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Post by lazyfish on Nov 8, 2015 15:42:44 GMT
I'm new to hosting and am expecting my first guest shortly. It is a mountain condo in Colorado which sleeps 4. Guests will be the sole tenants (eg they're not sharing with me.)
I have spent a fair bit of effort in getting everything ready - all the amenities, pics, house rules, rental agreements, etc.
I made a conscious decision to exclude a minimum age for renters. I felt that through an exchange/discussion with the guest, I'd be able to gauge the 'type' of guest (eg if they'd leave my condo in shambles) and make a decision if I wanted to offer to host.
Today it just "got real". I received a request from International who writes that "she and her friends are all over 18 and enjoy skiing". It's an attractive booking as it for one month. Everything in her note appears responsible.
Yet, I'm stuck on the age. I am all about travel and growth, but I have concerns that my condo will be used as a crash/party pad for the duration of their stay. I have (I think) good house rules and a $250USD deposit, but am still concerned.
1. I'm curious if others have set age minimums for their homes? If so, what's been your approach. Minimum of 25? How is it validated if you're not there?
2. If you don't set a minimum ago, what has been your approach in ensuring it's a good match between guest and host?
3. As always, any other guidance/thoughts are appreciated.
Best,
Michael
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Post by High Priestess on Nov 8, 2015 16:31:39 GMT
HI Michael First, I would suggest you need a much higher security deposit. I have a security deposit higher than yours and I am only renting out rooms in my home, not an entire condo. You should consider having a security deposit commensurate with the standard security deposit for vacation rental properties similar to yours. In my state, security deposits for apartments are typically 1.5 times the monthly rental rate for the apartment. SO if the monthly rent is $2500 a month, the security deposit will be about $3700. That is the deposit for long term rental. Vacation rental deposits may be somewhat less, but not over 90% less. You want a deposit that is sufficient to be of use in the case of actual damage. We see far, far, far too many cases of hosts posting on the host groups, saying essentially that guests did $500-1600 amount of damage (for instance), and that the host had no security deposit at all, or only a $100 or $200 security deposit. Make sure you know the laws about renting out property, both in your state and nationally. This means the Federal Fair Housing Act and any housing laws in your state. It is often illegal to discriminate in housing on the basis of age, but hosts may decline any guest, and in your decline, you need not state why you are declining someone -- and in my opinion it is best to avoid stating why you are declining someone. I think what you are essentially asking is how to screen guests. The process of screening guests is an art, and one that is generally developed by experience. One helpful skill in doing good screening is to develop a good capacity for imagination. The less you are able to imagine, the more likely you will be surprised by guest issues/situations/problems that you never were able to think of in advance. By contrast, the more you are able to imagine things that might happen, the more likely you will be able to come up with questions and methods to screen out these potential problems. I can't give as many tips for your situation, as someone who rents out an entire place, since I only rent out rooms, not whole places. Which means I am always here to see who is arriving and here to see exactly what my guests are doing. I think it's safest that way. Renting out whole places is much more risky, no getting away from that. If I were renting out whole places, I would be much more cautious about renting to people who are in the 18-21 age range, just because young people of that age dont' yet generally have much experience in taking care of their own place, and may not know how to do so. But at the same time, be wary of focusing so much on age that you neglect to realize that problem guests can be of any age. Look over the sticky posts in New HOsts Forum to get some tips on hosting, and I suggest also talking to those in your area who are experienced with doing property rental, and learning from them. globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/460/guests-inquiring-stay-screening globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/456/tips-new-hosts globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/455/red-flags-hosts |
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Post by lazyfish on Nov 8, 2015 18:20:28 GMT
Deborah,
As always, thanks for your insightful response. Super helpful.
You hit it on the head. Yes, it's about the screening.
Interesting comments on the security deposits. I think there must be regional differences. Long term rentals here are 1-2x the monthly rates. While, when I checked short term rentals similar to mince, the deposits were in the $100-$250 range. I thought about going higher, but didn't want to price myself out of market.
Best,
Michael
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Post by High Priestess on Nov 8, 2015 19:37:42 GMT
When you are checking those who are listing places similar to yours, are those on Airbnb or some other site? Keep in mind many people renting out places on Airbnb and even on other sites, are new to this business, and may not know what they are doing. ANyone who is renting out an entire apartment for any period of time who has a security deposit in the range of $100-200 is in my opinion making a big mistake, and their low deposit may indicate their lack of experience. Either that or indicate that they dont' really care about damage and are content to write it all off.
SEcurity deposit amounts are not charged to the guest. So regardless of whether your deposit is $100 or $2000, guest pays no security deposit to Airbnb, and pays nothing unless they damage your property. Think of the security deposit as the largest amount you can collect in case of guests causing damage. THe deposit amount is sort of like saying, "THis is the MOST I will ask you, the guest, to pay, if you damage my property." That isn't really 100% true since in cases of vandalism the host guarantee will come into play (one hopes) and in some cases Airbnb does bill guest for more than the security deposit amount, but it is not good for you to depend upon that as it may not happen. You should view your security deposit as the largest amount you can collect from a guest in the case of ANY accidental or even negligent damage (as long as it isn't intentional damage, which is vandalism, it comes under security deposit and not host guarantee). An amount large enough to cover the cost of at least the most expensive item in your property.
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Post by High Priestess on Nov 8, 2015 19:55:04 GMT
$100 is a more or less a useless amount of security deposit -- why even bother, I wonder. $250 is a bit more reasonable, but I think for a whole apartment it should be more in the range of $400-1500. I have a $300-400 deposit just for rental bedrooms and I dont' find that it deters guests.
The way I look at it is this: to set your security deposit extremely low because others foolishly do that, is like saying, "Well, other people don't care about their property, so I guess I shouldn't care about mine either." Just because other people are doing something, doesn't make it smart or right for you to do. In some cases, hosts dont' actually have much that is of any value in their home, so they dont' have much to worry about. But if you have so much as a carpet that costs over $250, consider that you might have carpet damage that necessitates its replacement. Or a refrigerator, stove, TV, washing machine or other appliance that gets broken. Or a plumbing repair necessitated by guest abuse of the facilities. All these cost money and you may not get reimbursed if you have a small security deposit.
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Post by catchafire on Nov 9, 2015 4:10:16 GMT
We don't apply a security deposit and we have "young people" staying in our studio all the time. Everyone has been lovely. In fact the only time we have had issues have been from ladies "of a certain age".
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