Qualifying a guest

[James939]

Hello all,

I have a guest that wants to book my place but they have no reviews or history of renting.  This person looks young and I am somewhat hesitant to proceed, what should I do?

[Jess78]

Run a quick background check.

[Bruna-and-Siana0]

Depends how long is the stay, which day of the week, if you rent only a room or is for the entire house, etc.

We have had several first timers. We usually ask them to tell us bit about themselves and what they do in the area. Also to update profile picture and of course be verified. In general if it's for 1-3 days and the provide all info we request, we accept the booking. We live in the apartment and we are in an area that most of times we get low manteinance business travelers. 

When in doubt, don't accept it. Trust your gut, if you feel you shouldn't accept the booking, don't do it.

[Rebecca181]

I take many first timers; however, I would likely not take a 'young' first timer - too risky.

[Vernon40]

HI There I am a new host and am being flooded with last minute booking requests, but then when I pre-approve their stay, they then come with all sorts of needs, exceptions, wanting to add a brother for a weekend and/or asking for my personal information so  that they can negotiate better pricing. I've also had a number of requests where they wanted to pay me directly... Obviously, this is NOT the type of guests I would prefer... How can I qualify the leads I get and if I don't accept them, how will that affect my ratings as a host? 

[Sarah977]

@Vernon40  Last minute inquiries and requests tend to be problematic. While there are legitimate reasons why someone would need a place last minute, they usually come from poor planners, those who expect instant gratification, people who got booted out of their last place, those who want to throw a party, etc. Those will also be the types not to have bothered to read through your listing  info.

Try setting advance notice to 3 days and see if the dodgy requests lessen.

Also, your very scanty listing description needs work. Take a look at other hosts' listing info and how hosts write up their descriptions. I get no sense of what you are offering beyond it being a private room.

Fill out all the fields- The Space (that is where you are meant  to describe the guest quarters, and what common areas they have acccess to), "Guest Access", Other things to note". 

And it is important with a private room listing to make the living situation clear. Who are guests sharing the home with? Only you? You and other guests? Do guests have kitchen access? Do they share a bathroom? 

It is also important with a private room listing to attract the type of guests who will be a good fit for you and your lifestyle. If a home-share host goes to bed at 10 and has to get up 7 to get ready for work, you don't want guests who come home late and bang around in the kitchen and bathroom at 2 am.

If you work from home, you don't want guests who hang around the house all day, talking loudly on the phone, playing noisy video games, etc.

Give a brief overview of your daily life and who your place would be a good choice for. 

You also need to remove the "Shared other" bedroom from your photo galleries. Each of your listings is for one private bedroom. Only picture the bedroom that the listing corresponds to. 

[Nanxing0]

I get first time guest requests at all times. I don't have exact number but my feeling is that at least 1/3-1/2 of my guests are first timers. My experience is that the problem hinges on the communication, not their age. Usually, if a guest sends in a request with good explanation of their intentions and plans then it's a green flag with no brainer -- I never had any issue with this type of guests. I would consider it a yellow flag if the guest does not say anything, but I would ask them politely of the reason for the booking and plan, and ask them to verify the account if it's not. You can easily find out how likely the guest is going to be good from the way they communicate.

There are some signs of red flags. For example a guest from local wants to book for a "local getaway" or something. Or someone who asks a lot of questions while they should find the answers in the descriptions, etc.