Long term stay for guest with no reviews? I'm new...

[Summer127]

I am a brand-new host post-Covid. I didn't expect the many inquiries about long term rentals. I've had a request from a new Airbnb guest, just joined this month. They have no reviews or photo. I'm concerned as I've heard of scams or other long-term problems since Covid hit.

If you would, the following is what I have figured to send to the guest before I approve the booking. What am I missing? Any other suggestions?

"Hello again. Thanks for your interest in our place. It is a wonderful spot. After looking things over, I see you just joined Airbnb. Would you mind updating your profile with a photo ID? Your reservation says 2 quests, so it would be you and ...? Also, for both of our safety, here are the additional rules that would need to be agreed upon in order to make a long-term say happen.

Long term stays: I normally wouldn’t require this, but as there are no reviews on your account, I will require the following:
References with phone numbers:
-Professional reference
-Personal reference
-Place of Employment
-Photo ID in Airbnb profile

In addition to listed house rules, Guests must agree to:
-2 week bookings, paid in full up front. We can reserve 2 weeks at a time. If you need to cancel, the current 2-week booking will be fully charged, but the following bookings will be refunded if cancelled 24 hours before the following booking date occurs.
-Weekly cleanings and restocking on Fridays.
-No other guests except those included on the reservation.
-Photo ID of both guests.

I think that would make the month-long stay a possibility by splitting it into two 2-week bookings. It will also allow you to cancel the 2nd booking without a problem in case you find a long term place sooner. If this is something you can agree to, I think we can get started on the reservation!"

Thanks in advance!

[Sarah977]

No reason to feel dumb. I'd say that all new hosts (and even ones with experience) have a learning curve they experience- sometimes with some harsh lesson, sometimes just with a "Wow, I guess I got off easy there, considering how that could have turned out".

There's no reason why you can't continue to communicate with a guest, just because you've already sent them an offer or a booking has been confirmed. Try not to make it sound like some inquisition, but there's nothing wrong with sending a message saying "Hi XX, I forgot to ask you last time we messaged .....". If it's about the reviews, just say you noticed she's been a member for 3 years, and you're curious about why she has no reviews.

A 64 day booking is a pretty risky thing for a new host to take on, but hopefully this will go alright for you. You say this guest told you all the other places she'd stayed- did you get in touch with any of the other hosts or homeowners to see if she was telling the truth? After all, she could have just looked at some map of places to stay in Big Bear and written down the names.

I'm not trying to make you paranoid, it's just that you shouldn't simply take prospective guests at their word, with nothing else to go on, because they are complete strangers to you.

Why do these folks want a booking at a ski resort for 64 days? Did she say? 

@Lisa5676

[Lisa5676]

@Sarah977
When she inquired at first she mentioned that she and her adult children would be coming to Mammoth for the two months.  They have never stayed for two months and wanted a place to be able to come with ease.  She has rented through VRBO and said she got the highest rating.  
Do you think it would be appropriate for me ask for those ratings?  The other places she stayed are legit but are more hotels in the area and she went through a booking reservation group.  I didn't reach out to them because I didn't think they could give me info about a guest.  

I am happy to do that now and I think you had some good language.  I am most bummed that she doesn't have a filled out profile.  However, she wasn't verified and I asked her to verify before I would accept her booking.

It sounds like she's  planning to come and go a bit during the time and pay for time she's not possibly even there.  How much do you think is appropriate for me to ask now...after the fact.

And, I already changed my length of stay to 20 days max.  I don't want to do this again.

[Lisa5676]

@Sarah977

I went back and looked at her messages.  I feel like she's legit...but I'd love a tad more info about her without breaking any rules or offending her.

This is her last message with me:

Hi Lisa. I completed the booking :). The booking showed for two adults, but it is actually for myself, my husband and two adult children as mentioned in my first text.
We are very excited and will treat your home with much love and care as if it were our own. Thank you again!!

She mentioned several times about treating our home the way she'd treat hers.  

Can you point me in the direction of where I should look for more help in the future before I take something like this on again.  

[Sarah977]

Has she changed the booking to 4? That needs to be done. 

Just read posts on this forum on a regular basis, Lisa. Other hosts are a wealth of information and you can learn a lot and avoid a lot of pitfalls by checking in here often. And use the search engine, too. For instance, I know there's a thread on "red flags" to watch out for when vetting guests.

And never feel stupid about asking any specific questions you have here- even if you get some terse or "not nice" replies, everyone has different writing styles and personalities, so never take it personally- almost everyone intends to be helpful.

@Lisa5676

[Robin4]

@Summer127 

I have just responded to another post about the issues that can crop up with hosting long term guests and part of that I will repeat here.....

For a start, a long term guest is a risky proposition and one I will not entertain. I will not rent to a guest for any more than 27 nights....period!

There are three main reasons for this....

1/......More than 3/4 of the people you actually know in your life you would not choose to have a long term relationship with! You would have differences of opinion, different ways of dealing with situations....personality clashes would ensue...People are fine but, in small doses!

