Trying to ween myself off of Airbnb

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Trying to ween myself off of Airbnb

Brian Eilering
Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes

As everyone is rushing to get into the Airbnb market, we have been in it long enough to want to get off of their platform altogether.

We still want to do short-term rentals just not on Airbnb due to their guest-friendly company policies.

We are not in a vacation area so VRBO produced next to nothing.  We actually cater to workers coming in and out of our area.  We love the aspect of the 30-90 day guest.  We have our units on Furnished Finder and it fills some of our calendars, just not all of them.  

Does anyone have experience with other sites or strategies doing short-term rentals....not on Airbnb?

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Collin HaysBusiness Member
Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
3y

We do not list our properties on Airbnb due to ethical concerns. I am all about the customer, but when Airbnb forced hosts to give refunds indefinitely during COVID, no questions asked, we felt that to be completely unethical:

Airbnb was essentially placing the homeowner in the position of insurer, with the homeowner absorbing all of the financial brunt of cancellations. That’s not what hosts signed up for. Death, illness, job loss, and all sorts of other valid issues, can cause an unexpected cancellation.  That’s why you buy travel insurance.  

Meanwhile, for all the cancellations that were insured - guests that purchased the insurance pushed by Airbnb - Airbnb simply pocketed all of the premiums, not giving a dime to the hosts!  How they escaped a DOJ or FTC inquiry is truly incredible.

If I was forced to do business with Airbnb, I would simply shut down the business.

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  • Paul Sandhu
    Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:


    We are not in a vacation area so VRBO produced next to nothing.  We actually cater to workers coming in and out of our area.

    Same situation here.  I rent to refinery contractors.  Craigslist, a billboard in the contractor lot, plus I do their pre-employment drug screens and I give them a pen or calendar of scantily clad women with my number on it. 
    4Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y

    Those seem to be great marketing ideas for your scenario, ours is a little more widespread though.  We have guests from many different walks of life and several different industries.  Not sure if I can be quite as direct as you but love the ideas!

    0Reply
  • John Carbone
    Realtor · Gatlinburg · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 957 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:

    Those seem to be great marketing ideas for your scenario, ours is a little more widespread though.  We have guests from many different walks of life and several different industries.  Not sure if I can be quite as direct as you but love the ideas!


     Airbnb knows this, that is why they cater to the guest. Depending how many properties you have it may not be worth it and you may need to just treat it as cost of doing business on Airbnb. 

    2Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @John Carbone:
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:

    Those seem to be great marketing ideas for your scenario, ours is a little more widespread though.  We have guests from many different walks of life and several different industries.  Not sure if I can be quite as direct as you but love the ideas!


     Airbnb knows this, that is why they cater to the guest. Depending how many properties you have it may not be worth it and you may need to just treat it as cost of doing business on Airbnb. 


     We always have considered it the cost of doing business but their terrible policies continue to rear their ugly heads time and time again.  So massively frustrating we are almost willing to pull them off entirely.  Hoping someone here has an idea or two that has served them well they might be able to share with the group.

    2Reply
  • Carolyn Fuller
    Cambridge, MA · Member since 2015 · 651 posts · 736 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:

    As everyone is rushing to get into the Airbnb market, we have been in it long enough to want to get off of their platform altogether.

    We still want to do short-term rentals just not on Airbnb due to their guest-friendly company policies.

    Sorry but I think all of us should be in the guest / tenant-friendly business. At least those of us who want to be super successful. Even with my long term tenants, I try to maintain this attitude and it pays huge dividends.

    4Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y

    We absolutely do too!  We treat everyone with respect and bend over backward for them all!  We love most of the guests, they are not the problem.  I just want to try to fill our calendars outside of the Airbnb platform while still providing excellent service for our guests.

    1Reply
  • Kathy Cooper
    Investor · Naples, ME · Member since 2019 · 54 posts · 40 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:

    As everyone is rushing to get into the Airbnb market, we have been in it long enough to want to get off of their platform altogether.

    We still want to do short-term rentals just not on Airbnb due to their guest-friendly company policies.

    We are not in a vacation area so VRBO produced next to nothing.  We actually cater to workers coming in and out of our area.  We love the aspect of the 30-90 day guest.  We have our units on Furnished Finder and it fills some of our calendars, just not all of them.  

    Does anyone have experience with other sites or strategies doing short-term rentals....not on Airbnb?


