Short Term vs Long Term

[Eileen462]

Hello Hosts!

Happy Holidays to you!  I am learning sofar with my experiences with AIRBNB that short term stays are much better to deal with than having someone re-book weekly and staying for long term.

It seems when people stay for more than a few weeks their bad habits begin to appear and they get comfortable staying with you.  Sofar, the one longer term stay I have had, I came home oneday to 13 people in my house thinking there would only be 2 or 3 maybe, they have tried to get me to take my rates down for them weekly and my fees, they did the ultimate by telling me they wanted to pay me cash for a week stay because they have no money until Dec. 22 but one of the guests left for a trip up north and they can can afford that.  After I confronted them, they magically came up with 4 days worth of rates and paid AIRBNB so no cash exchange because I will not breech my contract with AIRBNB, BUT i LOST 2 DAYS WORTH OF RATES BECAUSE THEY JUST DIDNT PAY AND STAYED ANYWAY.  SO, I asked them to not return after Friday when they have completed this weeks stay.  Sadly, Im gun shy now and dont want to take people for more than 2 weeks.

Any of you had this experience?

Eileen

[Kathleane0]

Hi Helen,

I was scrolling through this message thread  looking for advice on how to handle a request for a 2-month booking in a room in my home. She's also a local guest. She gave me the name of her apartment complex and explained that they were undergoing a renovation which required her to move out for 2 months. She's responded to my questions about her work and previous ABnB stays.

My thought is that after accepting the booking to ask her to fill out and pay for a background check ($35) as well as my typical long-term rental application which asks for personal and work related references. So my questions are:

Is what I'm asking over the top?

Should I be asking for even more info prior to accepting the booking?

Can I cancel the booking if my background check or application come back with information that I'm not comfortable with?

Should I request that she book in "chunks" rather than one 2-month booking?

[Paula]

Hi @Kathleane0, I am tagging @Helen3 here so she receives a notification of your message. This way, we increase the chances of her getting back to us.

Quick tip: To tag someone, tap "@" and select the host's username from the dropdown menu 😊

[Ann72]

@Eileen462  I'm concerned about you.  Your life and property were in danger and you lost two days of income, which means these guests stole from you.  You need to be more in control of your listing and learn to vet guests better.  Have you learned to use the box at the top of every page that says "Search the community"?  

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=f...

[Eileen462]

@Ann72  Thank you for your concern Ann.  I am a new AIRBNB host.. Im learning.  Fortunately things turned out ok but I do need to be very careful in the area my property is in.  Extreme high crime and homelessness.  Have a beautiful holiday... Eileen