Long term reservations.

[Anna11968]

Hello. I am new to the airbnb world and only put my property on here a couple of days ago. Just now I have received 2 requests, 1 for 19 days and 1 for 2 months, both only 5 minutes apart from each other. I am a little concerned as they are both quite long term and not having done it before, worried about any scams that might be around. 

Just wanted people's thoughts and advice please urgently. Thanking you in advance, A. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Anna11968 Airbnb is not really suited to finding long term guests so I would definitely not go for the 2 month option. The 19 days is possibly OK but if you have a home share and you don't get on 19 days is a long time.

To avoid upsetting Airbnb by rejecting too many requests I would reduce the max stay to a week or two.

[Anna11968]

Thank you for your reply. I'm not concerned about the length of the stays as I won't be staying in the property with them. I'm just concerned if it could be a scam as I wasn't expecting two long stays back to back! 

[Lorna170]

@Anna11968   New hosts are often targeted by persons who arrange for long term stays in an effort to gain tenancy or game the system for free stays.  

IMO, unless required by local law to host for more than 30 days, new hosts should limit their guest stays to a week.  

[Huma0]

@Anna11968 

I host long term stays on Airbnb and that is what I prefer, but I am a live in host and therefore am well protected by the law because tenants' rights do not apply. These requests might not necessarily be scams. It could be that the price is attractive (either the price you have set or the fact that with new listings an additional discount is automatically applied for the first few stays or both).

However, you need to familiarise yourself with local laws around STR and tenants' rights. I have read that people do not get tenants' rights here in the UK unless they have stayed somewhere for three months, but I don't know if that's true or not. You should seek advice on that.

Also, did you know that with a complete unit you are not legally allowed to rent for more than 90 nights a year on STR and that Airbnb will block the rest of your calendar after that? If you are abiding by that law, it's really not a very viable option for renting out a property.