Last updated on July 16th, 2022
Welcome back to another episode of Into The Airbnb, where we talk with Airbnb hosts about their short-term rental experience.
Today’s guest is Debbie Vlastaras, who is based in Grafton, New South Wales, Australia. She’s currently managing five listings listed on Airbnb and her journey hasn’t been the best. From having nightmare guests to a challenging relationship with Airbnb and services, that will becomes honest and transparent in this interview about her personal experience with Airbnb.
This episode is sponsored by Airbtics, the only one analytics dashboard for short-term rental investors managers, where you can find precise Airbnb data such as occupancy rate, revenue, average daily rate and so on. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
Into The Airbnb S2 EP 16: Airbnb: A dream for some, a nightmare for others – Host from Grafton, NSW opens up about her experience
You can also listen to this Into The Airbnb Podcast Episode on Otter.
Delia:
So can you tell us how did you get started on Airbnb?
Debbie Vlastaras:
I was made redundant in my previous job and I couldn’t get another job. I had multiple rental properties, so I decided to do short-term rental. I started with one and grew from there.
Delia:
Did you do long-term rentals before that?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Yes, I did.
Delia:
And how did you see the revenue changing between you doing long-term rentals versus short-term rentals right now?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Natural growth.
Delia:
And did you have already all these five listings? Or did you start acquiring more and more as your short-term rental journey has been growing?
Debbie Vlastaras:
I had three, I added two.
Delia:
Great. So in the area you’re hosting Northern Rivers, how is the seasonality like?
Debbie Vlastaras:
I don’t have seasonality. It’s all year.
Delia:
All year, in all of your five listings?
Debbie Vlastaras:
That’s right.
Delia:
Oh, that’s great. So can I ask you about your pricing strategy? How does that work for you?
Debbie Vlastaras:
I have three levels. So I have three properties that are the bottom end. I have one in the middle and I have one high end.
Delia:
What kind of pricing strategy you use for that? Do you set your prices according to your competition? Do you use dynamic pricing solutions?
Debbie Vlastaras:
I review the competition, but one of my listings is the most expensive in town while the other of my listings is the most expensive in the middle band and the other three listings are comparable to Hotel Motel prices. So the cheap ones get booked first and then the middle one and then the day one.
Delia:
Which one of those listings is performing best according to you?
Debbie Vlastaras:
The cheapest.
Delia:
Okay, that’s great. In all these years being an Airbnb host, what have been your top challenges?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Horrible guests. Airbnb changing the rules. Airbnb site being really glitchy and not reflecting. Airbnb not allowing me to choose who I want to stay. Airbnb is dreadful customer service. Guests trashing my homes, normal stuff every house puts up with, but Airbnbs platform is utterly awful.
Delia:
Oh, and do you have any kind of troubles related to the area you’re hosting in? Is there any particular law or something that might be causing trouble for you?
Debbie Vlastaras:
What do you mean law?
Delia:
For example, in the United States, most of the places have regulations about short-term rentals.
Debbie Vlastaras:
We are regulated, one came in last October.
Delia:
Did that make your short-term rental work like difficult or did they stay the same way?
Debbie Vlastaras:
You just have to follow the rules. That’s fine. I agree that there should be rules.
Delia:
That’s great and since you talked before about some travel guests you had. Do you mind sharing some stories with them and how did you get to solve the problems?
Debbie Vlastaras:
First biggest problem is people wanting to bring extra people and not pay for them. The way I solve that is I make three queries before they arrive, I meet and greet and I do a headcount. I make it very, very clear that my insurance is void if they bring too many guests because I have to be covered by my insurance because you can’t trust Airbnbs cover. I’ve had beds broken. I’ve had things stolen. I’ve had kitchens left ugly disgusting. I’ve had a prostitute stay. I got to head to get the police to get her out.
Delia:
And how did you get to deal with those guests? Did you deal through Airbnb? Or did you just did it by yourself?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Well, I stood in front of them and said you’re not getting in until you give me the correct numbers really simple. With the prostitute, my neighbours complained, so I called police. I’m not a registered brothel.
Delia:
I see. So you had some really crazy guests. Are these type of guests common in your area? Have you heard about other Airbnb hosts complaining about this?
Debbie Vlastaras:
I’ve heard. The prostitute thing seems to be a very common now booking through Airbnb because they can have all their clients and it’s not a motel.
Delia:
So it’s getting very common in your area and with these experiences with the guests, are you applying some new kind of filters? Like running some background check on them before you accept them?
Debbie Vlastaras:
You can’t do that, like you can in the States. There’s no possibility of being able to do that.
Delia:
Oh, I see.
Debbie Vlastaras:
Here, there’s nothing you can do. There’s no way to vet somebody by putting their name into a search engine, unlike in the US.
Delia:
Oh and given that scenario, is there any particular thing you do to ensure the best guests possible for your listings?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Well, I don’t take new ones. They have to have good feedback from other hosts. So I communicate and I make it clear what my house rules are. I make it clear about the guests numbers. As I said, I meet and I greet and I count heads and I also tell them I live next door. That tends to turn things down a bit.
Delia:
Yeah, that’s right. How do usually people react with that?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Well, if they go into play up, they often cancel.
Delia:
Also, you mention that prior their booking time?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Yes. I ask questions. I don’t allow anybody to instant book.
Delia:
Okay, yeah, that’s a great way to save your listing. Are there any tips that you’d like to share for Airbnb hosts?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Don’t turn on instant book. Understand that you’re not going to get help from Airbnb. They don’t have an Airbnb SWAT team to come and save you. You manage your listing, it’s your business. The review system is totally biassed against hosts and they use it as a stick to beat you. As soon as I’ve got my own booking site. I will be leaving Airbnb.
Delia:
Oh, I see. So your experience with Airbnb has been really bad then.
Debbie Vlastaras:
They want to put fees up. On my properties, they charge anything up to 20% on top of the booking cost. Outsourcing the Help Desk to somewhere that doesn’t understand policy. And when you win them, you can hear children and chickens in the background. You can’t speak to a supervisor. You can’t talk to anybody who can actually do anything and every time you try, they tell you “I’m going once the next two days”, so they say they’re going to renew and they don’t. So no I don’t trust them and as soon as I’ve got my own booking site up that’s where I’ll be. I have not being looked after as a host.
Delia:
I see. Yeah, I understand your troubles. So do you think this kind of problems you’re having with Airbnb are more common among hosts from other parts of the world that are not the US?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Yes.
Delia:
Okay, I see. So is there anything else that you’d like to share with us?
Debbie Vlastaras:
Lots of people think running an Airbnb is easy money. It’s not. You need to have 24 hour availability. You need to be able to fix things in an instant. And people are looking for a hotel experience, but without the hotel cost. Unfortunately, you can’t do it. So, Airbnb sold themselves as something fabulous, but unfortunately, their infrastructure and their background and their assistance just doesn’t exist.
Delia:
Okay. Yeah, I understand that the Airbnb experience might have not been the best for you.
Debbie Vlastaras:
I’ve been doing Airbnb across my dwellings for five years. So I’m not an inexperienced host and I have just found that they have gone backwards.
Delia:
Yeah, I’m very thankful that you’re sharing all this information with us because so far, we only get to hear about some Airbnb hosts who really like Airbnb. I think it’s good to hear the other side, too.
Debbie Vlastaras:
Well, there’s only 20 host properties in Grafton and I have five. We’re a very, very small market,
Delia:
Very small market. So that’d be it for today and thank you for sharing about your experience with us!
Debbie Vlastaras:
Okay, no problem. Thank you.
Delia:
Bye bye. Have a great day!
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