Tips for damage prevention

[Leslie625]

Hi there! We are looking for suggestions that might encourage people to treat our home with a bit more respect.

We have been renting our brand new 4 bedroom 3 bathroom home for only three months and the list of damages, while not severe, is quite long:

bbq grease stain on deck 3'x3'; scratches on scratch-resistant flooring; damaged tv screen; scratches on dining room table; pocket door pulled out of pocket (not a lightweight bifold door, a custom installed solid cherry door); broken dishes; garbage left on counters; outlet pulled out of the wall; scuffs and small gouges in the walls; three inch scratch on glass cooktop.

Generally we get groups of 6 to 8 booking so some wear and tear is expected but this seems a bit much. Do we raise our prices and/or add the security deposit? We don't want to put people off, we just want a little respect, y'know?

[Katrina79]

@Leslie625 @You have a beautiful house! I think you have your pricing correct for the area, and you are attracting the right guests so I wouldn’t change the pricing for now. Trying to find ways to eliminate damage is your concern and you may need to get creative. 
BBQ-get a bbq Mat for underneath or don’t provide a BBQ. I don’t provide a BBQ because guests won’t clean it and I’m afraid they can’t be trusted to turn off the propane or light it properly. 
Scratches on floor, scuffs and small gouges on walls- Usually from hauling luggage around. Scuffs come off with magic eraser and gouges can be filled, sanded and left for next time you want to paint. I find the more space people have to manoeuvre the less they bump into walls. You can also include in your welcome message a request to unload luggage carefully and avoid damage to the floors and walls. 
scratches on dining table-use a table protector and plastic table cloth. I like to use a thick clear or slightly patterned clear plastic cover and cut it to fit the table. 
Glass cook-top scratches-I don’t leave any scrubbies for dishes, just wash clothes. I keep the special stove-top scratchless scrub pads and stove top cleaner under the sink. 
Broken dishes and garbage left on counters is going to happen and part of doing business. I do have simple check-out instructions that include wipe down all counters, start the dishwasher, and place garbage in the bin. Most people follow it, but some don’t. If they leave a mess take off a star for cleanliness and following rules and mention it in the review. 
Pocket doors- they are continually screwing down and can come off if not always screwing them back up. You’ll have to keep an eye on the pocket door between guests. There is a stop you can put on the screw to prevent it from happening. 
Damaged TV screen-there is no excuse for this if the TV is securely mounted. I would have discussed the damage with the guest who left it that way and asked for some compensation. 

Unfortunately when guests stay in a new place they are not always aware of how to keep everything in good shape and use the house properly, from stove tops, bbq’s, pocket doors and water taps. It’s your job to make things as fool proof as possible. Also I notice the more guests staying in a home, the more damage and mess they create. I always question my upcoming guests and make sure they have the correct number of guests listed in the reservation. This is their opportunity to fess up to additional guests. You can choose to charge additional per person which covers some of the extra wear and tear or you may not want to host the number of guests they have-the ball is in your court. Some hosts have cameras at the front of the house to see how many guests enter. Also, children are messy and leave marks on walls, toys scratch the floors, crumbs in the sofa etc. I find groups with many children can make a disaster as the parents are in holiday mode and not watching the kid gang closely. If I were that close to the water, I’d be a bit worried about allowing groups with children. If it’s just one family with children I think they are keeping an eye on the kids better. 

[Leslie625]

@Katrina79 thank you so much for the great advice. We are new to this business and still learning. Your tips are definitely appreciated.

[Laura2592]

@Leslie625  I would add something to your house rules saying "Please treat our home kindly. All damage must be reported immediately" and then do something in your house guide saying "Sometimes accidents happen but we ask that guests are careful not to scratch, stain,  or break items during their stay. All damage must be reported immediately and guests may be required to compensate for it." And then stick to a policy that you determine. If its a broken plate, you might say, no big deal and cover it yourself. If its something that requires a repair from a contractor, the guest is responsible.

We have an antique stone cottage and limit our guests to 4. We really prefer 2 and charge an additional nightly fee per person for anyone above that. More people means exponentially more problems.  Honestly we could host up to 6 but we would never even consider it. I might look long and hard at how many people you want in your home . We find that guests with small children tend to do the most damage and cause a lot of extra clean up.  Ironically we have only ever had one group with a pet that did damage, but that was the worst damage we have had to deal with so far.  If you notice that families with kids are causing the biggest problem, maybe spend a little more time screening and informing those groups of your damage policy. Also under no circumstances should you host parties. If you don't have one, get a Ring or similar camera for your doorbell and watch for any guest activity that may indicate there are more people above the reservation. Again, more people will always cause more wear and tear, and too many people is a party.

