Hi Ann, thank you 🙂 that made my day. I tried to make both Airbnbs as nice as possible, while also making choices that won’t be expensive to fix or replace if things get damaged.
Our home is situated in a weird little zone where short term rentals are not allowed. It’s oddly controlled by the California Coastal Commission, and many affected locals are trying to get it changed. Some folks nearby do short-term anyway, and the city seems to have a fairly relaxed attitude of not shutting them down unless anyone complains. But we decided to play by the rules and only do 30-day minimum stays.
What we discovered is a nice little niche, for business travelers, snowbirds, and folks visiting family nearby. Our smaller place is booked up until August, I guess maybe they prefer it to a long-stay hotel, it’s a much nicer option. So far we’ve had 3 guests staying anything from 30 to 90 days, with 2 more arriving next week for 2 month stays.
As regards wear and tear, all my guests have taken good care of everything except one. He did a lot of damage in his 66 day stay, which I’ve ended up having to eat for various reasons I won’t bore you with here. Let’s just say it was a good learning curve early on, about how to handle that kind of situation. I actually have another thread going asking advice about whether to give our guests an inventory, as you would with a normal 30-day lease.