose reviews, etc.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Why don't you just keep the existing account @Michal21  with yourself as the main host

I can but then my Mom is always notified for the listing and she is the one being paid. We can change the payment on file, but since my Dad recently passed she doesn't want to be involved with the house.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

She can set it so she doesn't receive notifications from Airbnb. If you are happy to be paid and pay relevant taxes etc if that is what your mum has agreed ask her to change the payment and you can set her up as the cohost with appropriate split so for example her 80 per cent and her 20 per cent.

 

As it's her property and her income she may want to be able to check how it's running once she is feeling more herself.