Sanity check for my first booking....

[Richard3347]

Hi folks - 

Received my first inquiry (whoo hoo), but I'm confused - 

So, I require guests to sign my own rental agreement and provide a photo ID when booking.  That said, I received an inquiry this evening, and then after some messaging, I sent along a pre-approval.   That means that the guest can now book within 24 hours.  At what point in this workflow do I send along a copy of our agreement and request ID?  I'm guessing I can do that if the guest actually books, because if they don't sign the agreement or provide ID at that time, I can cancel the booking.  Doesn't seem logical that I'd send along our agreement prior to providing the pre-approval.

Appreciate any guidance - 

Best,

Rich

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Richard3347 I have no idea when you would get a guest to sign your agreement as most people don't have them. BUT I would never book a place where the check out tasks are not defined and the rental agreement is unseen.

[Richard3347]

Right - so I'd likely provide before pre-approving then.  I have it set so that I vet bookings before approving.  I also have a welcome guide with the checkout list included that I could send along. 

VRBO provides a place to upload a copy of an owner rental agreement as a supplement to their own - pretty standard practice also in the area where my rental is.  Surprised that Airbnb doesn't provide for this, but I guess the target audience is different.

[Rebecca]

Hi @Richard3347 👋

It's been a while since you posted and I wondered if you decided what you'd do going forward with your guests? 

 It'd be great to hear from you, so we can understand what the resolution was but also to support other Hosts who may have similar questions in the future. 😊

[Richard3347]

I did.   So, until a booking has been accepted (I don't  do IB), there's no way for me to communicate with a potential guest other than through Airbnb's messaging center.  I'm not permitted to ask for any other forms of contact, nor am I permitted to provide anything such as an email, phone number, etc.   And, via the messaging center, you can't send any attachments until you've accepted a reservation  - those features simply aren't made available.  Therefore, even though my listing confirms that signing an agreement will be required, and that guests should be 25 and provide a form of ID so I can verify who's submitting the request, I have no way of addressing this prior to accepting.  I can't even send along a welcome guide ahead of time.  So, I accepted the booking, and then communicated the welcome guide via text.  Because this guest has a very long and positive history with Airbnb, I sidestepped my agreement this time around, but still requested ID (of course, I've gotten no response on that).   What I've done now, based on the recommendation of another host, is paste the key points of the agreement into the House Rules area.  I've also created a quick reply with the language, and will simply verify that folks have read it prior to booking via the messaging center.