Please, any advice on letting our fully furnished house for 2 months this summer holidays?

[Jacky9]

It is full of books, art work, antique furniture, new off white wool carpet etc. Does one ask high rent or moderate with bond? Thank you.

[Ann-and-Tim0]

Personally I would remove anything you would hate to lose.  And do a high bond. Here on the gulf coast it is equal to what you would have to pay out of pocket for your insurance deductible.

[David126]

Sounds a very high risk situation, only you can decide if the potential reward makes it worthwhile.

Insurance, well does it cover short term rentals and then appreciate that Insurance does not cover every eventuality, so the excess is a factor but not the only one. Stuff that walks would be one of my concerns.

[James1]

I don't think pricing is what you need to focus on first. You are listing a whole house, what I presume is a very nice place with a lot of expensive and cherised stuff in it. You should think over your rules and your screening very carefully before you even start to think about price and making you listing 'Live'. Otherwise, new listings are the target for big drunken parties and guests that abuse your space. You are anxious to get reviews and they are looking for an easy, cheap target. Slow down and start off very, very carefully. For starters follow my big three red flags:

No Discounts

No locals

No last minute or one night bookings

Good luck and be careful

[Scott80]

I agree with everyone else, ask yourself if a guest took all of the possesions in the house but left you with $10,000 in cash would you be OK with it? If the answer is yes definately AirBnB it. If no I would not risk it. because it is not worth the risk and if something is damaged or stolen the BEST case scenario is fair market value.

BTW: If someone emptied my AirBnB and left me $10,000 in cash I'd be ectatic! 🙂

[Karyo0]

If the loss/damage of any of your belongings would devestate you then remove said items from listing or do not have guests stay! It is a fact the accidents happen and people are less careful if they do not own the possesions . My gut feeling is to advise you not to rent this property on airbnb

[Lisa293]

@Jacky9

I would be looking for an online booking site that allows you to take an actual security deposit.  Airbnb controls this and that is why it is considered one of the riskier online agents.  You must apply to airbnb to get a payout.

For this type of one off long term holiday let you may even like to approach some of your local real estate agents if they do holiday lets.  Agents here seem to build up a repeat pool of guests so you may feel more confident knowing that the guest may be known to the agency.  The real estate agent is then your representative while you are gone as a contact for the guests and they can also keep an eye on the place. 

You may even like to request an inspection 48 hours after arrival and send in cleaners once a week.  Some folks have mentioned creating a signed agreement for longer term bookings.  

I would also really recommend that you do not rent this property out through airbnb - the risk factor is way to high for your private residence / cherished home.

[Jacky9]

Thank you very much Lisa. This makes big sense. I 'd woken this morning realising that —of course! — I wouldn't get the rent or bond before we left to go overseas. The whole point of renting being to make money to support the trip. Thanks again for going to the trouble to give excellent advice. Warm wishes. Jacqueline

[Andrea9]

@Jacky9

You've been given very sound advice on this.

Since the next community thread under your's is this one, you might get a flavor of what can sometimes happen. Not that I want to scare you, though:

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/New-Hosts/Just-had-guests-hold-illegal-rave/m-p/242240#U242240

From being a regular on the forum and reading multiple times how often ABB favors guests and leaves hosts to cover their losses, I wouldn't rent my cherishes home through ABB. Better choose a responsible realtor or organization experienced in temporary rentals.

[Lisa293]

@Jacky9

Last bit of advice,  you are right to be getting your property ready to list now.  The first 2 weeks in January are the biggest booking period of the year so if you can have it bookable by then it may serve you well.  

We also like Stayz as we can ask for a credit card swipe or collect an actual security deposit that goes into your bank account that you return after the final inspection.   We generally ask for a 50%  deposit immediately and the balance on arrival or you can ask for the balance + security deposit 30 days prior to arrival.  Be sure you carefully consider your cancellation policy and house rules. This is a very low risk site and we have a good class of guests from them.

There is something to be said for going away with a greater peace of mind too.  Glad you decided that way.  Lisa