Hi @Lan1 , All. I'm a fellow Orinda-based Superhost. We have a small, 1-bedroom apartment over our garage, that sleeps 4. The majority of our guests have been amazing. I was resistant to Instant Book for a long time - I like to know exactly who's going to be here, and for what reason. This past winter, our slow period, I gave it a try and there was an immediate uptick in bookings. However, the quality of guest was poor. No longer were people leaving the apartment clean and organized. They invited unwelcome guests.. Parties (although small), smoking... The list goes on. I had to increase my cleaning fee and the nightly rate, and doubled our security deposit.
And now, with Open Homes, the scammers have been ruthless! A half dozen (presumed) bogus requests in the past week alone, from the fires.
I have since turned IB off, because frankly, it's more work and more risk, and more damage/disrespect. We are on the fence about delisting (even before this situation ½ mile away) and having a long-term rental, instead.
But, @Lan1 , to your point - if you have a guest who wants to party, there's no reasonable way to get them out. They don't reply (or deny), and retaliate with a huge mess or worse.