5 Times Our Airbnb Has Made Me Want to Cry…and Why I Can’t Wait to Buy Another One
I try to be a decently level headed human. I will always be working to be that 1% better, and on same days 200%, but I do promise you, my friends, and my husband, I’m doing my best.
That being said, sometimes, things just get to me that are challenging to handle. Some more than others, and below is a list of things that have gotten to me.
These are the times I’ve considered selling everything and just being done, because I simply can’t take another customer service text telling me I’m doing a terrible job. In reality, the easier path for us will be to get 20% down on the property so someone else can be customer service. In the meantime, this is what I’ve learned.
Top Five Least Favorite Experiences
5. Broken chairs, pool cue tips, air mattress
How so many things end up broken so quickly, I’m not entirely sure. I’m sure it’s one of the downsides with aiming to host groups of 10+, families, and parties. It happens. Take it in stride. A deck chair broke, go to home depot and get another one for $20. A pool cue tip fell off? Welp, didn’t know that could happen. Try the pool cue tip glue and then when that doesn’t work, super glue the sucker cause why not? Air mattresses stop inflating when you bought them a few months ago and you’re pretty sure they’ve been used once. Well – get back on Amazon and try a different brand. Gotta just go for it.
As far as how to let the guests know what’s currently broken due to the last guest, I’m thinking to start leaving a handwritten note on top of our welcome packet for people to see the little things. ‘Apologies for a few small things we hope won’t affect your stay. We wanted to bring it to your attention so you know we’re aware it happened before your group arrived: The microwave cover fell off and we’ll work to repair it upon your checkout.’
4. Broken Dishwasher
A part of me wants to know if it was a kiddo or adult who thought, let’s put a fork in the bottom of the dishwasher and see what happens. It broke. Some piece melted a little and those we know who knew more about dishwashers than ourselves said it was done. So we ordered a new one to be delivered asap (also known as three weeks away) and apologize to each group, letting them know there’s now paper and plasticware provided if they’re not interested in hand washing.
Fortunately, a few days before the dishwasher was to arrive, my neighbors put a dishwasher on the curb that said ‘works – free’. So I put it in our truck and I now know how to install a basic dishwasher. I also learned that you shouldn’t tilt them when installing or uninstalling (if used) because what drips out is super gross.
3. Locked out after midnight.
This was one of our first groups and I still feel awful when I think about it. We didn’t have all of our systems figured out yet, and I forgot to tell my husband people were arriving and to set the door code. Well it was 2 am when they arrived from a 10 hour drive away, my phone was on do not disturb, and it was almost an hour later when my husband woke to them typing in the ‘incorrect’ code so many times and me realizing I hadn’t set it. I woke up in a start, asked my husband to set ‘1234’ or something similar, called them immediately, and apologized, letting them know the new code.
The next morning, I sent a very long message apologizing, taking the blame, and refunding their cleaning fee, letting them know how terrible I felt. They ended up being super kind about everything, grateful that I accepted the blame. It’s not always like that, but it worked out as well as it could.
2. Professionals vs DIY
I know how to clean a house. I know how to spray for bugs. I’ve even helped repair my water heater in the first home I owned.
This does not mean I’m the best person for the job or will do the most thorough and professional work. It also could mean I can try what seems to be my hardest, then if someone has an issue, I feel terrible because I feel I could’ve done more.
Finding these professionals and making these ‘problems’ almost disappear the moment their touched by professionals has been everything. The house would always be cleaned and sanitized, but without getting a crew in there that does so every day, I couldn’t live up to their standard. We sprayed for bugs, often and generously, but little guys kept ending up near the border of the home, especially with all the doors open. (Note: these were all non-biting small bugs common for the Ozarks forests - which the home is up against). The hot water and then AC went out, and I called a few companies immediately. The company that had next day turnaround didn’t do a good job, but the next guy did! I always keep each of the appointments until I find my favorites.
Honestly, this was just a lot of work that could have been avoided had I hired out help sooner. But 1) I wanted to know every in and out of the home. 2) I called every cleaning company available in the Ozarks and they either didn’t have availability or would return my multiple phone calls. 3) I was hoping to save some money as we were starting up and not knowing if we could really afford these extras when we were capable of doing them ourselves.
