@Fred13
Very well said. Your last paragraph is EXCELLENT advice to all hosts, because, yes, I'm discovering....
1. The host-required security deposit means nothing
2. Your House Rules mean nothing
3. If you're depending on Airbnb to mediate a situation... then good luck!! It takes customer service several DAYS to reply to anything and then they usually side with the guest. So get all your extra fees upfront from the guest.
So, yes, this week I've raised my nightly rate, raised my cleaning fee and lowered my weekly and monthly discounts. For a long time now, I've never kept anything super nice at my Airbnb, because people will just f*ck it up. I used to try to offer nicer amenities like a Keurig, for example, but then of course some idiot just broke it straight away.
As far as ignoring the smaller stuff... yeah I do that too. But then it just becomes death by a thousand cuts, and all those small stains, scratches, etc. add up over time to bring down the overall appearance of your place.
Is that true that Airbnb offers the lowest service fees for hosts? I've found that VRBO has wayyyyyy better customer service, the guests are better (because of the upfront deposit), and VRBO/Home Away appears to link to sites like Expedia, so it gets pretty good traffic.