Need Hosting Advice

[Deni2792]

Happy Holidays Everyone,

I have been on Airbnb for a year now. At first it worked out very well for me. I had a few tenants for about the first 7 months that were perfect for me given that I live in the home.

However, around August I started to get these group of men, that were greater than the number that stated would be in the house, they were not very clean, even burned my pots repeatedly. Towards the end I had better male groups but it was always the same.  This became such a problem because I was being overly taxed in electricity, water, etc. And not earning enough to cover all the expenses.

I increased the price for groups over 4 but then my prospects dried up completely. I am hoping that it is just the holiday blip, but I haven’t received a tenant in over 2.5 months.

Any advice on how to move forward yet not being used and abused by contractor tenants?

Open ears,

Deni

[Nancy1998]

@Deni2792 How would you fare if you specified only families and women for renters?

Also, what are your specifications for property damage?

[Deni2792]

Unfortunately, that’s against housing laws in this country.  It’s seen as housing discrimination.

[Kia272]

@Deni2792 That's incorrect. AirBnB allows female hosts to specify that they'll only take female guests. It's your home, and you're allowing people into it. It's not rental housing or mortgage discrimination or systemic. 

[Nikolaos86]

@Deni2792 Just try hard to have nice reviews.

The rest will follow

[Deni2792]

All my reviews have been positive. I’ve tried to handle the issues offline or privately as much as possible.

[Kia272]

@Deni2792  It sounds like you're not vetting guests very well. When you do home-share, it's very important to do so. 

I also think your listing may be set up incorrectly. If you want to have people book all of the rooms together, then it's correct. The way you have it set up, is that if someone were to book one room, the calendar would be blocked, and the other rooms would remain empty. I was confused by the whole description and how guests would rent all of those rooms. I think you should rethink your whole approach to this. If you were to make two of the rooms really nice and comfy, and raise your prices, you may be better off. 

You may want to think about setting the rooms up with a mini-fridge, coffee maker, etc. and limiting access to the whole house. You may also want to limit your guests to female only, or vet your guests more carefully. 

I'm also confused at your reference to "group of men, that were greater than the number that stated would be in the house."

I don't understand why you would allow guests to exceed your capacity, or not adhere to your house rules. 

If you're not earning enough to cover the utilities, then you need to raise your prices. Running an AirBnB is a business: you wouldn't sell items in a store for less than you paid for them, right? So you shouldn't be taking a loss when running an AirBnB. 

Your house rules are also unclear. You can limit hours for kitchen use, etc. You also say that you accept pets? How will that work with your dog in the house? 

Last but not least, your rating is really low right now. You need to improve something, or AirBnB may kick you off the platform. 

I do wish you good luck with all of this, but please, rethink how you have things set up, and possibly re-do your listing. 

[Deni2792]

Hi Kia,

To be honest I was not sure how to go about separating the rentals but now that I think about it, I will think strongly about your suggestions.

The issue is that the individuals were not English speaking so the person booking was not clear. They would say that 5 people would stay but it would  actually turn out to be 8, as an example. The issue is I needed the money so I let it go.

On the house rules issue, I’m flexible. Everyone who stays here gets treated like family. Usually, it has not been a problem.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. Much appreciated.

[Noel919 · Accepted solution]

Hello, I would recommend to keep an eye on near by listing to compare the prices because as you might know prices are mostly driven by the seasons and competition. So go to calendar compare near by listings and start playing with the market that you are at by placing offers or special discounts. Wish you the best, hope it helps!

Best,

Noel GV

[Deni2792]

Good idea. I may need to change things up by season.  I already use smart pricing but I do so for the whole house. If I split in by room I can be more flexible.

[Olena76]

Hello!

Try to proceed to in following way:

1/ Make a market research to compare your occupancy rate and prices with nearest competitors.

Adjust your prices until your listing will start to appear on first pages when you perform search as a guest.

2/ If possible ask your friends or relatives to perform search for your empty dates  to be sure that your listing is visible. 
It is important to ask different people because Airbnb use AI to select listings and your listing may be less visible for couples or solo travelers.

It may help better understand your position and what you need to change..

3/ Make slight changes to your listing , focusing your description and pictures on the amenities for the kind of guests you want to attract. For example, wide monitor for people willing to work from home …

I hope it may help.

[Nadiia5]

Hi Deni! I hope you're doing well. I suggest reducing the number of guests or splitting your listing into smaller ones if possible.

Hope it helps! 

Best regards,

Nadia