What should we think about this review of a potential guest?

[Jon2761]

"Clearly, G... & her family thoroughly enjoyed our townhouse." That's the whole review. 

They've requested to book our house for 3 months while building their own house, which happens to be right down the street from ours. They have two young kids who will be enrolled in school there. 

This is their only Airbnb review, and it doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement. Aside from that she seems fine. Very friendly and well-written introductory note and even included her last name. 

Any opinions?

Thanks!

Nancy 

[Emilia42]

@Colleen253 

"G ... & her family thoroughly enjoyed our townhouse. There was some confusion as to which day G was supposed to check out. But when the mistake was realized, G undoubtedly agreed to pay for the additional night. I would be happy to welcome G back again."

How hard is that?!

 I hate, hate, hate these cryptic reviews!

[Helen350]

...and the cryptic, trying to be nice review actually backfired, cos we all assumed the worst, and assumed she'd left the place in a state! - The truth would have been LESS damning! @Emilia42  

[Helen350]

@Jon2761 

- Have you checked with the powers that be that this story about building a house is true?

- We hear the horror stories about tenant's rights after 28 days in California.... And the fact that Airbnb only collects 1 month payment from the guest upfront, then if they don't stump up subsequent months, you're stuffed.... So is forgetting to leave a 'thing' with them? (Tho they DID pay the extra...) Would a 27 day let be safer??? (Then another one.....)

[Colleen253]

That's a good point @Helen350 . @Jon2761 may want to have them book 27 days at at a time. But that creates all sorts of other headaches. Then again, having troublesome guests all of a sudden installed permanently, with tenant rights, is the mother of all headaches. Alas, Airbnb is just NOT the platform for long term bookings. 

[Pat271]

@Helen350 @Colleen253 

At least in the US, the courts have been seeing through the “several back-to-back reservations”, so it probably is risky to think this will somehow afford you protection.

We also have eviction bans in place now, so I simply won’t book anyone over 27 days currently.

During normal times, however, with a lease agreement, a credit/background check, and a large security deposit, I will accept guests for 28 days or more. It’s wise to keep in mind, though, that those staying for 28 days (or 30 days in some places) or more are “tenants” rather than “guests”, with all of the associated tenant’s rights. Having owned LTRs, though, I have no problem with this, and have never had a problem after doing the above due diligence and security deposit collection.

In fact, I have MUCH more control and faith than I do with Airbnb’s “Verification” and “Host guarantee”!

[Colleen253]

@Pat271 All this to say, Airbnb is not the platform to host long term stays.

@Jon2761 

[Pat271]

@Colleen253 “All this to say, Airbnb is not the platform to host long term stays.“

....and some would say, short term stays as well.

They should at least provide the functionality to collect a *real* security deposit, and I don’t quite understand why they don’t. Seems like that would result in better-behaved guests, fewer claims, and less work for Airbnb.

[Laura2592]

I am confused as to how a guest can "forget" to leave?

I am sorry OP but I would not take a chance on these guests for a long term booking. Please do yourself a favor and check tenancy laws in your state before totally committing. Get the guest to sign a lease-- Airbnb will NOT protect you against squatters and it will cost thousands to remove these guests if they overstay.  You need a lease to protect you and knowledge of the landlording laws in your area. After 30 days in most jurisdictions in the US you have tenants, not guests.

Home construction can be unpredictable and take much longer than expected. If these are poor guests they are not going to be there for a few days but for the foreseeable future....

Do a search on "airbnb squatter California" and see what you turn up.

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  I agree that a guest can't forget to leave, unless they're in some altered mental state.

But I have heard of guests who got confused about their check-out date and if the host didn't send them a check-out reminder the evening before, thought they had one more night on their booking.

[Ann72]

@Jon2761  You are so kind to agree to this booking.  I believe her "forgetting" to check out signals a severe lack of organizational skills, so be prepared to repeat yourself frequently.  She won't remember which days trash needs to be out at the curb, or how to close the garage door, or what to do when the smoke alarm goes off.  On the plus side you'll probably need to visit the house a lot to help out, so you'll be able to keep an eye on things.  I hope the stay goes swimmingly for you all!

[Fred13]

I did sensed the host was putting thing in an odd light in that 'review'.  Way too ambiguous, left everyone guessing. Cool that everything turned out well.

[Jon2761]

Well - the good news is that although we messaged G yesterday that we would be interested in hosting her,  there is no reservation yet - and we have since changed our mind. She'd asked if she could come look at the house tomorrow (Wednesday) which is not an unreasonable request if one is going to stay for an extended time. But we have guests there now, so told her she couldn't see it until Sunday - and we haven't heard back from her. Based on her poor communication, and also the advice I've received from many of you about the danger of long-term stays through Airbnb, we've decided she won't be staying at our house.

Regarding long-term stays - it sounds super-risky from a legal standpoint. Our house is in New York State on the Massachusetts border, in the Berkshires. It's a resort area, and not unusual to rent for the summer or winter by people who live in NYC or Boston and want to be in the country. Our situation is complicated by the fact that we live in California, so the house is managed and cleaned by a couple we've known for years who do a fantastic job - I credit them with all of the 5-star ratings we received - but cost us a fortune for every turnover after a shorter term stay. So the long-term stay is attractive to us if we get the right kind of guests - but definitely not if we get squatters! (Although in the past we've had tenants who didn't pay rent from time to time in various rental properties and even with a lease it was hard to do anything about it.) I kind of like the idea of breaking up a long stay into consecutive 28- or 30-day stays so that we continue to get paid through Airbnb, and have some protection. Has anyone done that? 

Nancy

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jon2761 I can only answer for English law but breaking a long stay into smaller chunks would not stop the guest becoming a tenant. Substance over form is usually applied in most jurisdictions.

[Helen350]

Ah! You're probably right, I never thought of that!

[Jon2761]

@Mike-And-Jane0  Interesting point. I haven't studied Airbnb's policy on long-term stays yet but they seem to be encouraging them now, which makes no sense if they can't offer legal protection. Thanks for your input.