Airbnb

4 important questions to ask before you rent that Airbnb

My story this week for CNBC offers advice for issues to consider, and questions to ask, before you hit “rent” on a Airbnb or other type of homeshare property.

Here’s the story:

The note taped to the TV in the Airbnb rental in what turned out to be a questionable apartment building in a sketchy neighborhood in New York City was the first clue.

“It said, ‘Anyone ask, you say you friend of Jay,’ remembers Washington, D.C.-based documentary producer Richard Paul, “We never met Jay.”

The note wasn’t the weirdest thing about the apartment.

“You couldn’t open the front door because it hit the ‘fridge,” said Paul, “The A/C didn’t work. The girl from the live sex show up the block smoked on the front steps. And we think a guy got pushed off the roof as we were leaving.”

Not the kind of vacation rental you want to end up in?

There’s always a chance the swank-looking, well-reviewed home, cabin, apartment or castle you book through a home-sharing site such as Airbnb or Vrbo (which includes HomeAway.com and a handful of other companies) will have some problems or not end up being as advertised.

Worse, you could end up booking an illegal short-term rental and, like some recent vacationers in Miami, having to vacate the property in the middle of the night.

Home-sharing companies post advice, rules and tips on their websites to help minimize problems for both renters and hosts. And they all encourage potential renters to be sure to read the reviews, rules and rental offerings carefully.

Millions of people have no problems with their home-share stays. But as the summer travel season comes around, CNBC asked a real estate lawyer to share some extra, ‘bonus’ questions to ask yourself and your host during the booking process and during your stay.

“Friend of Jay?”

If you worried about or unwilling to having to pose as a “friend of Jay,” ask the host directly if their landlord or the rule and regulations of their condo allow short-term rentals.

“If they lie and say in an email or a text that everything is good and it turns out not to be the case, that’s your legal basis for voiding that rental contract and possibly getting damages if you have to move out in the middle of the might and rental another property,” said Scott Reidenbach, the founding principal of Reidenbach & Associates, a Philadelphia law firm that concentrates on wide-variety of real estate-related issues.

If they say “Tell them you’re a friend of Jay,” and you go along with that, “Then you’re complicit,” said Reidenbach.

And while that happens all the time, the danger is you take the risk of being kicked out in the middle or your trip.  

Who you gonna’ call?

Be sure to get contact information for someone you can contact if you show up and something doesn’t work, the place is dirty or is otherwise not as advertised.

And – bonus question – ask if that contact person lives nearby.

“A lot of these Airbnb or Vrbo-type owners aren’t professional landlords and many don’t live close by,” said Reidenbach, “I’ve heard stories about people not being able to get anything fixed because the owner is a 1000 miles away,”

Read the fine print

A good vacation rental listing will not only include great photos and a list of property amenities, it will have some “house rules” that might include a curfew time for noise and/or parties, the number of overnight guests allowed and an age limit for children.

“You may have very young children, but the very fine print says a guest is not permitted to have children under 12 or 16. Or that the property is not safe for children under a certain age because of safety reasons such as being on a cliff, having an open fire pit or a pool that’s not safe for small kids,” said Reidenbach.

Ask yourself if you’re willing to flout the fine print. 

When in doubt, turn off the Wi-Fi

There have been recent reports of Airbnb guests discovering hidden cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms of the properties they’ve rented. 

Airbnb now requires hosts to disclose the presence of security – or other – cameras – in their listings, but in the spirit of “Say you’re a friend of Jay,” dishonest property listers may not always comply.

“Ask the question,” advises Reidenbach, “And to really protect yourself disable or unplug the Wi-Fi,” as many home security system and cameras are wireless and Wi-Fi-powered, “We’ve heard of people doing that and immediately getting a call from the owner asking if the Wi-Fi is down because the cameras stopped working.” 

Have you dealt with any of these issue in your homeshare rental? Tell us about it in the comments below.

How does a free trip to Hawaii sound?

It may still be hot and summery where you are, but come winter, a trip to Hawaii will probably sound mighty nice.

Especially if it’s all-expenses-paid.

Sound good?

To celebrate the launch of Virgin America service from San Fransisco into Honolulu on November 2 and into Maui on December 3, 2015 the airline has teamed up with Airbnb for a contest with prizes that include attending the inaugural celebration with Sir Richard Branson.

https://youtu.be/enl_qlg_rEI

Details about entering are here – but the grand prize includes a seat for you and a guest on the inaugural flight from San Francisco to Honolulu (with a return flight, of course) a three-night stay at a beachfront Airbnb estate with Sir Richard as the Airbnb host on the first night, invitation to all launch celebration activities, car rental, Go Pro camera and 12 hours of lessons from a professional kiteboarder.

Deadline for entering is September 30, 2015, with the drawing taking place on October 6. If you don’t win the grand prize, don’t give up: second and third place prizes are pretty darn nice as well.

Good luck!

Win an Airbnb stay in a converted KLM airplane

Now here’s a great way to spend the Thanksgiving weekend: inside an “airplane apartment.”

klm shleve

From now through November 20, you can enter a contest to win an overnight stay – on November 28, 29 or 30 – inside a recently retired KLM MD-11 airplane parked next to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

The plane has been turned into an apartment with 116 windows, large living room, a master bedroom, an extra room with two beds, a kitchen and eight (!) small bathrooms. There’s also Wi-Fi, library, first class chairs, a game console and plenty to see outside the cockpit window.

KLM AIRBNB PLANE

Sound like the kind of Airbnb digs you might like to try out?

The KLM contest will pick one winner for each of the three nights and each winner may bring up to three guests. Even better: winners also get roundtrip flights on KLM to Amsterdam and a 500 EUR Airbnb gift card.

If you win a night on the airplane there will some rules:

*No flying.
*Don’t use the inflatable emergency slide.
*Smoking is not allowed when the non-smoking sign is on.
*No marshmallow roasting with the jet engines.

There’s more information – and details on entering the contest – in the Airbnb listing.