All Forum Posts by: Grant Woodward

Ensure they have good review history. For me that means at least 1 good review and no negative reviews. I think most hosts give 5 stars unless there is a serious issue so even a 4 star is a red flag for me that I would check into. 

If they don't have any review history, ask a lot of questions (e.g., what brings them to the area?) ask them to confirm they understand your policies (no parties, no extra guests that aren't included in the reservation, etc.) before accepting their reservation request. 

If anything seems off, I would not be afraid to decline the request and let them know that you aren't able to accommodate. With that being said, I probably only deny a couple of requests per year and the vast majority of guests are great!

Most everyone has their own preferred streaming services now and it's easy to log in to your own accounts anywhere you go. When you log in to your own account you can continue watching shows where you left off, see your favorites, etc.

I use Roku TVs and set them up in guest mode so that the Wi-Fi is already connected and all they have to do is log in to the apps. They set their departure date on the Roku guest mode and it logs them out automatically at the end of their stay. I've never had any complaints regarding this and I think most people probably prefer it.

Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

I am angry. I received 2 emails yesterday from Airbnb. One for each of two listings. They were identical stating that I am breaking Airbnb policy going off platform. The emails themselves make it sound like I am communicating off platform and taking business from them. I am not. I opened a case and spoke with someone that said it is because in my description I state that the guest must pay a registration fee when they arrive at the condo and that they do not all this. I told them this is for parking a car but they said that’s not allowed. I told them I have gone to many Airbnb’s where free parking is not included and they actually told me that those places are also in violation. What??? I’ve updated my listing to remove the reference to the fee and selected the paid parking amenity but I’m not convinced that they won’t delist my properties in the next 7 days. Has anyone encountered this and if so, what did you do? They told me to collect the fee up front which obviously I cannot do. I would need the car registration number, etc. I love hosting but some days it can be so frustrating. 

That is very frustrating indeed. Hopefully they won't delist you since you took action and updated your listing right away.

Is it possible to collect the fee up front, then document the vehicle information upon arrival?

I believe you can do this but it will not allow guests to switch between modes. In other words, guests will only be able to control the AC between your locked min/max temperatures, but they would not be able to change to heat mode. This may work in certain climates or seasonally, but I've ran into issues with it during "in-between" seasons where both cooling and heating was needed, so I ultimately just turned it off.

An alternate perspective from someone in a larger city market - I am hesitant to put my STRs on Google maps. I worry it may be more likely to attract unwanted attention than it would be to attract future guests.

I've noticed that at least half of the guests I've had ask for an early check in don't actually use it. The worst was someone recently that asked to check in at noon in order to "beat the heat and traffic". I contacted my cleaners to check their schedule and personally walked the unit to coordinate the early check in. 

I checked the ring camera to make sure the guests were able to get in and noticed that they still weren't there at 7pm. I reached out to make sure everything was ok and they stated that they had left at 4am but underestimated the drive time. I'm not sure how it's possible to underestimate travel time by 7+ hours.

I think some people just want to see how much the host is willing to give. Usually those same people tend to be the more needy and troublesome guests. 

With all of that being said, I will continue to offer early check in for free when I know it's available as I do think it is a nice gesture and likely leads to a positive first impression. Late checkout really just depends on whether or not I have guests arriving the same day.

This forum in combination with some of the bigger pockets YouTube channels have all the information you could ever need. 

Sorry to hear you are going through this. That's a very frustrating ordeal. I have a very similar situation at a property in Kansas City. There are some beautifully renovated 125+ year old mansions in the neighborhood and other properties that are in varying states of neglect and disrepair (even some with windows boarded up on the same block). 

I would not start panicking and immediately assume that you will need to sell or shift to long term rental. I've done very well with my similar property (almost all 5-star reviews, super host status, etc.) and I believe one key is ensuring that your listing clearly conveys the current situation of the neighborhood. In my listing I highlight the fact that it is a very up and coming and desirable area going through rapid redevelopment, super close proximity to many things to do, historical facts about the area, etc. I even found a few books that the neighborhood group put together that detail the history of the are and I leave copies of those in the unit.

Spin it in a positive light while still letting people know what they are getting into, provide a clean and well put together place for them, and I've found that many of my guests end up commenting on how cool the neighborhood is.

One of my first Airbnb stays was at an apartment in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn back in 2014 and from the outside it looked like an abandoned building and the intro to a horror movie. It turned out to be a super cool place inside and I couldn't have asked for a better stay. Unfortunately, it sounds like you ran into someone who had very specific expectations and no willingness to give it a chance. 

Feel free to DM me if you'd like help reviewing your listing or want to see if you can glean anything from mine. 

Quote from @Michael Hefferon:

@Grant Woodward - I experienced this too, and it was always older guests at night. We changed our communications to 3 days and 7am the morning of with specific instructions including to press the schlage button and this eliminated 90% of our issues with this lock. 

Great to hear I'm not alone and there isn't some weird issue with the lock itself. I will try the same with my instructions and I suppose there is always the key in the lockbox as a last resort. 

Thanks all for the helpful replies! Both times there has been an issue it was after dark and my perception is that neither group had any experience with smart locks.

I actually was not aware that pressing the Schlage button would illuminate the keypad. I will be adding this to my instructions and potentially a video.

I also like the idea of sending two automated messages with the instructions and their keycode. I've currently been sending one message two days prior to check in but I will try shifting to 3 days and 1 day prior.