Un rated guests - how do you decide?

[Toni3311]

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Hi there everyone - new to hosting and wondering what rule of thumb you use to assess if to host people who just joined Airbnb, have no rating and no info.?

[Ray107]

Another method is to check each one in and have them sign the Arrival Inspection Contract. This gets rid of 99% of the stupid and dishonest guests arguments to Airbnb. I've been renting 20 years and I have seen it all.

[Fiona-and-Keith-and-Fami0]

I've been on hiatus for most of the year. Where does one find The (vs "an"?) Arrival Inspection Contract?

[Fiona-and-Keith-and-Fami0]

There used to be an option where you could choose to only receive requests/inquiries from guests who have already received positive reviews. Is this no longer an option?

[Donna240]

When someone requests a booking with no reviews I do my normal thing of asking them to read house rules and get back to me within a few hours, if they agree to them, so I can accept their booking. I ask whatever questions seem appropriate, depending on what they tell me in their request. Then I mention that some hosts decline requests from guests with no reviews, so I am planning on writing one for them, so they won't have that trouble in the future....sneaky, but it keeps them on their toes. <]:O) 

[Donata12]

I have a preset message that I send to all no reviews guests. 

“””

Hello ....... and thanks for your interest in our condo for your visit to Toronto!

It looks like you have never before rented with Airbnb and we want to make sure that our place is right for you. Our house rules are pretty strict and we would like to make sure you have read them and that this accommodation suits your needs. We believe that everybody should get a chance to experience Airbnb and we hope you don’t mind us asking a few questions to make sure we are a good fit.
Could you please tell us more about your party? Who will be joining you on this trip and ages?
What is the purpose for your visit?
We strongly invite you read our house rules again as well as our Building Security Undertaking contract that each guest is required to fill, accept and sign to be granted access to the building.
We look forward to hearing back from you and thank you!

Cheers
Your Toronto Hosts

””””

have hosted a few and never had a problem. 

[Jo13]

@Donata12 

Hello Donata,

Thank you for sharing your template here, it's tremendously helpful!

Cheers,

Jo

[Laura2592]

I am stealing this! Great way to put things. Thank you for sharing. 

[Katherine347]

I have instant book but sometimes I am sent a request to approve. I have no criteria to decline unless the space is unavailable and I forgot to block it. Even if I ask many questions I don't know how to decide they are too risky. I've had many great guests but lately a few bad ones. Other than give them a bad review what can I do when they violate house rule of no smoking? Charge them extra? 

[Laura2592]

@Katherine347  yes I am probably not doing this the right way as I have only ever rejected one guest who had no reviews and that was because he wanted to have a bridal party of 16 people with a dog getting ready for a wedding at my cottage that sleeps 4 and then rotate the lineup of who was staying on different nights. Just can't accommodate that and I could see my cleaning adventure after such an event. Reviews are fairly useless for guests unless hosts are super honest and most are not. They don;t describe annoyances like little kids leaving jelly all over the espresso machine or every sheet, towel and blanket being dirtied in a 48 hour stay. It has to be really egregious for most hosts to leave a bad review, so the "fair" guest segment that you really might not want rarely stands out. 

Usually guests will volunteer why they are staying. I have not had issues with local folks either as we live in an area that rapidly goes from urban to rural and lots of people "down the road" want some peace and quiet. I think the fact that I limit my stays to a week or less really prevents a lot of shenanigans. And my cottage is truly not big enough or desirably located enough to be a party destination. 

The fact is that no matter what, those who want to deceive will find a way to do it. If I had a home share I would probably be a lot more paranoid about accepting a stranger without an endorsement. TBH though, the fantastic guests I have had were not reviewed better than the so so or even bad guests I have had. So no review doesn't mean much.