Selling my Airbnb property...

[Jessica52]

Hello hosts

I am the super host and recently decided to sell my Airbnb property.  Just got an offer and very likely to accept the deal.  With that to say,  I will have to cancel my guests' future reservations, will that cause me losing the Super host status?  I appreciate any advice! 

Jessica

[Gillian19]

@Jessica52 Yes. They will also show up on your review history which is worse than losing superhost status, so if you do go ahead, make sure you respond to each cancellation with the reason as that MIGHT help future guests still decide to book with you. (Personally I would never book with anyone who has cancelled reservations, but Superhost is meaningless). It will also result in a cost of $50 for the first cancellation and $100 for each one after that. Still, if the offer on your property is good a few hundred dollars in cancellation fees isn't much!

[Tina7559]

I wonder if transferring existing bookings to the new buyer is allowed? I have been considering selling my Airbnb as well. 

[Sarah977]

@Jessica52   I should think that having to cancel future reservations because you're selling the property would count as an extenuating circumstance. Obviously, you can't host a home you no longer own. I'd phone airbnb Superhost line and ask them what the appropriate way to deal with this is- I'd hope they would cancel for you, and offer the guests other accomodations or a refund, and not have it show up on your account as having cancelled reservations.

[Catherine1257]

The way AirBnB handles property transfers is ludicrous. How they *should* handle them (assuming the new owner wants to honor the existing listings and business):

1. Allow the new owner to "take over" the listing and honor the bookings.

2. Automatically send a note to the guests who have outstanding bookings, letting them know the host has changed and allowing them to cancel (if they wish) without penalty.

3. Remove all ratings from the previous host and start again at no ratings.

4. Keep all the reviews, but mark them as "review applies to previous host"

5. Charge a small administrative fee ($250 or so) to the new host to cover any additional costs Air BnB might incur as a result of this.

Why does Air BnB not do this?

[Chris773]

For the life of me, I don’t know. They really should!

The first VR I bought, the owner only listed it on HomeAway, and since he had already been paid for the bookings, he just wrote me a check at closing. (It was nice to start out the purchase of the property with $5K in the bank account!) But I don’t know how that would work with Airbnb—would the owner have to mail me a check every time a guest checked in and the previous owner got paid? Or would the seller have to in effect loan me the money for all the reservations he had not yet been paid for? And then what if a guest cancels—would I have to repay him?

Seems ridiculous. It should be automated (and guests should be given the option to cancel and rebook elsewhere if they don’t like the idea of a different owner).

[Bryce104]

New owners would have to get a new permit for the house in their name from their city. If it happened immediately as you described the new owner can get in trouble for operating illegally and can risk the city not allowing them to Airbnb at all.

Also, in some cities like New Orleans properties in residential areas need a homestead exemption before the city issues a permit. Those exemptions take time to get.

[Joe-And-Julie0]

they do not have a policy or procedure in place for those hosts that sell their property. i've been fighting with them for close to a year on this to no avail

[Marie843]

Iam interested into selling my property and do you know any interesting in 7.3 acres of land private gate and 5 bedroom 3.5 bath beautiful design everything will be included in the price all furnitures all beds full basement finish 2bed extra could sleep 16 guests and full equipment kitchen all u have to do it continues hosting everything in the house will stay 

[Tararita0]

I want to advertise my AIRBNB for sale because I am relocating.

I have a compound of 3 houses in Chico, CA.

Can anyone advise me about the best advertising and marketing strategy?

[Cass11]

Hi there!  I just worked the more traditional route, with my realtor.  The first line in the listing description did mention it was operating as an AirBnB.  Though I did not do this, you could also include links to the rental site in the description. This saves potential buyers the time in trying to find your listing. It also quickly gives them a sense of experience quality/type guests have in your properties. Best wishes!

[Harriet110]

Hi! I know all of this happened last spring but I was wondering how I find other people like yourself who wants to sell their Airbnb business??!! Our family is looking for a place and are having trouble being allowed to do it but if we could get an already existing one that would be great! Not sure how that could be done but I thought I would give this a try...

[Sarah977]

@Harriet110  A host cannot "sell their Airbnb business". Listings aren't transferrable and the reviews and ratings earned by the host stay with the original host's profile. If you buy a place, you'd have to start the listing from scratch, in your name. I'm sure that when places that have used as Airbnbs are put up for sale, that the seller would mention that in the ad, as it would be a good selling point. You could also contact local realtors and tell them what you are looking for.

[Harriet110]

Thank you for your help! We contacted a realtor already and he was very discouraging....we live in Montreal Canada and although there is a lot of Airbnb in our area we are stumped on how they are doing it....landlords frown on it a lot but it could also be our approach. I will take your advise and see if there are listings that specifically state it in the ad....wish us luck! And thanks again!

[Sarah977]

@Harriet110  So you are talking about finding a place to rent, as opposed to looking for a place to buy, that will allow you to run an Airbnb? That's totally different. You are correct, most landlords won't allow it, and for very good reason, likely having nothing to do with your approach. Their insurance wouldn't cover damages by Airbnb guests, and Airbnb has very little protection for hosts in this regard. Ask yourself, if an Airbnb stopped up the plumbing, necessitating expensive repairs, is that something you would be prepared to shoulder the cost of? Or would you expect the landlord to?

When a landlord rents to full-time tenants, they normally ask for refernces, employment history, recommendations from previous landlords, etc. There are no such precautions and guarantees when having Airbnb guests in one's home.

Airbnb isn't some easy way to make money. It's hard work and requires constant vigilance and expenses can be much greater than anticipated. 

I wish you luck in other aspects of your life, but not in looking for a place to rent that you want to turn around and list on Airbnb. As a home owner and Airbnb host myself, knowing what I do about the risks involved, I would never allow a renter to Airbnb my home and I would be furious if I found out they were doing so without my knowledge.