All Forum Posts by: Laura Winters

Wonder if they will refund my fee! 

 Yes, all my listings pulled bad reviews to top when they have hundreds of other good and more recent reviews. I think they want to mix bad and good reviews. Even the bad reviews are 1% of overall reviews which is the problem with this change. 

 Yeah not sure why they think pulling old bad reviews to the top was a good idea. I know Airbnb used to encourage employees to host on Airbnb. I understand they got too big too fast and probably these values are lost. If they ever hosted before, they wouldn't make changes like this.

I think delisting bad properties are good thing for good hosts like us. They are the reason why Airbnb has a bad reputation. I actually think there are too many bad listings right now. A lot of listings are illegal and borderline safe hazards. I could tell the Airbnb I visited in developing countries all had hidden cameras in the house. Maybe that is the culture and norm there but I think it is just not the right thing to do.

 The problem is if you get hundreds and thoursands reviews, you will receive bad reviews no matter how perfect your service is. It is a matter of when not if. Some people simply say 5 stars don’t exist because God is the only perfect thing in this world. The issue is those lower rating reviews is showing on top regardless of how irrelevant the review is to the current booking. The Airbnb’s policy toward review has been, that bad reviews happen so just do better to collect 5-star review to bury the bad ones. Now this doesn’t work anymore

There is no law for this specific matter, just like thousands of other things that people don't do even though there is no law. I guess the seller technically can sell it just like you can sell pretty much anything.

It is a matter of whether the seller can find a realtor willing to work on the property with an active contract/issue, and find a buyer willing to buy the property knowing this ongoing issue. Can the seller not disclose this matter? Absolutely. Is it ethical and make any sense? No, what if the writter put a lien or court claim on the house while the sale is going through? There are just so many problems that can happen for a few thousand dollars of EM. If I am buying a house and find out later that things are going on that the seller didn't tell me, I am going to bring my A+ team to comb through every single inch before buying it. Even after all that, will the lender approve this? I am not sure since I am not an FHA lender.

Since the whole thing started because of the appraisal value, I believe the deal is not even amazing, that buyers will ignore strings attached. Real Estate is not just about code and regulations. It existed way before any of the laws or regulations existed, and it will still exist even after all the laws are removed. 

 I think Dan H explained it more clearly in the comment. You can’t sell the property normally if you have an issue hanging like this. If the seller signed the release, title company would not have a problem sending the deposit back. Sounds like the seller is refusing to sign the release and he can’t sell the house if he has an existing contract. 

If you don’t sign the release or agreement, the seller can’t sell the house until it is resolved. The time is on your side unless the seller is planning to not sell the property since now he knows that he needs to find a cash buyer to sell the property at the asking price. 

Yes, you lower the price, your occupancy rate goes up. That is the market economy. If you are having 90% occupancy during the winter season, your price is way below the market unless you are in the winter season market. (If then, your occupancy should be up naturally compared to 3 months ago without doing anything) 

If you want to compare occupancy, you need to do year-to-year comparison. You fixed a lot of things and you are heading in the right direction! Congratulation

If this is for watering your garden after guests pop it... XD

 Hahaha I think their intention was great XD