AirBnB

[MahiMike]

Tell me about AirBnB. As a guest and as a landlord.

Anyone doing this as landlord? I'm considering doing this with my beach rental.

Pros/Cons.

Thanks

[NewChief]

We use it constantly traveling as a family. We had our first "bad" experience on a trip we just returned from. Our host notified us two days before we were supposed to travel to her town (we were already on the road at a different town) that the city sewage had backed up, making her house uninhabitable for a couple of weeks at least.

This was problematic because we were heading to Santa Fe where the International Folk market was taking place, which is the largest event of the year there and makes for totally full lodging city wide. It was even worse because I found out in the morning while I was in the lift line at Evolution Bike Park at Crested Butte. Kind of screwed my morning up as my wife and I were texting back and forth trying to find lodging while I was supposed to be focusing on shredding the gnar on my sweet downhill rig, brah.

We cobbled together a stay at a place prior to the folk market taking place, and lucked into another place that had just put their listing up 15 minutes prior to us booking it (total luck that we found it). AirBNB also gave us a $150 credit for our trouble, which was awesome. It could have turned out worse, but the whole experience turned out really well.

Things that we've learned:
1) Read reviews, but take them with a grain of salt. The reviews will generally let you know of any glaring issues with a place (bad neighborhood, too small, misleading copy, etc..). As anyone who reads online reviews knows, though, some people are just whiners and complainers, so don't let a bad review or two throw you off a place that appeals to you.

2) Make SURE you look at whether it's a whole house or a portion of a house or a room in a house. Some people don't care, but I don't really want to share a living room with the owner of the house. If you don't read closely, that can happen (happened to my wife on a recent business trip to Denver when she let her business partner book... she had to pass through the dude's living room to go in/out and he was sitting there vaping resin every time she went in / out).

3) If you want good reviews as a renter, clean the freaking place up a bit before you leave. It's not a hotel. You don't have to wash all the sheets and scrub the floors, but picking up, doing the dishes, and maybe sweeping the floor will make people very happy. I'm a 5 star with glowing reviews. And I'll say that it makes a difference. I had someone cancel a place on me when we first started using, because I didn't have any reviews at that point and was traveling with children. I think she was just leery. Since I've had glowing reviews in my profile, though, we always get accepted to anywhere we try to rent.

[bdj23]

The fiance and I used it in Croatia and Montenegro last summer. Wonderful experience. The hosts were all very nice and more than helpful. Better than staying in hotels or hostels. I'd use it again.

[WhawhaWhat]

Used AirBnB once in a nice part of DC and found the bed sheets on the bed looking like this:



Noped right out of there and into a Sheraton.

[Fat Elvis]

We tried AirBnB for the first time about three years ago. Since then, we will do everything possible to not have to use a hotel.

Just make sure to read the description of the place and the reviews so that you aren't sharing a living space with a host (unless you like that type of thing, and some people do). We've had nothing but good experiences with AirBnB, and quite frankly, we can't imagine staying in a hotel unless we absolutely have to anymore,

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

Used AirBnB once in a nice part of DC and found the bed sheets on the bed looking like this:



Noped right out of there and into a Sheraton.

bed bugs

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

bed bugs

That's what we thought too. We told the host we were leaving and then he called us drug addicts. He didn't contest us getting our money back though and Airbnb was cool about it.

[rocknrolla]

Originally Posted by NewChief

We use it constantly traveling as a family. We had our first "bad" experience on a trip we just returned from. Our host notified us two days before we were supposed to travel to her town (we were already on the road at a different town) that the city sewage had backed up, making her house uninhabitable for a couple of weeks at least.

This was problematic because we were heading to Santa Fe where the International Folk market was taking place, which is the largest event of the year there and makes for totally full lodging city wide. It was even worse because I found out in the morning while I was in the lift line at Evolution Bike Park at Crested Butte. Kind of screwed my morning up as my wife and I were texting back and forth trying to find lodging while I was supposed to be focusing on shredding the gnar on my sweet downhill rig, brah.

