Top Vacation (Airbnb) Rental Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

1. Regulatory Requirements: Study the laws and regulations. Understand ALL applicable regulations or find a property manager who does. Not following HOA restrictions or illegally listing a STR with a higher occupancy than the septic tank permits can result in fines of $50k or more. It’s not worth it. 
    
2. Communication: Create enforceable policy. Write out policy for every scenario you encounter including late checkout, maintenance requests, partial refunds, and everything in between. This takes the judgment and emotion out of decisions, allowing for more transparency with guests and better adherence to house rules. 
    
3. Guest Screening: Ask guests the reason for the visit Not only do we get to know our guests but this simple step helps mitigate the risk of parties and other house rules violations. For example a local guest “visiting friends” with 10 adults is a potential a red flag. 
    
4. Insurance: Insurance products for STR hosts are a low cost way to mitigate the risk of property damage. Take back control of damages and keep your property in great shape all while keeping guest satisfaction high! 
    
5. Don’t allow 1-night stays! This increases your risk of parties and damage. We require 2-5 night minimums. The farther out people book, the higher the minimum night stay should be. 
    

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