Help for a Newbie

[Kathy226]

I am new to Airbnb.  I received my first inquiry, and got to thinking...how do I send a contract?  I have very specific rules (some of them community rules) that the guests need to be aware of, and I want a contract signed.  Am I not able to do this?  In the past I've emailed the contract to guests, and they sent the signed contract and payment back to me through the mail.  I've never used instant booking or anything like it.

I've also required a deposit in the past.  How do I accommodate that?

Also, I base my price on two people.  If these guests do book, I would charge them more as they would be a bigger group.  I don't know how to do that.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions you may have!

Thanks

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

@Kathy226 Sounds like you’ve gone “live” before doing your research, which could come back to bite you in the bum. I’d Snooze your listing now before you get more inquiries you’re unable to handle. Many of these questions can be answered in the Help Center. 

[Quincy]

Hello @Kathy226,

Welcome to the Community Center!

Perhaps @Willow3 @Marit-Anne0 @Branka-and-Silvia0 @Marzena4 might be able to give you some tips on this :-). 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Kathy226 @Quincy

On holiday right now with some seriously lousy wifi.

My best advise to @Kathy226 at the moment is to look up the community help guides and read them ALL.

airbnb does not work like other booking sites, there are pitfalls and a lot to learn.

[Linda108]

@Kathy226  I see that you are just getting started and have already received suggestions to your previous post that you implemented.  As to contracts and deposits:  On the Air BNB platform, unlike other platforms, a deposit is not collected.  Air BNB reserves the right to access the posted security deposit if a justified claim for damage is made. On Air BNB, you have given control of collection of fees and other financial activities to Air BNB. 

If you want a contract you can do so but must mention it in the description of your listing.  If there are rules that would impact a guest booking your place such as having to climb stairs, you can enter that information under Booking Setting.

When I first started I had many questions and did not know of this host forum. I just searched through the Help Center which is not very intuitive to me, but it was helpful.  Now there are several tutorials composed by experienced hosts posted on this site.  Just look in Help.

I wish you much success!

[Kathy226]

Thank you for your help.

I feel AirBNB may not be a good fit for me.  I want to know who is renting our home.  I want to have flexibility in rates and stays.  Case in point...

I will not rent to groups of people.  I have indicated the maximum number that can stay is 4.  I have three large bedrooms, two with king beds, one with a queen bed, and two full size couches - and the person inquiring indicated they would be 4 people, BUT they wanted to know if I had hideaway couches as they needed more sleeping space for their family.  To me this is code that they will have way more than 4 people.  So I reply to them and ask them to tell me a little more about their group, and indicate I don't rent to large groups, and I don't hear from them again.  Now, I have to decide how to handle the situation.  I was being told I need to either decline them, or send them a pre-approval or special offer.  I'm not quite sure how this works, and why Airbnb requires this.  There are many times where you are going to have someone ask a question and you are going to answer, and it isn't going to go any further than that, so why can't it just end with that - why can't you have Q & A correspondence and not have to do anything further?  Or am I missing something?

I feel I need to find another way to list my home, but have been unable to find another site.  I rented my home for 8 years on the site that they I was using, and they completely changed their business model, and if I didn't follow their business model, they wouldn't renew my listing (for which I was paying).  So now I am TRYING to find another option.

Thanks for the replies.  If anyone can think of a way I can make Airbnb work for me, I will try!

[Marit-Anne0]

@Kathy226

I believe airbnb may work for you, but you have to allocate quite some time educating yourself on how the site works. 

Most major short term letting/holiday letting sites have changed their business model in the latter years and become similar to airbnb.

airbnb do require that you accept or decline within a certain time limit and it is important that you follow or the calendar dates may be blocked. It has to do with being responsive. 

As an example, I often get requests in the middle of the night due to time differences, I still get up and deal with the booking immediately to secure the booking and to maintain a high response rate.

You should certainly decline if you suspect guests will bring a higher number of persons than your max.

[Marzena4]

First of all, sort out the prices. Find the option for extra guests, set the security deposit, a cleaning fee and so on:

And read Airbnb terms. Deposits are not collected by hosts, and for many it is an issue. What kind of stays are you planning to accommodate - long-term or short-term?