     I deleted my Airbnb account when they began the whole "sharing data with China" thing. I've had my bad bouts with the company a few times and just don't like the way they do business... I wish VRBO would bring constant bookings, but only in vaca areas. I too am looking for other platforms. I think there is a huge opportunity out there for a new platform. This being said, there are many new platforms charging listing fees and bring 0 results. It's a pickle right now. 

    4Reply
  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    3y

    I've never worried about what Airbnb is doing as we get so few bookings from them. Me get most all our bookings from Vrbo.

    1Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Kathy Cooper:
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:

    As everyone is rushing to get into the Airbnb market, we have been in it long enough to want to get off of their platform altogether.

    We still want to do short-term rentals just not on Airbnb due to their guest-friendly company policies.

    We are not in a vacation area so VRBO produced next to nothing.  We actually cater to workers coming in and out of our area.  We love the aspect of the 30-90 day guest.  We have our units on Furnished Finder and it fills some of our calendars, just not all of them.  

    Does anyone have experience with other sites or strategies doing short-term rentals....not on Airbnb?


     I deleted my Airbnb account when they began the whole "sharing data with China" thing. I've had my bad bouts with the company a few times and just don't like the way they do business... I wish VRBO would bring constant bookings, but only in vaca areas. I too am looking for other platforms. I think there is a huge opportunity out there for a new platform. This being said, there are many new platforms charging listing fees and bring 0 results. It's a pickle right now. 


     I too think there is a HUGE opportunity for a platform to come along that will treat their hosts as well as their guests.  I wish I had the manpower and ability to produce the platform but I simply don't.

    1Reply
  • Kathy Cooper
    Investor · Naples, ME · Member since 2019 · 54 posts · 40 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Carolyn Fuller:
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:

    As everyone is rushing to get into the Airbnb market, we have been in it long enough to want to get off of their platform altogether.

    We still want to do short-term rentals just not on Airbnb due to their guest-friendly company policies.

    Sorry but I think all of us should be in the guest / tenant-friendly business. At least those of us who want to be super successful. Even with my long term tenants, I try to maintain this attitude and it pays huge dividends.


     It only takes one bad guest problem with Airbnb to realize they probably won't believe you, and will believe a lying guest...it can be bad, although rare. They are horrible when there are issues with guests. I had one that wouldn't leave on check-out day, and he did alot of damage to the home. It was a nightmare. Airbnb didn't care, and doubted me. crazy... I have excellent customer service, but sometimes, there are guests looking to scam...although very rare.  All this being said, good luck.

    5Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Kathy Cooper:
    Quote from @Carolyn Fuller:
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:

    As everyone is rushing to get into the Airbnb market, we have been in it long enough to want to get off of their platform altogether.

    We still want to do short-term rentals just not on Airbnb due to their guest-friendly company policies.

    Sorry but I think all of us should be in the guest / tenant-friendly business. At least those of us who want to be super successful. Even with my long term tenants, I try to maintain this attitude and it pays huge dividends.


     It only takes one bad guest problem with Airbnb to realize they probably won't believe you, and will believe a lying guest...it can be bad, although rare. They are horrible when there are issues with guests. I had one that wouldn't leave on check-out day, and he did alot of damage to the home. It was a nightmare. Airbnb didn't care, and doubted me. crazy... I have excellent customer service, but sometimes, there are guests looking to scam...although very rare.  All this being said, good luck.


     This is currently happening to me as we speak.  The reservation was canceled on their end due to lack of payment and she won't leave.  Airbnb is doing nothing about it.  Even as a Superhost, they have done nothing to aid us in this scenario.  It is literally the straw for me which is why I'm looking for new avenues.  Looking forward to ideas and strategies anyone may have!

    3Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @John Underwood:

    I've never worried about what Airbnb is doing as we get so few bookings from them. Me get most all our bookings from Vrbo.


     I tried VRBO and had zero results, it's just a regional thing.  Our area is not vacation at all, it is a working town.  Wish I could use them, would do so if the results were there!

    2Reply
  • Melissa Bovee
    Investor · CA: Lake Tahoe Berkeley, San Diego; Boise ID; Las Vegas NV · Member since 2019 · 88 posts · 74 votes
    3y

    I think the only alternative is direct booking. Pay for ads to drive traffic to your own website. I assume all the PMS systems support this and provide you with the widget to place on your website to allow guests to book. I am actually planning on (have been for a while…) setting this up then blasting all my past guests, inviting them to direct book next time they visit. 

