Airbnb

[BellBarbara]

I feel like Airbnb is a little unsure for us. I would be OK if something got canceled but DH gets all pushed out of shape. The most uncomfortable thing that happened to us through HomeAway is that we rented an apt in Rome and the owner wanted to be paid in cash when we arrived. No deposit. It had at least 30 reviews, so I felt like it would be OK. We were traveling off season so I felt like if something happened we would find another place through a local service (I brought contacts with me). When we showed up at the apt no one was there. We sat outside for an hour. It was 6pm so DH was tense. I finally found another property agent showing someone else a unit and she called the owner....he found the person who was supposed to let us in and she came over. It was a good deal so we ended up happy.

 

[BellBarbara]

I am not sure about Airbnb, but I rarely pay the price advertised on the ads for VRBO and Homeaway. My process is to identify about 10 properties that fit our needs, then email all of them offering a set amount, and explaining about us (retired professionals, no pets, etc). Usually all respond and about 50% of them take something off, and 1 or 2 will accept my bid. We travel off season mostly (avoid crowds and kids) so this is partly why it works. Some of these places will be empty anyway so they seem happy to make something.

 

[FUEGO]

I am not sure about Airbnb, but I rarely pay the price advertised on the ads for VRBO and Homeaway. My process is to identify about 10 properties that fit our needs, then email all of them offering a set amount, and explaining about us (retired professionals, no pets, etc). Usually all respond and about 50% of them take something off, and 1 or 2 will accept my bid. We travel off season mostly (avoid crowds and kids) so this is partly why it works. Some of these places will be empty anyway so they seem happy to make something.

Cool way of doing things! I tried to negotiate a bit with a number of owners this summer through airbnb and didn't have any success at all. They were mostly lower end rentals priced very competitively, so maybe they knew the "price was right".

I did ask owners to relax the guest restrictions or extra guest fees and most offered to do so. We were traveling with 3 kids and 2 adults, and many listings offered accommodations for 4, even though we knew it would work with the 5 of us.

 

[photoguy]

My process is to identify about 10 properties that fit our needs, then email all of them offering a set amount

This sounds like a very good idea. How do you determine what you offer?

 

[Lancelot]

I booked one room on Airbnb, but the host never responded to my request for the time that I could check in. I was eventually refunded the room charge and Airbnb service fee to my credit card.

After the first booking and subsequent cancelation, I was denied booking another room because I was not 'verified.'

I was verified to book the first reservation but apparently not for the second.

Maybe a glitch in the system...

 

[SDHiker]

I am not sure about Airbnb, but I rarely pay the price advertised on the ads for VRBO and Homeaway. My process is to identify about 10 properties that fit our needs, then email all of them offering a set amount, and explaining about us (retired professionals, no pets, etc). Usually all respond and about 50% of them take something off, and 1 or 2 will accept my bid. We travel off season mostly (avoid crowds and kids) so this is partly why it works. Some of these places will be empty anyway so they seem happy to make something.

This is a great idea. We stayed at a VRBO for over a week once. I spoke to the owner on the phone and she dropped the already low price even more since we would be there 9 nights. I am not retired yet, but will obviously have more flexibility when I am, so I will give this a try.

 

[tryan]

Put the lake house on Airbnb last month. Have had 4 groups book so far. Seems like the Airbnb crowds are younger and more mobile ... willing to travel with a weeks notice. Where Homeaway and VRBO book 6 months to year ahead. Just an observation.

Only problem - as an owner - is not being able to phone screen. Any high schooler can get daddy's credit card and book a place for a weekend. Airbnb blocks any website and phone info from the emails. Just waiting to "burned" i.e. property damage then I'll drop them ... until then I am in. Flipkey has the same process as Airbnb ... did 2 Flipkey bookings so far.

 

[fidler4]

I just received an email (message) inquiry back from a VBRO house I was interested in staying at next month in mountains near Southern California. The email had the price and other information and was signed "Best Regards, Jane and Henry." Who according to some of the 23 reviews are mentioned as the owners. All very positive reviews. The problem is the email is through the VBRO messaging system and the subject line is "Hang Xu has replied to your message." Huh? Who is that? I went online to the county assessors site and it has two owners listed for the property, one being Hang Xu and the other another Chinese name. So I am guessing one of two things:

1. It's a scam or
2. They are husband and wife whose legal names are Chinese but use American names on VBRO. or
3. ??

It is probably legit but there are other properties nearby so I don't think it is worth the risk.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[tryan]

fidler4,

My guess is the Chinese couple is using american nick names. With 23 reviews ... it's legit. Insurance is also sold by VRBO if needed.

FWIW my VRBO and Homeaway accounts were "hi-jacked" a couple years ago. The scammer was responding to inquiries with rock bottom cut prices with a "dead line" to book now-now-now. Fortunately I get a text message when an inquiry is submitted so I was sending a legit response at nearly the same time ... that's how we caught it. The client forwarded the scam email and I sent it to HA/VRBO. Needed to delete the email I had used for years (PITA) ... but that killed the scam.

 

[Peter]

Why is the fact that the house is owned by Chinese people considered to be a risk?

 

[FUEGO]

Why is the fact that the house is owned by Chinese people considered to be a risk?

I'm assuming it's not racist, just that if you think you're dealing with the owners and then you see different names, it makes you suspicious.

