All Forum Posts by: Logan Fast

@Max Fleissner it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't have a chance to see it before my cleaner went through, but he said it wasn't terrible. I did go check it out after and it still reeked of the cigarettes they were chainsmoking all week along with some used band-aids hanging from door frame (meth stuff?) my cleaner didn't see, but other than that no permanent damage. 

@Michaela G. yeah I've seen they aren't too strict about background checks for people that use the platform. Doesn't seem to matter if you are a convicted felon or a sex offender.

Side note: The downstairs apartment was vacant during the last 2 days of their stay and someone broke in and stole a couple TVs. Not saying it was them, but it wouldn't have been too hard for them to tell nobody was home down there. It could just have easily been someone that stayed there the past couple weeks. It's not a huge loss, maybe a few hundred bucks, but definitely a wake-up call to increase security. 

@Jesse Scroggins other tag didn't work ^

@Jesse Scroggins they weren't helpful at all. They kept dodging my questions and telling me another department deals with that, or they have procedures in place in case he does break things/refuse to leave/smokes meth in my place, etc. But they don't actually let you talk to a different department to see what these procedures are. 

@Eric Siebert you can definitely set up restrictions, but this will most likely lead to more vacancies. But like Jenessa said, vacancies are better than dealing with these kinds of people. It's hard to figure out how many restrictions to put up because it isn't a luxury property so I can't afford to be that picky or else nobody will ever stay there.

@Jenessa NeSmith I didn't realize it was so common for locals to do this! They just prey on those cheap last-minute bookings (with mine at least). It doesn't turn me off to the whole model, just makes me think twice and ask another question or two each time someone with a new profile and no recommendations tries to book my place. I've found it really isn't that hard to spot the difference between these sketchy guests and someone who won't cause any harm. I even knew it was a little sketchy when I let them book, I just overlooked it to get some revenue/reviews going and minimize vacancies.  Even with the people downstairs that trashed it, I still made more money than I would have if I denied them. And for some reason they still gave me 5 stars! Maybe not a sustainable business model, but I am finding it to be a great learning experience and I'm glad it happened so early.

I went ahead and let the guy stay the week that he paid for. I didn't have any proof that he was doing anything wrong and I didn't want to piss him off and give him any reason to trash my place. I was very nice and accommodating and I haven't hinted at the fact that I know he is probably doing meth in there. That being said, he is supposed to leave tomorrow at noon, so we will see how it all plays out! Update to come...

Hey Owen, I personally would prefer if they were all vacant. I'm looking to do short term rentals/house hack so long term tenants would make it much less appealing to me. Can you PM me more details about this triplex?

Accepting all reservations on air bnb and using "smart pricing". The smart pricing makes it very cheap for last minute stays and attracts a certain crowd. A lot of junkies will make an account to book these cheap places last minute so all of their friends have a place to get high for the next week. I'm dealing with this right now...This guest has 5 more nights at my place doing meth and other drugs with his buddies. Air bnb and the police aren't as helpful as you might think they would be. Moral of the story... vacancies are far better than an occupied unit with a terrible tenant A couple hundred bucks isn't worth the damage he is causing to my place, not to mention the hassle of it all.

I did send an email to Air BnB and I'm waiting to hear back from a friend in the police department as well. I just don't want to piss off the guest by calling the police and not having their cooperation as this could give him a reason to cause more trouble. Leaving a mess is one thing... but I'd like to avoid him wrecking the whole apartment. I want to make sure I can give them the right to enter the property if necessary without violating the guests rights.

I am still a new host and air bnb has not been what I expected so far to say the least. I have a guest who booked yesterday for a week. He had a new profile and not much info, so I was a little suspicious but let him book anyways. I saw a post from another Omaha host about a guy smoking weed and leaving meth traces (and used needles) scattered at her place, so I asked her who the guy was. Of course it's the same guy! He has 6 more nights booked and I need to get him out asap. Do I have permission to let the cops enter that apartment if I smell drugs? What rights does he have? I found his felony meth arrest from 2014 if that matters.

@Michael Kugler good to know. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.

@Michael Kugler that makes sense. My question had more to do with whether or not you would have to update a separate "feeder" for each property, or if they are all on the same. From what you are saying it seems like they are all on the same feeder calendar. I'm sure it will make more sense too once I actually get in there and start playing around with it.

@Cody Purcell Thank you. I was only able to take a quick glance but from what I can tell that looks very similar to other property management software like Smart BnB or Guesty...have you found any advantages with AirGMS over the others? With Smart BnB it will cost $26 for all three listings, and AirGMS would be $20 per listing, so $60 in total per month. I would expect it to have quite a bit better functionality to justify the extra cost

@Michael Kugler that looks perfect for what I'm looking for. I'm looking into a property mgmt software as a long-term solution, but its good to know I can sync up all my calendars for free in the meantime. Does it create a separate calendar for each property (or apartment in my case) or do they all show up on the same calendar in different tiers?