    3Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Melissa Bovee:

    I think the only alternative is direct booking. Pay for ads to drive traffic to your own website. I assume all the PMS systems support this and provide you with the widget to place on your website to allow guests to book. I am actually planning on (have been for a while…) setting this up then blasting all my past guests, inviting them to direct book next time they visit. 


     We do have our own website so that could work.  I am not familiar with pay-for ads but thought this could be a viable option.  Any tips on paying for ads?

    0Reply
  • Paul Sandhu
    Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y

    I had some psychotic mutt tenants that decided they didn't want to pay their weekly rent after about 6 months. They were blowing all their money at a casino. I decided to have their utilities disconnected. They did this. They jumped the 2 hot lugs from the pole to the 2 lugs that feed the breaker. There is a 'tard on here that works for the Carls that doesn't understand what I said. You know who you are. After 2 days they moved into someone elses STR that I recommended. This was their first STR and had been advertised for about 5 days. 2 problems solved. Got rid of my tenants, got rid of my competition. They never did another STR after that.

    1Reply
  • Collin HaysBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y

    We do not list our properties on Airbnb due to ethical concerns. I am all about the customer, but when Airbnb forced hosts to give refunds indefinitely during COVID, no questions asked, we felt that to be completely unethical:

    Airbnb was essentially placing the homeowner in the position of insurer, with the homeowner absorbing all of the financial brunt of cancellations. That’s not what hosts signed up for. Death, illness, job loss, and all sorts of other valid issues, can cause an unexpected cancellation.  That’s why you buy travel insurance.  

    Meanwhile, for all the cancellations that were insured - guests that purchased the insurance pushed by Airbnb - Airbnb simply pocketed all of the premiums, not giving a dime to the hosts!  How they escaped a DOJ or FTC inquiry is truly incredible.

    If I was forced to do business with Airbnb, I would simply shut down the business.

    [email protected]806-672-7102
    SMOKY MOUNTAIN FALLS INC.51 Review
    WebsiteView Page
    6Reply
  • Brian Eilering
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 58 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Collin Hays:

    We do not list our properties on Airbnb due to ethical concerns. I am all about the customer, but when Airbnb forced hosts to give refunds indefinitely during COVID, no questions asked, we felt that to be completely unethical:

    Airbnb was essentially placing the homeowner in the position of insurer, with the homeowner absorbing all of the financial brunt of cancellations. That’s not what hosts signed up for. Death, illness, job loss, and all sorts of other valid issues, can cause an unexpected cancellation.  That’s why you buy travel insurance.  

    Meanwhile, for all the cancellations that were insured - guests that purchased the insurance pushed by Airbnb - Airbnb simply pocketed all of the premiums, not giving a dime to the hosts!  How they escaped a DOJ or FTC inquiry is truly incredible.

    If I was forced to do business with Airbnb, I would simply shut down the business.


    May I ask how you have been filling your calendars?
    1Reply
  • Adam Martin
    Rental Property Investor · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y

    I'm coming from the other end on this as I don't have any STR's but have rented a few. Is your market repeat customers at all? I recently rented a cabin and when I left they sent me a coupon for 5% off if I book with them again but use their site vs. VRBO where I booked from. 5% is not much but still a savings and I would prefer them to make the money vs. a listing platform so we'll probably use it next fall. While this may not completely solve your problem and get rid of them completely it is a way to stick it to them and build repeat customers.

    3Reply
  • Paul Sandhu
    Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:
    May I ask how you have been filling your calendars?

    Calendars.  There are several websites where you can order custom calendars.  They can have any sort of theme.  Scenery, cars, animals, historic places, women in bikinis, etc.  Each year I get 500 of the women in bikini calendars with my advertising on it.  The calendars cost 79 cents each.  The theme of the calendars matches the demographics of my typical renter.  I give every renter half a dozen calendars and tell them to take them home and give them to their friends.  My typical renter is a high school graduate making $150k a year as a welder, fitter, boilermaker, electrician or inspector.

    3Reply
  • Collin HaysBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brian Eilering:
    Quote from @Collin Hays:

    We do not list our properties on Airbnb due to ethical concerns. I am all about the customer, but when Airbnb forced hosts to give refunds indefinitely during COVID, no questions asked, we felt that to be completely unethical:

    Airbnb was essentially placing the homeowner in the position of insurer, with the homeowner absorbing all of the financial brunt of cancellations. That’s not what hosts signed up for. Death, illness, job loss, and all sorts of other valid issues, can cause an unexpected cancellation.  That’s why you buy travel insurance.  