As we head into the next year, we are looking to get a property management company to schedule cleanings and other subcontractors, as well as manage booking requests and customer service. They charge 20% of the booking fee and are upping our cleaning fee to match the needs of their staff.
This is having unexpected benefits including finding ways to increase our winter bookings (slow to no season for the Ozarks) and helping me sleep so much easier! I don’t know if I would have done it differently, but any future homes will go directly to their management.
1. Disputed Return
One guest wanted to take advantage of these small and mostly dead bugs we acknowledged to a whole new level. They claimed we had bedbugs. This was a HUGE LIE. We confirmed thanks to our awesome pest control company we did not have bed bugs. They have some type of bug bite. We live in the forest and they likely spent the weekend near the water. Because we mentioned we had a pest control company out there recently to spray the perimeter (as we should for a forest home especially with reason #2) they believe we should refund the full holiday weekend they booked. Airbnb is staying completely neutral with something along the lines of ‘Thanks for proving their claim was false. So, when are you going to pay them a full refund?’ Stay tuned, we’re not sure how we’ll proceed yet.
Things that helped our claim: proof of pest control company spraying regularly, proof that he came after our claim to agree there were no such bugs. 12 groups staying at the house before this group with zero issues. 3 staying after, also with zero issues. White mattress protectors and pillow protectors. White sheets and comforters. New mattresses this year. Metal bedframes, easy to see around. Thanks to each of these things, if we choose to fight this, we’re in much better shape. We’re leaning towards paying them and ensuring Airbnb restricts this user from the Airbnb community or at least leaves a review from us saying they requested a full refund under false claims.
Things that haven’t flipped me out…yet
2. The Market
We went house hunting in person maybe once or twice. Didn’t really see anything that made an offer worthwhile. We saw a house we deemed unworthy and put a super low-ball offer on it, about 100k under asking. We thought this was honestly super fair. Well, it sold for about 50k over asking. We were off. Then we saw a second house on MLS, made an offer, which somehow ended up being the only offer on this property, the only offer in Jan 2021 when everything was hot, and it was accepted at just 5k over asking and 5k under the appraisal. Well - it was ours. We actually didn’t see the property in person until the inspection and didn’t see the appraisal until after we had closed.
1. Mil in Debt
This is our third property currently under ownership. The three properties + student loans = almost a mil in debt and that sometimes gets me on the verge of a panic attack.
Fortunately, each of the properties, including our primary residence, bring in income.
Fortunately, I have an incredibly level headed husband who keeps me under control.
Why I can’t wait to buy another one
2. Free trips with friends and family
I love being able to treat my college friends, my husband’s high school friends, and my parents and siblings to a week or weekend away. Telling my mom to invite 10 of her friends to celebrate a milestone party. Letting my sister know she has a free alternative for a bachelorette party if she wants one. Having my friends down for a St. Pats weekend in a Covid friendly way (especially once we learned two of the five women were pregnant). This is something I wouldn’t change, and I’m excited to get more to have these fun getaways more often.
1. Money & Retirement
On one hand, I hate to say I’m the person who cares all about money, but on the other this is primarily an investment property so we are betting on positive numbers.
Retirement: By having this money come in monthly, rather than sitting in a 401k or IRA (which we also build up and take seriously as a couple) we will have income coming in while we wait to hit the age of 59 ½. This way if one (or both of us) decide we want to stop working for health, family, or another reason not yet apparent, we have flexibility. We don’t need much to live on, so a few of these houses would cover most of our families expenses.
Money in General: The money’s good. The ROI is good. So good that one of the reasons I got a realtor’s license was so I could start buying these properties for my friends as well. I want to be financially stable and able to help my friends hit that point too (likely so we can all take time with our families someday and hang at the lake together). For our family, the KC Market was not doing this well and neither was the stock market whether we had a portfolio of bonds, index funds, or even stocks returning 20% yearly. Our first Airbnb is doing better. So we’re gonna keep doing this route until we learn of something better available.