Security as an Airbnb Host

It does not happen that often around the world but it can happen to anyone, some people using a false or stolen credit card can create a fake Airbnb profile and then book your place, knowing that no one will be home on xxx dates.

To counter this here are some tips to improve your security and lesson the chances of something UN-towards happening to your www.airbnb.com rental investment.

• Never provide a potential guest who messages you with your condo number, keep this information from your guest until  it is the day of check in.  Providing the location of the building is of course okay but many will ask what unit number it is, tell them for security reasons that is only available on the day of check in.  

•  There is no harm in providing what floor or direction facing but remember to keep your condo number private until the last moment, most guests understand this if you explain to them it is for your security.

• Do not have your condo address and unit number on the key-ring, for obvious reasons.   At www.azdz.ph we keep all of our guests keys in a key safe which is bolted to a wall and on one side of the key is the owners first name, the other is our phone number with "Reward if found" on the other side.   

• To stop any potential abuse of this "Reward" system it should be made clear to your guests in your "House Rules" that they will be the ones who will be paying the reward.   Another tip for house rules is to include that if the guest does lose a set of keys and they are not returned, the guest will be the one who is charged for replacing all front door locks and keys, and if you have 3 locks as most do, one door lock, a deadbolt and a security screen lock, that is 3 sets of locks and 4 sets of keys so the idea is to make it an expensive exercise for the guest and therefore ensuring they maintain the security of your keys, hopefully!

•  Finally, another step for security is to ensure that you not only get the full names of the person renting your condo but all of those whom are staying there, quite often this further inquiry can lead to a discovery of a potential breach of your house rules.  Say you have a 2bdrm Condo and list it as being for 5 people, maximum.   Some of our clients need to provide the property management office the names of all persons staying in-house and when you explain this it can often uncover that instead of the 5 people that they stated, they actually have 11 people or more!   So it is advisable to make these inquires discretely before actually accepting the booking, simply by telling the potential guest via Airbnb chat that you will need the full names of the person staying in the condo, you can usually deduct if they are looking at over-loading your place and potentially getting you in trouble with the property management office.   

• Always ask for a passport ID to be sent to you prior to your guests arrival, some will send the passport copies of all staying, but as long as the person who is actually renting and will take responsibility of the keys shows their passport that is usually sufficient. 

Finally to summarize, you don't want to be seen to be interrogating potential guests via the Airbnb chat, you can quite easily turn your inquiries into pleasant questions having the guest believe you are just asking routine questions, this gives you an idea of the person who you are letting stay at your place and also helps you to build some report with the guest both prior to and post booking.  It is also worth checking if your guest or potential guest has stayed at other places with Airbnb and read their reviews, if they have, and every review they have ever left contains some form of negativity, then although it shows they are more than likely trustworthy....security wise...... you need to also assess whether or not this guest is likely to affect your ratings with their review, but that is a topic we will cover in another blog.
We hope you found some of this information helpful and if you require any more advise or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at azdz.ph@gmail.com or visit our website www.azdz.ph

Thanks and have a Great Day!