Don't hook yourself to a long term agreement with someone you don't know, there is at least a 75% chance it will go off the rails!

2/.....Once a tenant is in your property for more than  28 days their legal rights alter considerably. STR and LTR rights vary, and an STR tenant can be extremely hard to shift after a month. Some hosts specialise in long term guests, understand the risks and set themselves up to handle issue that may arise but you need to be a very competent host to entertain a long term guest.

3/.....Airbnb will not guarantee that you will be paid beyond the first month, and when a guest asks to extend a booking beyond that, be aware that you are possibly on your own as far as future payment is concerned.

Now putting those three points together, long term renting presents an unacceptable risk to me...and I am an experienced host with over 400 stays to draw on behind me!  If someone wants to stay beyond 27 nights, tell them the property is not available!

@Summer127 we all had to start from somewhere and the fact that a guest is a new user or has no reviews is not an major indication that they would be an unacceptable guest. 

From my point of view, your list of requirements is comprehensive....and intimidating, and frankly would make me take my dollars elsewhere. I am not signing up for boot camp patrol, I want to have a holiday.

I think you need to put your requirements less formally.

I am, including the link to the other post, maybe you can get something out of that.

Cheers........Rob.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Mid-term-Guest-Issues/td-p/1349731  

[Sarah977]

@Summer127  I just had a look at your listing- it looks lovely, cozy and welcoming, and like you say in the listing, a perfect spot to relax and unwind in a natural setting. Hold out for guests who want that, you'll get plenty. No need to take on any long-term reservations.

I do have a couple suggestions- take out that part about providing blow-up beds for additional guests! You have listed the place for 2 guests, which is perfect for a new host starting out and the size of the place. You do not want to give guests the idea that they can just cram more people in the place, because if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile. In fact, it's a good idea to put in your house rules that no guests not listed on the reservation will be admitted to the property and that no visitors are allowed. Otherwise, you could find that they have family or friends in the area and are throwing an all-day, every day get-together, with 10 additional people using your hot water, soap, toilet paper, etc.

And I see that internet in your area is spotty, but it isn't a good idea to tell guests to text you. You should keep all communication with guests on the messaging platform so there is a record of exchanges, in case you need proof of something to show Airbnb. If a guest just needs to let you know that they're running late ad won't arrive util XX, that's fine, but mostly try to communicate through the platform.

And if you'd like your guests to provide a clear face photo, you should have one, too, that's only fair. It fosters trust and openness from both sides.

[Anna9170]

@Summer127  Start with a minimum of 2-3 nights stay to a maximum of 1 week. This will be optimal, so that you understand your requirements for the guest, so that the rental period does not strain the relationship, earn more good ratings, because guests who come for a few days are not so picky about the details of the listing...
Good luck, and don't worry! There will be guests with problems sooner or later, but by this time you will feel experienced and confident.😎

[Huma0]

@Anna9170 

Sorry I have to disagree a little bit. While you are probably right that it's much easier to deal with a bad guest who is only staying 2-3 nights or maximum one week than deal with a bad one who is supposed to stay much longer, saying guests that book for only a few days are not so picky about the listing...

Well, also maybe true but not for a positive reason. In my experience, if long-term guests are more picky about the details of the listing, that is a good thing because they are much more likely to actually READ the listing and pick somewhere which is a good fit for them.

Short-term guests are far more likely to book a listing where they have either read nothing (they just like the photos and it looks much nicer than anything else on offer in their budget) or they just ignore what you have listed because they think it doesn't apply to them. They are far more demanding in that they don't care what is listed or what the house rules are, they want you to make an exception for them because it's their holiday and that's far more important.

Check in and out times... who cares? You don't offer baggage drops/storage? Who cares? They want it, make an exception. Don't park in the neighbour's driveway? Well, that shouldn't apply to them. After all, they are just staying for a few days, so what does it matter? It never occurs to them that a constant stream of guests with this attitude, asking to be 'the exception' = a complete nightmare.

Of course, the majority of short-term guests are not like that, but I have had far more than I can count who are, whereas long-term guests very rarely take this position. They are much more likely to want to fit in with your guidelines and have a good rapport with you.

Saying guests only staying a few days are less picky in general is really not true in my experience. The pickiest guests I've had were always short term. Those are the ones that expect 5 star hotel facilities and services for a fraction of the cost + extras like laundry and check in/out whenever they choose for free, even though they wouldn't get this at a hotel. I've not had this attitude from long-term guests. They never treat the place like a hotel.

While I am not suggesting that long-term guests are for everyone, there seems to be so much hostility towards them here on the CC, but most of the hosts displaying this hostility either have no experience of  them or one bad experience which they seem to think applies to the majority.

I think part of the problem is that mostly hosts only post about long-term guests when something goes wrong, so you don't hear about the countless long-term stays that go smoothly.

