Monthly rental to guest with no reviews

[Maria14475]

Hello,

I am new to hosting. I have someone who has requested to rent my place for 35 nights, they don't have any reviews. They have just joined Airbnb. Should I accept this or decline? Does anyone have advice for this situation?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Maria14475 When does a guest become a tenant in your country? That aside as a new host you really need lots of short stays to get your review numbers up and improve on your 4.0 score.

[Laura2592]

@Maria14475 I would decline for several reasons:

1. Stays over 30 days probably make you a landlord without a lease. You could get a squatter. 

2. Longer stays may result in lack of payment. A guest complaining may hold up your pay out and ABB will not release. I think only the first 15 days are guaranteed but others who do long term can chime in

3. The guest is an unknown quantity with no reviews. If you are a new host you may be targeted by scam guests because they will hold you hostage for those first few reviews.

I would say "thanks for your interest but I am not accepting long term stays at this time." And set your nightly stay length to 2 weeks or less. Long term stays on ABB are incredibly risky. 

ETA-- I see you ARE a new host. Yeah,  just take a hard pass on this one. And it might not be a bad idea to ask for a listing critique in the New to Hosting forum. There are some definite tips and things I see right away that could really take your place to the next level. Its cute!

[Brian2036]

@Maria14475 

I don’t know precisely why, but 35 days seems to be a magic number for guests who are planning to try to cheat a host.

It happened to me and I have seen posts from other hosts who experienced the same thing.

It’s related to your discount policy.

DO NOT accept Airbnb’s recommendations!

Certain opportunists are always trolling for new hosts with big discounts. They will book for 35 days, never intending to stay that long, invent an excuse to leave early, and then demand a refund for unused days at the daily rate.

Sometimes they get it.