Hosting on websites like Airbnb has become very popular nowadays. Airbnb is generally a safe space for hosts, but there are always some risks when hosting. In this article, we will first discuss the hosting safety risks and then provide solutions to increase safety as much as possible.
What are the hosting risks?
As a host, you might always face some inevitable risks. Here are some everyday things that almost all the hosts are struggling with:
You do not know the guests!
People with any background and any personality can book your place. They are complete strangers, so you cannot trust them, and you cannot be entirely sure that they are safe. For example, if you are renting out an extra room, you might be at risk of physical harm. And if you are managing your property remotely, your belongings might be stolen.
Squatters might be your guest
Since you may not know your guests well, you will have the risk of renting your place to squatters. If Airbnb finds out, according to the rules, you might face many problems. They might ban you from renting your home to new guests.
There is the possibility of a last-minute cancellation
This problem goes under the category of financial safety. Last-minute cancellations happen a lot for so many reasons. According to the Airbnb cancellation policy you have set in your listing, you will have problems. This will put you at risk of not earning enough money.
Your property might get damaged
The guests, their children, or their pets may damage your place. For example if you host an Airbnb smart home, you might have valuable and expensive devices in your house that may get broken. They may break the dishes or the furniture and appliances as well.
The local regulations keep changing
Since Airbnb rentals are becoming more popular day by day, the rules and restrictions are becoming more strict in many places especially because of Covid-19. There is also the risk of Airbnb becoming illegal in your property’s area.
Your income is not stable
This job does not have stable money. So, the risk of earning very little for a while is high, although you might make a lot some other times. So you may not be able to depend on the money and be sure of the amount of your Airbnb income.
How to be safer?
There are some ways you can be safer as a host:
Have Airbnb insurance coverage
Better safe than sorry! Getting insurance means that even if something terrible happens, you can still recover your property, at least to some extent. You can get more information on what the insurance covers on the official website.
Gather your guests’ information
Verify your guests. Check their profile, background, dates of departure, and anything you can get from them. Having a conversation with them before confirming their request might be helpful.
Lower the chances of cancellation
By choosing a more strict cancellation policy, you will be less likely to face the risk of cancellation, and as a result, you will not lose guests.
Baby proof your place
There are so many ways to baby-proof your apartment. You can even hire somebody to do this for you. This way, the risk of your property getting damaged will decrease.
Set smoke detectors
Accidents happen all the time. As a result, you need to do some things to keep the safety of your space. One of them is setting fire alarms to prevent severe damage to your property.
All in all, hosting is not the riskiest job in the world, but still, there are a few things you can do to make it even safer.
Property damage is such a pain and for some reason it happens to me too often! I’m really looking for some suitable insurances.