Standard for receiving payment

[Robert Carter]

I have a potential guest that would like to book the weekends next fall for all football home games. When it comes to receiving payment how should I approach this? Is it standard practice to ask for full payment, half of payment upfront then other half a month before they arrive, a deposit then they pay every month until 30 days before they arrive? Should I also put the payment schedule into the rental agreement? Any assistance would be great. Haven’t dealt with this before usually I go through Airbnb but this guest came across my property thru Instagram and doesn’t want to deal with the Airbnb fees, which I can understand.

[Luke Carl]

@Robert Carter.

Your comment is very vague seems like you’re renting to friends and using PayPal. Don’t do that.

Use Vrbo or ownerrez

[Lisa Graesser]

I would send a rental agreement with all dates requested and all costs. Collect 1/2 now and 1/2 30 days prior to 1st weekend arrival. 

You receive payment with a check, PayPal, Venmo or Zelle, I have done all and not had any problem.

You might want to list your property on Houfy.com, free for guests and hosts and you can connect square or stripe and receive payments via credit card or the other options above. This site works well for me to send the link to previous bookings to receive direct bookings.

[Robert Carter]

Thanks @Lisa Graesser didn’t think of houfy.com. I’ll check into it.

@Luke Carl not trying to be vague. Really just received an inquiry outside of Airbnb which I normally use to book my rentals and they wanted multiple specific dates. I wanted to know the best way to move forward if the guest didn’t want to go thru Airbnb due to fees. Wasn’t sure what was the preferred way to gather payment since they won’t be checking in until 9 months from now. 

[Luke Carl]

Originally posted by @Robert Carter:

Thanks @Lisa Graesser didn’t think of houfy.com. I’ll check into it.

@Luke Carl not trying to be vague. Really just received an inquiry outside of Airbnb which I normally use to book my rentals and they wanted multiple specific dates. I wanted to know the best way to move forward if the guest didn’t want to go thru Airbnb due to fees. Wasn’t sure what was the preferred way to gather payment since they won’t be checking in until 9 months from now. 

 If they came through Airbnb make them book on Airbnb. It’s not worth the 15% to deal with the hassle 

[Robert Carter]

@Luke Carl it didn't come through Airbnb. I was direct message through our STR Instagram page. But normally I funnel it thru Airbnb because that's where I predominantly receive bookings (I don't have a direct booking site yet). I'll try houfy and also check out the other options. Thanks

[Joseph Bafia]

Not trying to speak for @Luke Carl but i think whats being said is if you NORMALLY book guests through Airbnb, just keep the same process and direct the guest to book there.  Have them lock in all the dates they want and all the payments are scheduled and protected.

We were recently contacted by what ended up being a scam.  A guest was inquiring about a booking and said their company was paying for his rental as an "award" for his performance and wanted to get my address to send a check.  Granted this is not the same scenario as yours, but just sharing that there are scams, people  who don't pay, etc.  Why not keep it simple and just have them book through a legit platform and make it easier.

https://help.vrbo.com/articles/What-are-the-most-common-booking-request-scams#:~:text=In%20a%20classic%20overpay%20scam,send%20the%20%22overpayment%22%20back.&text=Some%20scammers%20send%20the%20correct,before%20the%20check%20has%20cleared.

Otherwise, if they really want it and you want it boked offline, collect 100% up front for any weekends they want to book and say that if you're tying up those dates that far out, you want commitment.

I'd personally not prefer an offline method.

[Chris O.]

What’s wrong with taking direct bookings? 

[Lisa Graesser]

There is nothing wrong with taking direct booking, some would just prefer to rely on the OTA's

[Paul Sandhu]

I collect in person, at the property.