What to do with my personal belongings?

Answered!
Danielle50
Level 2
Kirkland, WA

What to do with my personal belongings?

Hi, I have been hosting with AirBNB at our rental apartment for some time. 

 

I have now decided to rent out our home when we go on vacation. I am getting ready for my first guests at our home next month. I rent out my entire home (except one closet and the garage, which are locket).  This is the home where I normally live in with my husband and cat.  I am bringing the cat to a boarding facility and removing the litter box (and putting it in the garage).

I want to make it clear this is a home where I live in most of the year, that the master bedroom is normally lived in and will have a small amount of personal effects.

 

My question is, how much personal stuff/clothes in the closets, dressers, night stand drawers, bathroom drawers, etc should I clear out?  I can empty my dresser drawers into bins and put my clothes in the garage and I can also empty out all of the bathroom drawers and cabinets, but this will take a lot of time every time I have a guest. 

 

Would you remove files from your desk drawers? What is the expectation and what would you do?

The first guests are only staying 5 nights so not sure if this is necessary. I am hoping to get a long term renter in December for 15-30 nights of which I would probably make more room.

 

Any advice? Also photographs, etc, do you remove them?


Thanks!
Danielle

1 Best Answer
Leigh397
Level 2
Farragut, TN

Responding as a guest, we just completed a 6-night stay in a property that was so obviously someone’s residence I felt personally uncomfortable. My husband and I stayed in the master bedroom. When we travel we don’t live out of our suitcases, and when looking for drawer space to unpack our clothing and toiletries I found no empty drawers. I was shocked and even offended to find personal clothing and other items in every drawer including thong panties wadded up in the top dresser drawer and another pair of underwear among other things in my bedside table where I would’ve put my own belongings. 
There was one small empty closet space with upper & lower hanging areas but no tall place to hang a dress. 

Every drawer/cupboard in the bathroom contained the owner’s belongings that were randomly placed, containers that were left open, used, dirty, and so on. It was just gross. I don’t need to see an opened box of hair color, reading glasses and a used toothbrush by the sink, and 7 partial bottles of shampoo in the shower. 

In the kitchen we found bottles of medicine next to the dinner plates and opened food left in the refrigerator. Am I being a snob to let this bother me?
With COVID19 still an issue, as soon as we arrived I cleaned every surface and touch point (door knobs, remote controls, etc) with antibacterial wipes and washed all of the dishes & silverware our family of 8 might use. This was time consuming but I felt necessary as this property did not give me the feeling it was really clean.
I felt like the owners simply packed a few things & went to stay with friends while collecting $3,200 from us to house sit for them for the next 6 nights.
We are not eager to rent an Airbnb again because of this experience. What a shame. 

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22 Replies 22

My question is - Do I need to provide wardrobe space - if so I NEED to move my clothes as I can hardly fit stuff in now as it is! 🙂

@Jacqueline833  Imagine yourself as a traveler. You are spending 5 nights( your minimum ) in what you call a luxury apartment. Do you want to hang your clothes up in a closet? Tuck your underwear into a drawer? Or would you be happy with living out of a suitcase as your summer dresses become wrinkled?

 

To quote your listing, "It's just like a hotel!" If it is just like a hotel, there is somewhere to put my stuff during my stay.

I rent a lovely modern home because I was relocated by work.  I have a property manager and a friend who does walk throughs.  I stay there myself every six weeks and keep a few baskets of personal things on a very very high closet shelf.  I have a locked armoire where I keep kitchen things like my olive oil, real syrup, gluten free things.  My place is considered luxury.  I was excited to host, but after a year even with "top" rated guests, I have low regard for human beings at this point.  Let's see, gum in my wool rug, taking anything no locked up even when clearly marked OWNER DO NOT TOUCH.  You name, it they do it or take it.  

 

I not hate hosting because guests do not behave, even the nice ones.  However, it covers my expenses and I don't want to sell my house.  Last week I got an irate text from my neighbor informing me there were 14 cars in front of my house, on my lawn, and blocking the sidewalk! My listing says no parties and not over 6 guests! They were watching the cowboys game on my 2,000 tv set.  Thanks, neighbor almost called the city. They were thrown out but not before leaving a horrible mess.

