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Post by byfly on Oct 25, 2015 5:01:55 GMT
Hi!! Am brand new here and looking forward to my first guest in a few weeks. I asked a specialist if it was proper etiquette to contact current hosts in my city to get advice or tips and just to get to know them. They said definitely not but I could join a group for help. I don't see a group for my small-ish Virginia city and ended up here. I have started to read through the mountains of material here on this new host forum, which is very helpful. But it is very time consuming to weed through what is appropriate for me and my situation. I would really like a bit more personal contact on a smaller scale with some folks in my area if that is possible. Thanks!!!
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Post by catchafire on Oct 25, 2015 5:20:13 GMT
Welcome byfly. Personally, I am not so sure if I would be so "helpful" to a local newbie. Whilst the whole sharing economy is an amazing experience to be part of, I view my local fellow Airbnb's, as competitors. And as such they should be treated accordingly. I keep much of my hosting wisdom strictly to myself. But since you are not in my local area, happy to give a view on any question you might have!  |
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Post by High Priestess on Oct 25, 2015 20:37:13 GMT
HI Byfly
WElcome to the GlobalHosting Forum!
It is common for hosts in a given region to get together for socializing, networking, exchanging tips and so on. Some of the competition issue Catchafire mentions can be present, but in many areas I find hosts happy to meet each other and more glad for the mutual support than thinking of the competition issue. It is difficult for hosts in a given area to contact each other through Airbnb since you have to send a "fake Inquiry" to do that, but if you do just 2-3 of these a day, and stay off Airbnb's spam radar by not sending out 10-15 such messages a day, you might find that this is a way to meet local hosts. You could say you would like to start a local host group...perhaps you could even start a Home Sharers Chapter for your area.
My own orientation, if I was approached by a host in my area wanting help and advice, would be that I would be glad to help with one or two questions, but if someone needed more than that, I would need to charge them for my time. I have invested much time and energy to learn what I have and so if someone wanted one on one tutoring, they should expect to pay for that. However, I have also found that in small host groups in local areas, when you are not always leaning on the same person for help but can ask different questions of others, and others can ask questions of you, this can work well. It's important in community building though that if you want others to give to you, that you also offer to give to others. People who feel like you just want them to help you all the time but have nothing to give back, may become annoyed. Some reciprocation is beneficial to building relationships.
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Post by byfly on Oct 26, 2015 1:30:59 GMT
Well thank you both very much for some valuable perspectives and good advice. I will keep this all in mind as I muddle through my beginner experiences hosting. I guess I was just hoping to be on friendly terms with my fellow hosts nearby since I am used to that kind of atmosphere in a great investment group I belong to here. I am also a regular landlord and even though over 500 of us members are really "competitors" we really help and support each other much more than we compete. There's plenty for everyone here, at least in the rental market. I see a fair amount of hosts in our little city so I assume the same will be true for airbnb too. We will see...! I don't feel comfortable possibly offending fellow hosts or getting in trouble with airbnb "police" by sending out fake inquiries at this stage of the game. But I do like the idea of having a little support group of fellow hosts here. I'll lay low for now and see if an opportunity comes up to look into it later. I'll let you know when I get some questions together for ya ...fire. Man I hope I can make it to your country someday!! Thanks again folks!! Wish me luck in a few weeks with my first guest. |
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Post by High Priestess on Oct 26, 2015 2:19:29 GMT
Well, definitely, wishing you good luck with your first guest. That can make hosts very nervous, that first guest, but almost always it is a perfectly wonderful experience. I am in a group of hosts in my area, and there isn't a competitive feeling among them -- I think when people actually meet in person the competitive feelings are less than just interacting online.
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Post by Kristi on Oct 26, 2015 13:56:42 GMT
I love chatting with my other local Airbnb Hosts. I have some really good friends who offer something similar to me and we encourage one another all the time. He has a problem with a neighbor and so I help him through that. I had a nice couple looking for a bigger place and I called them to see if their place was available. I had a gal wanting a 50% discount and I saw she did find a place and I would have loved to hear the outcome of that one. I think the comrade makes us a better Host. Best of everything Byfly!
