All Forum Posts by: Kyler J Sloan

@Carolyn Fuller and @Melissa Bovee I realize this now, after responding with a message asking them to give me some time to think it through and then explaining that I had a 4WD requirement, and reminders send immediately following their booking

They thanked me for the information and proceeded to advise the guest to send me a money request. 

The guest then sent me a message saying they only wanted the refund for the guest service fee, though I am somewhat doubtful this is all she requested. 

Airbnb gets a bad rep, but they have handled things pretty fairly in my experience. 

Thank you all for the advice. 

I am curious if Airbnb has tried to compel other hosts to issue a refund in spite of your policy. Has this happened to anyone else? 

I had a guest who did not bring a 4WD in spite of my 4WD requirement (with chians in the winter), and seemed to agree that the fault was her own for not doing so, and that everything was fully disclosed in the listing. 

A couple of weeks later, I got a message from Airbnb attempting to get my consent to issue her the full refund "before they start a process". 

Any ideas or similar experiences? 

What can I expect if I say "no"? 

Thanks in advance for any feedback. 

@JD Martin Yeah, I will certainly not repeat that mistake. As for the mice, exterminators said that method was futile considering that they can get through a hole the size of a dime. Also, mice do not migrate great distances. If you kill those that are making their way into your house, you have likely removed the problem for the foreseeable future. In the summer, they stayed in my shed. They build nests and particularly in the winter stay fairly close to them. This, at least, was my reasoning. 

The complaint she had for leaving early was that of mice. 

I have an exterminator scheduled for the 8th but agreed to let her leave early so that I could spend the next couple of days while it is vacant setting traps literally everywhere doing my best to rid myself of them before my next guest arrived. 

That was the only reason I agreed to issue the refund. 

But, then she decided to stay the last night after it was given. 

I'll contact Airbnb and ask them not to withhold the refund amount from my next payout since they decided to stay.  

How to proceed if a guest requests a partial credit for leaving early, accepts alteration request, and then pretty much says, "Thanks. We will be leaving in morning. I'll let you know.'

@Martin Smith As a multi-generational realtor, you are vested in this. I was addressing the role of an agent in general, not as it pertains to my state. 

In your second paragraph, I think you dramatically over-estimate the role of agents in the vast majority of transactions. They are hardly "experts" in any sense. In my opinion, the industry ought to change to bring buyers and sellers more autotomy to educate themselves and go direct with one another, should they so choose. With technology advancing to the point it has, many of the tasks performed by agents can be automated, and market data is readily available to determine fair market value. If appraisals are taken before an offer is made, that provides the basis for negotiation -- the buyers and sellers can then negotiate down or up according to their personal considerations. Ultimately, brokerage companies should be allowed to die. Instead, they are looking for ways to convince others that they are still relevant or necessary. 

As to what value I bring, It is pretty simple -- I am paying him exactly what his house is worth, and am sparing him the need to get an agent, list his place, sort through the various offers, deal with drama and price haggling, etc. 

That in and of itself is worth a lot to some people. 

The more relevant question is -- what value could you bring to us?

Any answer you offer will be patronizing at its core. 

@Nate Sanow Yeah, I understand it cannot be generally advisable. 

However, this is a unique situation. The seller is my neighbor, and I have ideas for combining the parcels with complementing amenities, connecting trails, etc. 

He already has an appraisal and can wait it out until prices rise again. 

This is my way of sounding reasonable for asking under value -- to appraise again, offer at that, and then decrease by 6% since we are forgoing the commissions. 

By speaking with him, he would sit on it rather than go down further. 

There are a LOT of advantages of having this adjacent property. I would own an entire mountainside (think STR's)

@Martin Smith No offence, but you are completely biased. I will hear advice from those who are not vested as agents, or who do this with their own deals. 

As to your statements, well why not just get it done without a broker or real estate agent? 

After all, you just need the relevant people involved, as per the following link: 

How To Buy A House Without A REALTOR® | Rocket Mortgage

My next purchase will probably be made with a Homestyle Renovation Loan. 

I agreed to pay the seller the appraised value seeing as prices have dropped a lot in my area. 

However, the way this loan works -- the renovation costs are rolled into the mortgage; unless the final home value post-renovation, I have to come up with the difference. 

To prevent that from happening, I wanted to negotiate the price down 6% by excluding the commission costs.  

Either I get my license and forgo my commission and request that the seller goes unrepresented, or I find one of these "DIY Brokerage Companies" to save on the commission. 

** Note: I realize that, in the former case, a broker will still take a cut. However, there are options which take a small fee, rather than a large cut of the buyers commission.

Does anyone know of good options? 

Thanks in advance

Thanks everyone. 

I was going to save for a down payment on my next house but I think a couple of glamping sites on the land I already own would have a higher ROI.

I wanted to take a HELOC if and when prices rise again and wondered how I could max its appraised value.