+1 on Hang Xu being American Henry. Some people can't pronounce Hang Xu and are more comfortable dealing with a Henry. Some people are xenophobic or even racist, as hard as it is to believe in 2014.

 

[steelyman]

Why is the fact that the house is owned by Chinese people considered to be a risk?

Good point.

This place should be welcoming to all nationalities and races.

 

[sengsational]

Why is the fact that the house is owned by Chinese people considered to be a risk?

Think it's because there is a misalignment with the name of the home owners versus the name signed in the email. So not about ethnicity.

 

[fidler4]

Why is the fact that the house is owned by Chinese people considered to be a risk?

That has nothing to do with it. It is the name discrepancy that is the issue. Their email says one name and the VBRO message has a completely different name with no explanation as to why.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[photoguy]

Pretty much all the Chinese immigrants I know use an American "nickname" to make things easier (dozens of people -- the only ones that don't have an name that's easier to pronounce). Typically they will pick something that sounds vaguely like their chinese name (e.g. Hang Xu -> Henry) would be perfectly normal.

 

[Peter]

That has nothing to do with it. It is the name discrepancy that is the issue. Their email says one name and the VBRO message has a completely different name with no explanation as to why.

Fair enough.

As others have pointed out, it's not unusual for Chinese people to adopt English-sounding names. This is particularly common among more affluent Hong Kong Chinese.

 

[SoClose]

Stayed in three different Airbnb's in September. Didn't have any problems, but I can see where it wouldn't be for everyone.

One was the masterbed room of a home, hosts and their adult son were also in the house. Was fine, we came and went. The little interaction we had was fine.

Second was a small apt all to ourselves, one block from the beach. Great location and everything included, it was just like our own home with all the fixings. Only problem was there were a few roaches in the kitchen.

Third place was the second bedroom in a beach condo, owner was a retired bachelor who would cook us dinner. Had many great night time chats. He also had other guests while we were there, which was fine but a little different.

I researched several places and had email chats with each one before booking. I was of the mindset if it didn't work we could afford to pay for a hotel room.

It did save us a ton of money over hotels too.

 

[tryan]

I would think sharing someone's house while the owner is home would be awkward (to say the least) .... Really not interested in sharing the bathroom in the middle of the night (or in the morning - for that matter)

 

[Major Tom]

I would think sharing someone's house while the owner is home would be awkward (to say the least) .... Really not interested in sharing the bathroom in the middle of the night (or in the morning - for that matter)

Those are my thoughts too, though if you're more of a social person, you could get to meet some interesting people. Former super-groupie Pamela Des Barres, author of "I'm with The Band" rents out a bedroom in her house in Marina Del Ray, CA for what seems like a reasonable rate. Perhaps she slept with Jimmie Page in this room

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/204826

 

[rodi]

The shared apartments tend to be much cheaper than the "entire home" options. But I'm also uncomfortable with sharing my sleeping space with strangers... But I can see where I would have done it in college when money was super tight.

I use airbnb as another source, along with vrbo, and generic google searches for vacation rentals. I'm currently looking at airbnb apartments in venice. Some are also listed on vrbo, and have private websites as well. It's just another platform to market vacation rentals (or rooms for rent.)

I guess the room in a home thing is very similar to a bed and breakfast. Many B&B's have shared bathrooms.

 

[SoClose]

I had private/exclusive use of a bathroom in all the places I stayed. It was one of my requirements.

 

[Keim]

I would think sharing someone's house while the owner is home would be awkward (to say the least) .... Really not interested in sharing the bathroom in the middle of the night (or in the morning - for that matter)

I suppose it depends on the layout of the house.

We have rented out our basement like this a few times. People had exclusive access to the guest bedroom and restroom. They could come and go as desired via a side door directly accessing the basement. We shared access to the TV/family room. There were no problems. We charged about $100/night. Free breakfast.

Now, the people that came home drunk, puked in our wastebasket and left it for us to clean up-there was a problem.

 

[Nemo2]

Think it's because there is a misalignment with the name of the home owners versus the name signed in the email. So not about ethnicity.

My interpretation exactly.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I have been traveling with some young friends recently who have spent three months traveling from California to the east coast. They spent most of those nights doing Couchsurfing, with mostly very good results.
They registered with the website, set up profiles, and then sent inquiries to folks in the places they'd planned to stop along the way. They got to meet some very cool people and had the chance to see these cities from a local's perspective, including a crystal reading in California, going to the state fair in Oklahoma, and to a gun range in Baton Rouge.
I don't think I'd follow their lead (I'm too old to sleep on a stranger's couch, lol) but was impressed with how well it worked for them. Only one place was sketchy, in Albuquerque, and they just stayed in their campervan instead of in the guy's house that night. But it became one of their go-to funny stories from the trip.

 

[BellBarbara]

This sounds like a very good idea. How do you determine what you offer?

Partly set by our budget, but also was about 30-40% of the rack cost. I would not insult with a super low offer.

For example, we rented an adorable cottage in the Sonoma wine country - with it's own hot tub, fireplace, it was a studio. It was listed for $800 - it was January/February - I offered $500, she came back with $600, but this was inclusive of taxes and cleaning. It was the key area we wanted. She was happy - it was going to be empty. We stayed 2 weeks.

You have to be flexible - we pick various towns. We are looking right now and rentals on AL shore - so many ads already say $100 off and such. Traveling off season really pays.