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Post by catchafire on Oct 26, 2015 20:34:39 GMT
Well thank you both very much for some valuable perspectives and good advice. I will keep this all in mind as I muddle through my beginner experiences hosting. I guess I was just hoping to be on friendly terms with my fellow hosts nearby since I am used to that kind of atmosphere in a great investment group I belong to here. I am also a regular landlord and even though over 500 of us members are really "competitors" we really help and support each other much more than we compete. There's plenty for everyone here, at least in the rental market. I see a fair amount of hosts in our little city so I assume the same will be true for airbnb too. We will see...! I don't feel comfortable possibly offending fellow hosts or getting in trouble with airbnb "police" by sending out fake inquiries at this stage of the game. But I do like the idea of having a little support group of fellow hosts here. I'll lay low for now and see if an opportunity comes up to look into it later. I'll let you know when I get some questions together for ya ...fire. Man I hope I can make it to your country someday!! Thanks again folks!! Wish me luck in a few weeks with my first guest. Good luck with your first guest! Always good to get that first one under your belt. And if it the natural thing for you to do, absolutely reach out to your local community. Don't mind me so much, I came from an aggressive corporate sales background, some of that stuff stays with you! You are welcome over here any time! We can go around and egg all my local competitors! |
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Post by byfly on Oct 27, 2015 5:22:02 GMT
Thank you very much Kristi and Deborah. How did you two get acquainted with your fellow hosts? I like your descriptions of your experiences. That's what I am looking for. I am not nervous at all for my first guest. I'm excited!! We have corresponded a bit already and she seems really nice and has family here. I hope she will come often!! Well... if she's a good guest I hope she does!! Wheeeee!!! I'll let you know how it goes!!
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Post by byfly on Oct 27, 2015 5:23:42 GMT
O and Deborah thank you very much for informing me about the upcoming webinar. I signed up right away!!
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Post by High Priestess on Oct 27, 2015 6:02:16 GMT
I met fellow hosts first of all on the host community groups. I got very heavily involved in these online groups immediately. Then, I saw there was a group for my area, and started to meet hosts in my area.
HOwever, I was not really in need of much advice and help. Rather I had a lot of advice and help to offer, because I had already been a landlord with roommates in my house for 8 years, when I first started hosting. The time when I most needed help and advice, was about 5 years before Airbnb existed, and there was no one to help me. I had to learn everything the "most hard" way, all alone.
Hosting guests is far easier than having roommates in one's home. It is similar, but has fewer potential problems. THere are some problems that are unique to hosting (guests wanting to leave luggage after check out etc) but these are not actually totally new situations, only different versions of problems one can have wtih roommates. Renters of all kinds tend to want exceptions, want extras, can violate house rules, can lie, can be forgetful, or demanding. Once you have learned how to deal with these problems with renters, you can easily deal with the same problems with guests. Many people who are hosts have never had renters, and they dont understand the kinds of problems that can arise. THis is the MAJOR point I try to bring awareness of, in new hosts. I try to get them to understand that they need to think of potential issues in advance, such as by talking to other hosts or reading stories on a place like here, so that they can develop strategies for how to host.
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Post by byfly on Oct 30, 2015 6:26:21 GMT
May take you up on that offer someday ...fire!!! But let's find something better to do than egg competitors...  Just got another inquiry today from another new potential guest!!  |
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Post by byfly on Oct 30, 2015 6:29:18 GMT
My background is similar to yours. I also have roommates in my own house and that has gone swimmingly for several years now. I agree that it seems to be much easier and less invasive to host guests like this. Plus I like meeting new and interesting people. Am very interested to see how this pans out.
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Post by High Priestess on Oct 30, 2015 6:54:03 GMT
Keep us updated, Byfly, on how it goes for you!! Best wishes on having only pleasant guests!
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Post by byfly on Nov 6, 2015 6:56:24 GMT
Hi Deborah,
Loved the beginning of the webinar but she really had a hard time with the technology and cancelled it shortly into it. She offered it again yesterday but I couldn't make it. I'll contact her later and see if I can see a recording of it or something. I actually saw another person from my area on the chat there but they didn't respond to my greeting durnit!! Probably didn't see me. Was hoping to make a connection there. Oh well.
Just had my very first guest yesterday!! It went smooth as butter and I hope all my guests are that great. She even left me a nice thank you note. I posted my first review on her tonight. She mentioned staying at one of my competitors a few times but they were full so she tried me and her note said "see you soon." Hope she keeps that promise. I have another one arriving Saturday, got a brand new booking for next week tonight, then 2 more bookings after that... WHEEEEEE!!
Thanks for the encouragement!!!
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Post by High Priestess on Nov 6, 2015 13:29:12 GMT
Good for you, glad that it is going well. Keep in mind new hosts get an artificial boost to start, for the first month or so, and after that you will be competing with everyone else in your area. I'm sorry there were technical issues with the webinar -- Evelyn always has those available to view afterwards, she posts them on her site and I post the links here.
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Just got another inquiry today from another new potential guest!! 