I would also think about furnishings. Maybe switch out some of your more damageable pieces with something attractive but bulletproof. We made the mistake of buying a nice wing chair for beside the fire and hours after putting it in the space a guest broke a leg doing some romantic acrobatics. It now sits in a corner and we ask guests not to move it.

[Leslie625]

@Laura2592 you hit it right on the nose! It's the larger groups, particularly those with children when the damage occurs. Thanks you very much for the ideas - and the humorous side of things too!

[Laura2592]

@Leslie625  yes those little ones can really be messy. I would consider limiting your numbers or doing an extra charge per night per guest over the number you actually want. You can also say your place is not suitable for children. Many parents don't "count" their kids toward the overall number of guests, so you will probably have to be very proactive in communicating that yes, they count and yes, you have very strict capacity numbers. We turn down reservations all the time where people say that they have "3 small children and two adults, so its really like there are only 2 people." Four guests of any age is our absolute limit. We even hid the air mattress and took the sofa off our listing as a sleeping space.

[Leslie625]

Thank you again. Seriously considering decreasing the numbers as well. For sure will have a conversation with guests upon booking. Do you allow Instant Book?

[Laura2592]

@Leslie625  yes, we do IB, but this seems to be the magic formula:

No single night stays

No stays over a week or so (certainly nothing approaching tenancy status at 30 days in our state.)

No last minute stays- 2 day advanced notice required

Must have a recommendation from other hosts. If not they need to send an inquiry.

So far that seems to cut down on a lot of headache. Its a deterrent to parties, meth cooking, mail fraud and squatters!

[Robin4]

@Laura2592 

Your comment, keep to 'bulletproof' furnishings in your listing is a good one, but it doesn't matter how much effort you put into protecting your property, guests will always invent a way of damaging it!

I had one guest come up to me with a broken dinner plate in hand, her comment was..."It attacked me from the cupboard!"

It was a tongue in cheek comment of course and I told her not to worry about it. The set was a cheap KMart set and plates were replaceable, so I told her it was no big deal. 

On cleaning once they left I discovered it wasn't just one plate that attacked her, it was two....she felt the second plate was not badly damaged enough to mention and just put back in the cupboard!

@Leslie625 , Guests and damage go hand in hand, most of it accidental and very minor....... not worth making an issue over because, it will bounce back on you with a poor review if you take a guest to task.

I know that's not a great attitude to have because it breeds a lot of careless guests and it doesn't help the hosting community, but we have to be realistic when we host, and I don't expect that someone else will be my fairy godmother.

I build a few dollars into my nightly amount to cover guest damage and that few dollars goes into a damage fund....and it does build up. If the guest damages something I just pull the money out of the damage fund, put it right and get on with the business of hosting. 

I will after the review process is finished (when the guest thinks they got away with it) make mention in the message stream that I do appreciated it if damage is bought to my attention, after all that's only fair. At least that embarrasses them and hopefully makes them take a bit more care next time!

But it's too late for them to 'revenge' me in the review process by me bringing it up!

Cheers.......Rob

[Ann72]

@Leslie625  After the first few months at a relatively modest price, I raised my rates and got much better guests who damaged fewer things.

I think you'd be safe at $330 a night or thereabouts.  Where can a family of 5 or 8 or a group of 6 get hotel or inn rooms at that rate and have the whole place to themselves?

[Laura2592]

@Ann72  yeah I was going to say that as well, but I don't know the market in Cape Breton at all. Looks beautiful!

[Ann72]

@Laura2592  It does look beautiful.  I scrolled down to the bottom to see other listings and saw that @Leslie625's was on the low end of the range, so I thought she could go up.  And as you and I have found, going up doesn't seem to deter people at all.  It speaks to the "you-get-what-you-pay-for" crowd, and there are more of us out there than Airbnb would lead you to believe.  Just because we live in a Walmart world doesn't mean everyone shops there 😁

[Leslie625]

Yes, husband has been saying that as well. Although our nightly rate is $295, when potential guests are searching it of course shows up at $353/night because the additional costs are added in. This puts us well above the going rate around here but we do have a unique offering. Tough decision.

[Colleen253]

@Leslie625  Give it a fair shot. You can always go back down. But you may be pleasantly surprised.

[Ricardo85]

@Leslie625 

About security deposity => https://www.airbnb.com.br/help/article/140/como-o-airbnb-lida-com-dep%C3%B3sitos-de-seguran%C3%A7a

Also read this thread => https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Security-Deposits-False-sense-of-security-for-Hosts/m-p/134...

I would raise my price to get better guests.

Ricardo