Now what

Now what

Today is 5/16/2020. My husband and I have an exclusively dedicated full airbnb house. We have a small mortgage payment that we can pay with ease and very low utilities since no guests are booking due to our "No short term rental restrictions" in our state.  We have no idea what to do from here. Do we ride the wave out, pay this houses bills until.....we don't know. Should we open it up once bookings commence? We are also scared of exposure since NOBODY in the world seems to really know how the Virus spreads. And I mean really know....I read as many articles that say you should do things like wash your groceries as I read that say no need to. Are we at risk by going into our house after guests check out. I read a news story that says even on cruise ships they found the virus after 17 days on no one going on the boat. Confused, and don't have any idea what to do, or what not to do. Who else feels like we do?

1 Reply 1
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Eileen124  I think that's really a decision every host has to make for themselves. You're quite right, no one really knows what's safe- it's a new virus and new research is coming out on a daily basis. Important to keep as informed as possible, using reputable medical and scientific info, not believe some youtube video or facebook comments. 

It is supposedly safe to enter a house 24 hours after someone has been inside. It takes a few hours until droplets from breathing, speaking, couching, etc, settle on surfaces. Then you could go in with gloves, and whatever other protective gear you feel necessary and start cleaning and sterilizing.

I know they found covid on surfaces on that ship a few weeks later. But there wasn't enough information on that that I ever saw that made it clear why or whether the virus was actually still active or still had enough strength to actually infect anyone. And under certain conditions it lives longer- I've heard cold and humid are the optimal conditions, both of which would be the case on an uninhabited ship.

I host a home share and I'm certainly not going to start hosting again until I feel things are really safe again. Which may be years. Since you say you don't really need the money at this point, you are fortunate in that you can make a decision that isn't dependent on being financially desperate. And since it's a stand-alone house, you could get a long term tenant instead. (But I wouldn't use Airbnb for that)

BTW I'm sterilizing all the grocery packaging I bring home unless it's something that I can easily transfer into another container and toss the packaging. I'm on the "better safe than sorry" program. Seems like a big hassle at first, but I found it becomes a routine like any other. If they are things that don't require refrigeration and I don't need to use right away, I just leave in my car for a few days until the virus would be dead.