New Listing, attracting thoughtless guests, how do I fix this?

[Krystal16]

Good Evening Hosts,

So I  have opened a second Airbnb unit, my daughter is hosting and I am the co-host.  We just moved into the bungalow and we are living upstairs and the Airbnb unit is in the basement, we just completed renovating the space and finally were able to host our first guest in January, the worse time for hosting.

My dilemma, the renovation was expensive and I need the rental revenue to pay down the cost of the renovation, I set the price low and opened it for bookings.  The area I am in now seems to have multiple units available, competition is fierce, after the first couple bookings which were extremely low ($61-78 a night)  we now have all 5 star ratings, but with this low price I seem to be attracting young kids who have zero respect for the host and the home.  My recent guest who just checked out left the door to the unit wide open and left for the entire day, her first night there they called us at 130AM to tell us the toilet was overflowing, omg, this has not happened, what did I do wrong I thought.  I go downstairs at 130AM on a work night to find they have flushed tampons down the toilet, and followed it up with a sizable serving of feces which obviously clogged the toilet because of the tampons that were flushed.  They didn't even try to use the plunger that was beside the toilet because I guess for $85 a night for 6 people they feel that it also should come with someone to shovel their *sensitive information hidden* 

I told them they only get one free plunge from me, especially since the problem was caused by them, we all had a little chuckle over that, I mopped the floor up and threw the bathmat into the washing machine, showed them how to use the dryer, gave them a dryer sheet and asked them to put it into the dryer after the washing finished.  So the cleaner goes down today, the bathmat is STILL in the washing machine, I have 3 towels missing, the toilet brush is covered in feces, they used a sofa cover as bed linen because they were to cheap to pay the extra $15 a night for linens for the sofa bed, uuuugggghhhh

Anyhow, my dilemma is, considering in the area I have about 12-16 units that are the same size as mine within blocks of me, I have to lower my pricing to get booked but these lower prices seem to only attract young kids with zero respect for other peoples homes.  

Any suggestions?  At all?  Much appreciated?

Link to listing
https://www.airbnb.ca/manage-your-space/41322471/details

[Maia29]

I feel your pain; I'm going through the same thing. Those guests are worth it-trust me.

They know how to manipulate the Airbnb system to stay and then cancel and get refunds. Then, one guest managed to get my listing deactivated based on complete fabrications.

Last night I received a request at 1:00 am (my time!) asking if the unit was available, because they needed a place "ASAP". The reason why they had to request, even though I have instant book on,  is because I require guests to upload a government ID and these type of guests always try to hide their identity.

Sounds like we have the same type of units, we are in the same price range, and basically in the same boat. I just totally renovated my downstairs as well! 

January-March are the worst months! Good luck. Don't make your listing too low, because it will end up just costing you more money in the end.

[Sarah977]

@Krystal16  Well, it seems that the low price is attracting the wrong crowd, so if I were you,I'd try upping my price a bit and see what happens. You can always change it back if you find it's seriously affecting your bookings. It would seem that if the guests you are getting are causing damages and walking off with your towels, it would be preferrable to get a few less bookings at a slightly higher price if it results in better, more mature guests.

[Emilia42]

@Krystal16 I can see that you increased your price which I think is a good thing. The trouble is that depending on the market, sometimes it is hard to get a high price in the offseason. But if you can book half the time for double the price, then take it. 

I would suggest, and what I would do, is close off bedroom three and offer the space to only 4 people max. Eight people is a lot to pack into a small space with only 2 real beds and one bathroom. People who really don't care about comfort and just want to cram in bodies for cheap prices will think your place is a great deal. I would try to go for the middle of the market price and cater to 2-4 people (2 people looking for separate bedrooms or 2 couples.)

[Krystal16]

@Maia29 @Emilia42 @Sarah977 

Thank you all for your suggestions, makes alot of sense.  

I think I will try a combo of the suggestions made, I will keep all the beds available and price at the same amount but I am going to add in a price for any guest after 4 people, this will put me in a higher price range to the other homes in the area.  

@Emilia42 , interesting fact, I checked AirDna, and the 2 bdrms in the area charge roughly the same as I do, the conditions are worse for wear in comparison and there is actually only 4-5 other listings that are 2 bdrms and only 2 of them rent out all year round, thank you for the suggestion I never would have looked into that otherwise.