State in your listings that parties are not allowed without contacting you first, and set a certain number of day guests that are allowed. Anything above that number should be treated as extra guests for billing. When guests ask or if you catch them breaking the rule, consider the context. For example, allowing 5 free day guests for larger houses (6-10 bedrooms), but being flexible with dinner parties for longer stays or higher-priced bookings.
Discussion forums don’t reflect the real hosting experience. Very few people post that they just had a great guest stay and nothing happened. The only people posting are the ones with issues. With 10 STR properties, most bookings happen without issue. Most problems are handled without refunds. If something occurs which significantly affects the booking experience, whether your fault or not, offering some sort of refund is reasonable. You just need to build it into your business plan as a cost, find an income that suits you for the work, risk and investment, and then see if the necessary pricing will work in your area.
Contractors have been some of the most profitable guests over the last 2 years. Medium-term rental (MTR) is easier than STR—less turnover, and contractors are usually less picky about the property.
Base your decision on how much money you are earning from the rental and how much you think you will earn otherwise. If you earn substantially better on contractors staying for months than on normal STR, especially during winter months, it makes sense. The basis of the decision is always how much you expect to earn from the two paths. If one path earns substantially more, show a little more flexibility.
Figure market rate for your time and charge that. If unsure, ask another host in your area or look at Merry Maid pricing. Then create a receipt for the extra cleaning. Don’t gouge guests, but charge what they should pay for the extra cleaning. Take a positive viewpoint—you’re getting the deep clean paid for.
Decide based upon expected earnings. If it is close to the dates they want to stay, or there is some other benefit like booking a full week when you usually only book weekends, then consider it. Be aware that people asking for discounts can be a bit more likely to be picky, but not substantially more.
Get a Roku TV with a few premium channels. Disney, Max, ESPN and Prime work well since they can be used across properties with 3+ screens at once. One account can cover your house and about 5 properties. More often than not, guests just use their own streaming or cable accounts, so overuse of provided channels is rarely a problem.
You can only ask two questions: Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? And what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? The service animal must always remain with the owner—if they leave it unattended in the house when they leave, it is not a service animal. You cannot charge a pet fee for a service animal; under the law, it’s not a pet, it’s medical equipment.