    Meanwhile, for all the cancellations that were insured - guests that purchased the insurance pushed by Airbnb - Airbnb simply pocketed all of the premiums, not giving a dime to the hosts!  How they escaped a DOJ or FTC inquiry is truly incredible.

    If I was forced to do business with Airbnb, I would simply shut down the business.


    May I ask how you have been filling your calendars?

    We have our own website as well as list on the VRBO channels.  Most of our properties rent 300 nights per year.

    [email protected]806-672-7102
    SMOKY MOUNTAIN FALLS INC.51 Review
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Leslie Anne Morris
    Real Estate Agent · Smoky Mountains, TN · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 984 votes
    3y

    We focus on increasing direct bookings via Google Ads and name recognition.

    2Reply
  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Carolyn Fuller:

    You're completely missing the point. Of course we are all in the guest business and want to provide out guests with wonderful experiences. The OP @Brian Eilering is wanting to stop doing business with ABNB because of their overly tolerant attitude and policies that strongly favor guests over hosts when there are any disagreements. 

    There a many of us here that feel the same. And it's not just that, it's their overall lack of support period for either side. And their apparent inability to find anyone that speaks decent English to work in their customer or Tech support divisions. I could go on but you should get the point....

    6Reply
  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
    3y

    @Brian Eilering Do a search and you will see that you are not alone... :-)

    My thoughts are: 1) You say that VRBO has not worked for you  (yet?) I would not abandon them as they are spending a huge amount of $$ trying to regain market dominance. Look up last year's Superbowl ad for starters.

    2) I would try out the other booking platforms....Booking.com, Trip Advisor, Houfy,  Etc... You never know which one might be your goldmine...!

    3) You have to build and enlarge the presence of your own website. I built one last year but have not spent any time developing or advertising it. So I gotta get on that too.

    4) Explore Facebook and Craigslist. Some people on here swear by them, I have not yet really gotten into them as I should.

    5) Word of mouth and return guests, especially return guests! We are starting to get the advantage of this market. We promote this with all our guests, after they leave. Text/email/verbally....

    Good luck, and PM if you want to, you are definitely not alone!

    1Reply
  • JD MartinBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    3y

    I have gotten a lot of traffic and traction off of Booking.com and filled a lot of empty dates that weren't coming in on the Airbnb/VRBO site. BUT - and this is a huge but - there are some serious caveats you need to keep in mind:

    1. You need to have your own ability to take payment. We have our own portals - we have all the major stuff already because of our LTR company - Stripe, Square, Zelle, Paypal, etc - but if you don't have this, you will need to get it to use Booking.com. Eventually, I'm told, you get to be a gold star type host and they'll collect payment for you, but no one can tell me when or how this will work because...

    2. They're a foreign company and not very easy to work with. Reps speak rudimentary english at best. You will spend some time on the front end waiting on long holds, and you'll do this because...

    3. They don't charge the guest's credit cards, only take them to book on your calendar - so if the guest cancels during your "no cancellation" period, you are SOL because you don't have the CC number and can't see the CC number. Eventually, I'm told, you can see this once you're a gold-star type host, but until then the info is masked so you have no way of pre-authorizing or charging the card. You have to physically contact the guest yourself to get their credit card info to have them pay through an outside portal (like those I listed). And because they don't actually charge the CC and you have no way of charging the CC until they pay...

    4. You get a decent number of scam and "lookey loo" bookers, because they know they haven't actually paid for anything. This ends up being a problem because once someone books, they've locked you into that booking according to booking.com's rules - you can't cancel until they day they don't contact you with a valid credit card. 

    So I have had my battles with them. I've done a lot of traffic and stays with them so far - probably 50% compared to 50% total Airbnb/VRBO - but I have worked for that money for sure. 

    If you use them, I would highly recommend blocking out high-value dates on their platform and leave them open on the other platforms, and either manually sync your calendars or just leave the booking calendar off of VRBO/AirBnb, because you don't want some BS booking clogging up Christmas, New Years, etc. 

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  • Mike Dymski
    Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    3y

    Unfortunately, Airbnb is a key dependency of the business model.  The cost of guest-friendly policies need to be expected and included in the underwriting.

    I am building a hybrid apartment/hotel and our platform will push the listing out to all OTAs for greater marketing reach and eliminate the key vendor dependency/risk...and our communication will guide repeat guests, including a lot of monthly stays, to our site for rebooking (which will save cost for guests and us).  That's the benefit of scale, which unfortunately does not help your situation.

    1Reply
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