I am not sure about you? Maybe you've had a string of awful long-term guests so you have a different perspective. My comments are only based on my own experience and, having hosted at least 50 long-term guests, I feel pretty confident in those opinions.

[Anna9170]

@Huma0Look, we have completely different experiences, you offer to rent a room in a shared house with you, I rent an entire apartment, and when I was a guest Manager, I also managed only entire objects. I banned IB for stays longer than 14 nights, for example.
The specifics of guests for a short period of time, 2-3 nights, is optimal for me, these people are not going to stand at the stove (only if it is not a family with children, but I refused to accept them), they came to see the local city and spend time mostly OUTSIDE the house. They don't care what kind of pots and pans you have, they don't waste your electricity, they go on excursions and cafes...))
Guests who book for a month, more or less, treat it almost like a long-term rental, and every little thing matters.
Again, maybe you are mood for a guest in a long period, you may be psychologically more comfortable when there is no carousel of new faces, given that you live there yourself.

[Huma0]

@Anna9170 

Yes, we clearly have very different experiences. I do wonder then if long-term guests are more of an issue in entire listings than in shared ones. I don't know. I have a limited amount of experience of Airbnbing an entire apartment, but I had no problem with long-term guests there either.

In my own home, I have hosted many long-term guests, but also hundreds of short-term ones. You are right that a lot of people come to see the city and are out and about most of the time. However, an equal number of them do spend an extraordinary amount of time at the stove, often leaving the kitchen a mess. I've had many, many short-term guests who rarely or never ate out. London is expensive and they want to take full advantage of my kitchen and the cheap supermarkets near by. Asian guests in particular are often suspicious of restaurants here. Some bring their own full sized rice cooker. One Indian couple who stayed a week cooked curries from scratch three times a day every day starting first thing in the morning.

Yes, my long-term guests do use the kitchen, but not as much. My longest guest stayed six months and barely entered it. She would microwave a ready meal maybe once a fortnight and only use one fork. A current guest who is staying two months used it briefly in the first week or two but again barely enters it now. Even though he is working from home, he goes to a café for lunch. You'd be amazed actually how much cleaning time has been reduced since I switched to long-term. If I was hosting families long-term, that might be a different matter, but my guests are solo travellers who are working or studying and have busy lives.

As for electricity, actually I have found my bills have gone down a lot since switching to long-term. The long-term guests are almost always conscientious about turning off lights etc, whereas short-term ones usually leave lights on all over the place (including when they go out and overnight), leaving the fridge door open, leaving the oven on, constantly wanting the heating turned up and then opening windows when it is on. I always wonder if they do this when they are home and paying the bills. 

[Anna9170]

@Huma0Ahahahha, about "I will arrive at 12" this is the first greeting in most bookings, although the check-in rule 15-21 is indicated in all possible points for reading...It doesn't matter for the length of stay))) But I can tell you for sure that people who book a shorter period of time are easier to relate to my clear NO ( @Ute42 - hi)) . They are set up for a short and bright vacation and do not want to be boring.👻

[Huma0]

@Anna9170 

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@Anna9170 wrote:

people who book a shorter period of time are easier to relate to my clear NO ( @Ute42 - hi)) . They are set up for a short and bright vacation and do not want to be boring.👻

---

Well, I wish that was true in my case, but my experience has been the opposite. I had so many problems regarding check in when I hosted short-term. I started this thread about it: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/How-can-I-stop-guests-ignoring-the-check-in-time/m-p/304...

There was that and numerous other things specified on the listing or house rules that they ignored. I've never had any problems with long-term guests regarding check in time. Of course, some do ask if they can come early, but they take no for an answer, and the first time. They never just pitch up when they feel like it. If they are running late, they let me know. They don't go AWOL for hours not responding to messages etc.

I don't know. Maybe I have been lucky with my long-term guests or maybe my listing attracts a certain kind of person. I don't accept families and all of the long-termers have been solo travellers rather than couples or pairs, and that's how I like it.

People who are on holiday often put their own convenience first. I guess that's natural. People who come to stay here for work or study want to have a good relationship with their host, a happy and comfortable atmosphere and they definitely don't want to risk being kicked out!

[Huma0]

Oh, and the other thing is damages. I've had lots and lots of small damages over the years but, now that I think about it, almost all of them were caused by short-term guests. 

Of course, long-term guests sometimes break something, but if a guest staying two months breaks one thing, I can guarantee that back to back stays of 2-3 days over the course of those two months would result in closer to 10-12 similar breakages. I've only had one long-term guest break something and not admit to it, but that would happen frequently with short-term guests, I'd say 9 out of 10 times. I don't mean 9 out of 10 short-term guests break something but, of the ones who do, 9 out of 10 do not confess to it!

[Christena2]

Hi, did you end up hosting the person with no reviews or photo?  I have the same situation and am curious if it worked out for you.

[Gillian166]

@Christena2  this post is 2 years old....... the new forum "upgrade" has someone managed to bring a lot of old posts right to the top.