 

So my advice is that leaving a house unsupervised is risky.  Lock up or hide anything you don't want ruined or taken.  And accept damages will be expensed.  

Dimi667
Level 1
Ormenio, GR

Wow I am really shocked how people are ready for money to give their apartments for rent  where they live to strangers. I would never do this.

Leigh397
Level 2
Farragut, TN

Responding as a guest, we just completed a 6-night stay in a property that was so obviously someone’s residence I felt personally uncomfortable. My husband and I stayed in the master bedroom. When we travel we don’t live out of our suitcases, and when looking for drawer space to unpack our clothing and toiletries I found no empty drawers. I was shocked and even offended to find personal clothing and other items in every drawer including thong panties wadded up in the top dresser drawer and another pair of underwear among other things in my bedside table where I would’ve put my own belongings. 
There was one small empty closet space with upper & lower hanging areas but no tall place to hang a dress. 

Every drawer/cupboard in the bathroom contained the owner’s belongings that were randomly placed, containers that were left open, used, dirty, and so on. It was just gross. I don’t need to see an opened box of hair color, reading glasses and a used toothbrush by the sink, and 7 partial bottles of shampoo in the shower. 

In the kitchen we found bottles of medicine next to the dinner plates and opened food left in the refrigerator. Am I being a snob to let this bother me?
With COVID19 still an issue, as soon as we arrived I cleaned every surface and touch point (door knobs, remote controls, etc) with antibacterial wipes and washed all of the dishes & silverware our family of 8 might use. This was time consuming but I felt necessary as this property did not give me the feeling it was really clean.
I felt like the owners simply packed a few things & went to stay with friends while collecting $3,200 from us to house sit for them for the next 6 nights.
We are not eager to rent an Airbnb again because of this experience. What a shame. 

@Leigh397  What you describe is unacceptable. There is nothing wrong with a host renting out a place where they normally live, but owner's personal items should be packed away and adequate, empty storage space available to guests. Not seem like the host just walked out the door without making preparations for guests.

 

There are all kinds of different scenarios when it comes to Airbnb, from luxurious private homes that are purely used as short term rentals to a private bedroom in a hosts home, and yes, some hosts will rent out their entire home where they live when they are away on vacation or for work.

 

What is crucial, as a guest, is that you thoroughly read through the listing description to determine what sort of rental this is before booking, and message the host if anything isn't clear to you or you want to double check something. Hosts are supposed to be clear in their listing info as  to what sort of rental it is- do they normally live there and guests will find some of the space contains the owner's belongings?  Are there multiple rooms rented out to unrelated guests with shared common spaces? Is a private room/bath in the host's home where they will also be present? Listings should be accurately and clearly described and if they aren't you have cause for complaint.

 

There is no reason for you to stop using Airbnb just because of the situation you just experienced. You just have to make sure you are clear on what you are booking.  If you arrive to find it was inaccurately described, or not cleaned, you, as a guest, should first contact the host for something like poor or no cleaning, to give them an opportunity to correct the issue, and if it's not dealt with, you should contact Airbnb and cancel if it's not acceptable to you. If you just continue to stay for the entire booking, that indicates that you accepted the conditions- you can't really complain afterwards when you completed the stay. But you can address these things when you write your review.

VRBO was completely unresponsive when we had an unacceptable rental. We were stuck there unless we wanted to forfeit our rental money

Melissa1853
Level 2
New York, NY

I only rent my beach condo for about 5 weeks each summer. I put a lock on the walk-in closet and use that to store all my personal belongings as well as extra supplies for my cleaning lady. I have luggage racks, and over the door hanging rods hanging on the outside of the walk-in closet for hanging tall dresses, etc. There are lots of drawers in both bedrooms (bedside and dressers which are all completely emptied for guests). The bathrooms are completely emptied of all personal items and put into the walk-in closet. I provide in shower dispensers with shampoo, conditioner and body soap. There is hand soap provided in dispensers as well. I also keep a storage unit just for the summer where I move some things like my printer, winter clothes, heavy comforters, etc. From a guest perspective they see no personal items. The kitchen is fully stocked with pots, pans, plates but no food is left except spices. We also keep one cabinet locked in the kitchen where my cleaning lady keeps extra coffee pods for the Keurig, cleaning supplies, etc. Hope that helps.