Unfriendly neighbor that does not like Airbnb Idea

[Mimi35]

I've been an Airbnb host for about a year, it's been going well so far and recently we've added a new and larger property in the same neighborhood.

The location of the newer house is in cul-de-sac, where pretty much you will see all your surrouding neighbors. There's one neighbor in particular that seem to be declared clearly, they don't like us having an airbnb in the neighborhood. She purposely knocked at our door when we were at the house, told us that she is an attorney, and stated the whole surrounding neighborhood do not like the idea our Airbnb house.

My husband was trying to explain that we won't allow any events or any parties in our property that will disturb the neighbors, and so far we've been pretty fortunate that all of our former guests were respectful to our rules.

But of course that does not matter to her, she was still adament to her opinion.

Any tips you guys can share to deal with this type of neighbor?

Our airbnb has been going so well, we would like to keep things peacefully in between us and the neighbors.

We really appreciate any inputs, thanks so much!!

MJ

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Mimi35 The best way to deal with such neighbors is to keep calm and carry on hosting.You can do whatever you want with your property this is your business and nobody has the right to tell you what to do if there were no crime or any illegal activities.Next time do not open the door to such neighbor and do not listen to them. I will finish this post by writing a good old expression to describe your neighbors, this has probably originated from your state: All hat and no cattle 🙂

[Mimi35]

 @Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 Thank you, I have to pep talk myself to keep calm, but totally agree that is the right thing to do!

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Mimi35 The pleasure is all mine!

[Ringo4]

Ironic you said “this is your business”. What gives this “business” the right to operate in a neighborhood? AirBNB alleged lawyers? Should we all open car repair and coffee shops next.

If the neighbors who CHOOSE to live their and raise their families don’t want it, it should go. When are the rights of residents going to overcome the greed of this stupidity we have allowed to infest our once peaceful neighborhoods.

Soon, people are fed up.

[Cyrus4]

This is insidious greedy advice. Airbnbs do not belong in family neighborhoods. I own Airbnbs, they are all in second home/vacation rental markets where they do not become negative externalities on families in the neighborhood or take family homes off a market when there's a housing crisis.

Neighbors can act unfriendly toward your guests and you will start getting bad reviews and eventually you won't get bookings anymore. Or if you're lucky the neighbors won't realize this tactic will work and you will profit at the expense of unhappy neighbors. Hope the guilt is worth it.

[Fred13]

   Yes, make sure you give her zero reason to fabricate a complain, and secondly treat her cordially but as if she is talking to a wall in which nothing sticks to it and without any holes. She sounds aggressive by nature, so beware of her potential abuse, there should be a limit. She subconciously is mining for an 'excuse' to petition the 'neighborhood', without anything concrete she will continually look like the ogre.

   And be specially friendly to your other neighbors, helps to isolate her.

[Mimi35]

Thanks for great advices, Fred! Great terminology too! Appreciate your inputs!!

[Kelly149]

@Mimi35 it would be odd for any modern neighborhood with an HOA to allow STR, so in that sense if you are violating any city ordinances or any of the terms of your HOA then this neighbor likely does have the ability to get you shut down. However, if your listing is truly legal then as the others have said, for now you smile and carry on. You may at some point in the future have to warn guests about a cranky neighbor and yes, you should likely be looking for allies in some of the other neighbors

[Mimi35]

Our neighborhood is actually pretty old, at least about 35 year-old. So there's no HOA existed on this neighborhood. We did renovated the house after we bought the house.

And yes, of course we've complied with all of the rules and the city ordinances from our current city.

But we do worried at one point, we'll have to warn our guests about our cranky neighbor, hopefully we don't get to that point

Thanks so much for your inputs, Kelly!!

[Helen-And-Mario0]

I have a tenant in my fourplex building complaints that we have short term guests. He constantly question us who is there and he doesn’t like strangers coming in and out of the building. He thought he has more right than us since he lives there for now 6 months, I’m so annoyed by his behavior but do not want to upset him, fearing that he is going to disturb our guests.

[Sarah977]

How about this one- I have an unfriendly neighbor right across the road who is also an airbnb host. She bought the property 4 years ago when I had already been living here for 6 years. Myself and the neighbors on the other sides of her all had dogs when she moved here. She proceeded to build an open air building, which she calls a tree house in the jungle, even though it's not a tree house, but just a rustic building, and it's not in the jungle- it's in a rural, tropical area with residencial homes. She rents this out on airbnb, I can hear everything her guests say (I can also hear everything she says, she's really loud) and I can even hear her guests having sex. She has the audacity to come over and demand that I keep my dog from barking ( the dog is not a neurotic barker- she barks for a few minutes when someone walks by or a car goes by, neither of which is often, because I live almost at the end of a rural road- the dog barks maybe a total of 8 minutes a day, in one minute bursts) because it "disturbs her guests". So, she buys property where all of the neighbors have dogs (the other dogs bark as well) builds an open air building to rent out where we can all hear everything her guests do or say, then wants all her neighbors to keep their dogs quiet so we don't disturb her guests.

[Liliana167]

Well, At least  i’m not alone on this .  I recently joined a Airbnb about a couple months ago and I have been doing extremely well, I’ve gotten very good reviews everybody loves my place but I to have a cranky neighbor. She has how many complained that my renters “  rolled the luggage on her part of their driveway and to tell them not to do that. So I think that’s the first step and she’s going to continue to look for some stuff so I’m on the lookout for more complaints. She has been a cranky neighbor for all the 25 years that I’ve lived here looking for every little stupid thing to complain about . Once she  she called the city because I haven’t mowed my lawn in a month .  We all have these kind a neighbors I think we just have to put up with them 

[Eugene165]

No matter how careful you pick your renters and set limits, having increased traffic will cause inconvenience and disruption to the neighbors. 

You have a property in a neighborhood, not in an isolated area, your next door neighbors are affected by your business. You may think you have done all the right things to minimize disruption to your neighbors, but obviously it was inadequate. 

[Kelly1708]

same dilemma here. the best thing to do is go on with your day because these neighbors sound horrible and would not miss any chance to share any of their opinions. They chose to move there and it’s not our responsibility to keep them happy. Our guests are our priority and we want to make sure they have a good experience, so the best thing to do is just ignore. Neighbors are so annoying especially when they’re Karen’s. We follow the protocols and rules and yet they still have something to say.. maybe they’re just sad about their life and need something to pick at.