We cobbled together a stay at a place prior to the folk market taking place, and lucked into another place that had just put their listing up 15 minutes prior to us booking it (total luck that we found it). AirBNB also gave us a $150 credit for our trouble, which was awesome. It could have turned out worse, but the whole experience turned out really well.

Things that we've learned:
1) Read reviews, but take them with a grain of salt. The reviews will generally let you know of any glaring issues with a place (bad neighborhood, too small, misleading copy, etc..). As anyone who reads online reviews knows, though, some people are just whiners and complainers, so don't let a bad review or two throw you off a place that appeals to you.

2) Make SURE you look at whether it's a whole house or a portion of a house or a room in a house. Some people don't care, but I don't really want to share a living room with the owner of the house. If you don't read closely, that can happen (happened to my wife on a recent business trip to Denver when she let her business partner book... she had to pass through the dude's living room to go in/out and he was sitting there vaping resin every time she went in / out).

3) If you want good reviews as a renter, clean the freaking place up a bit before you leave. It's not a hotel. You don't have to wash all the sheets and scrub the floors, but picking up, doing the dishes, and maybe sweeping the floor will make people very happy. I'm a 5 star with glowing reviews. And I'll say that it makes a difference. I had someone cancel a place on me when we first started using, because I didn't have any reviews at that point and was traveling with children. I think she was just leery. Since I've had glowing reviews in my profile, though, we always get accepted to anywhere we try to rent.

Never used it, but dirty sheets is unacceptable. Im at the point when I travel I bring my own bedding. The thought of other people on the same sheets makes my skin crawl.

[Rain Man]

Sometimes I feel like I should carry my own fork when I travel. Doesn't it make sense that we would all have our own forks?

[BWillie]

What do you guys know about buying property or a condo somewhere, and renting it out as a vacation rental or AirBNB? I want to sell one of my rental houses here and buy a place in Vegas. I would stay in it about 5 weeks of the year, and the rest of the time I would rent it out. I just want to hire someone to do it all, cleaning, maintenance, landscaping, finding guests etc. Is it feasible to make a 5-8k of profit per year doing this on a 200-300k property? I would be buying the property with cash all up front so that might help.

I looked into buying a condo at Signature at MGM Grand but it doesn't appear the owners really make any money. It seems like it's a real pain in the ass to do it at Palms Place or Panorama Towers, and much of those are outside my price range anyway. Maybe something just off the strip or even a house I can AirBNB.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by BWillie

What do you guys know about buying property or a condo somewhere, and renting it out as a vacation rental or AirBNB? I want to sell one of my rental houses here and buy a place in Vegas. I would stay in it about 5 weeks of the year, and the rest of the time I would rent it out. I just want to hire someone to do it all, cleaning, maintenance, landscaping, finding guests etc. Is it feasible to make a 5-8k of profit per year doing this on a 200-300k property? I would be buying the property with cash all up front so that might help.

I looked into buying a condo at Signature at MGM Grand but it doesn't appear the owners really make any money. It seems like it's a real pain in the ass to do it at Palms Place or Panorama Towers, and much of those are outside my price range anyway. Maybe something just off the strip or even a house I can AirBNB.

A lot of condos have strict rules about your ability to rent out the unit, and I've heard that many outright prohibit airbnbs. Look before you leap by talking with the condo association.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by rocknrolla

Never used it, but dirty sheets is unacceptable. Im at the point when I travel I bring my own bedding. The thought of other people on the same sheets makes my skin crawl.

I'm talking about the guests don't have to wash the sheets, just make the bed (or pile the linens if they request it). I assume that the hosts wash the linens (that would be gross otherwise). Most AirBNBs I've been in are pristine and freshly cleaned. I'm sure some of them are cleaned by the hosts, but many seem to be cleaned by professional cleaning crews (as hosts are often remote).

My post was just suggesting that if you pick up the house and leave it looking decent, hosts appreciate it rather than leaving it a wreck. It might not make a practical difference to them (if they're hiring cleaners or stripping beds), but it shows that you respect their property.

[Mahomes]

Just provide WiFi, cleanliness, little contact unless called upon, a/c-fan, small complimentary items, parking spot and a small itemized list of attractions or tips near by and you will become a super host in no time and have constant traffic