We are in South Africa. We will be giving total strangers our keys and remotes

[Kathy211]

We will be giving total strangers the keys and remotes to our fully furnished home.  What happens if they steal everything in the house?

[David126]

@Kathy211

You would contact the Police and your Insurer.

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

@Kathy211 That is certainly the risk of renting your home on a public platform. Presumably you have insurance to protect your possessions. 

[Kathy211]

Yes we have changed our insurance to cover guest houses/bnbs who also give out keys and remotes to their guests.  Thank you for your input

[Helen3]

1. Make sure you have CCTV and monitor your listing

2. Have a local manager if you aren't on site to manage your listing

3. Remove valuables/lock away

4. Make sure you only take guests with photo ID and that you understand why they are travelling and chose your listing.

5. Make sure you have home insurance for STR

6. If you are worried about keys install an electronic check in system

[Edwin57]

I guess Airbnb is not for you if you have fear why become a host 

[Kathy211]

You obviously don't live in South Africa.  Crime and criminals are more the rule than the exception and we do have to be more vigilant than other first world countries. The schemes that people come up with are wide and varied and very imaginative!

[Kelly149]

@Kathy211 You absolutely may ask for ID from every guest coming to your home. Just disclose this in your rules and in your initial discussions. Would also be wise to have video surveillance (also disclose this) and then also have people/person who are nearby and able to quickly intervene if there is a problem. 

[Matthew285]

@Kathy211, yes! This is exactly the normal reaction and concern for new hosts.

It is one of the big reasons that guests are only supposed to book for themselves and provide verified ID. That way if something is damaged (or, oops, they stole everything in the home), you know who did it.

While criminals are not especially bright, it can't be an especially good plan for a thief to provide their detailed personal information before stealing a bunch of stuff.

[Kathy211]

Thanks Matthew.  On Airbnb South Africa one can only ask for ID verification if you are on "Instant Book" and I do not want to be on Instant Book!

[Matthew285]

@Kathy211, I did not know that about the verified ID in South Africa.

It is good that you are concerned and thinking about the issues of security and safety. Your attention to these things are your main defense against the bad people.

I understand your feelings about Instant Booking; we felt the same way. We did eventually decide to use Instant Booking because of this line of reasoning:

1. AirBnB gives hosts all kinds of bonuses/benefits for using Instant Booking (since they are really pushing it)

2. If I did not use Instant Booking, I'm honestly not sure what I would look for in a guest profile to tell the good people from the bad.

3. Since I probably would accept everyone who had verified ID and positive host recommendations anyway, I'm not really changing anything by turning on Instant Booking.

AirBnB also claims you can cancel without penalty if you use Instant Booking (under the right circumstances). There is a healthy debate about the truthfulness of this, but that is what AirBnB consistently says.

Do you live far away from your listing? I feel the things that keeps us the most safe is that we are in the same building as our listing, so if anything funny were to start, we would know almost right away.

The thing that will keep you the most safe is you: your vigilance and attention. Are you able to keep an eye on your property?

[David126]

Personally I would not use AirBnB for whole property listings as I would want a security deposit.

[Matthew285]

@David126, your observation is a good one. I think a lot of people don't realize that AirBnB's "Security Deposit" isn't a real security deposit at all.

And when you are not on site (such as for a whole property listing), that's when strange things can happen.

[Fred13]

@Matthew285I been thinking of adding one, but it is not really a 'security deposit' per se?

[Susan666]

In what way is the security deposit NOT a security deposit? I'm confused!

Thanks.