Submitted by David Boe. David hosts in his SW Portland home and has remained open through the pandemic.

True or false?

“Home Hosting during a pandemic is exactly the same as in normal times, except with more cleaning.”

True. And false. 

It’s the same, but it’s oh, so different. First of all, there’s a very real possibility that someone walking into your house could be carrying a deadly virus. So that’s always in the back of your mind.

You tell yourself that nobody wants to get this thing, and that they wouldn’t be traveling if they weren’t healthy. You hope. 

Luckily, I’m pretty healthy and very careful about my interactions with others. I’ve worked to make my home safe for myself and my guests. Some people have expressed concern that I’m still actively hosting, but I believe that my precautions are adequate, and I’ll share them here. 

If you’re already accustomed to keeping things clean as an Airbnb host, the additional cleaning protocols are not that much more onerous, although it didn’t feel that way at first. Initially, it added 20-25% to my cleaning time, but one finds ways to improve efficiency over time.

Before the pandemic hit, back in mid March 2020, (on Friday the 13th, no less) my Airbnb was enjoying almost 100% occupancy. That’s hard to do over the winter, but with spring break coming up, and the weather getting better, 2020 was on track to be my best year yet! Bookings already stretched into September, with guests coming from as far as Italy and Australia.

That all evaporated in one single weekend, after Friday the 13th, with more than $8,000 worth of cancellations. My rapidly filling calendar was suddenly empty for the rest of 2020. 

I never closed. I kept my account active through all of March and April, with two rooms ready to rent the entire time. I tried adjusting the prices, and saw a hopeful Facebook headline about an Airbnb host in Toronto who was completely full. But at half the normal price. 

I kept trying different price points, and was discouraged when Airbnb suggested a rate of just $18/night. I decided that it wasn’t worth it to risk my life for anything less than $29/night. (Although that’s meant as a joke, it’s at least half true. You gotta keep smiling through all this just to keep your sanity. See next month’s blog for a separate article on dealing with the emotional issues related to pandemic hosting.)

My Airbnb, Forest in the City, bedrooms sat empty from March 13th, until April 29, when a gentleman moving to Portland for a job at the post office booked a room for two nights. My total income for April 2020 was $79, including the cleaning fee. For comparison: in April of 2019, my two bedrooms had brought in $2,737 for the month, more than 34 times 2020’s April income.

In mid-April I got an unusual inquiry. A gentleman from Mexico wanted to book one of my rooms for the entire month of May. Over the previous four years, my average stay out of some 500+ trips was 2.5 nights. Airbnb had already noted that people were looking for longer stays, and here was proof. 

Since longer stays were new for me, I exchanged several messages with the guest, inquiring about his reason (moving for a new job) and trying to get a feel for who he was. I was completely open about things, and said that having someone here for so long would make him more of a roommate than a guest. I explained that my usual stay was only 2.5 nights, discussed my concerns about the pandemic, and explained the need for a separate rental agreement.

He welcomed all of the communication, and even told me that my attention to detail was a comfort for him. He said that the fact that I was engaged and interested was what convinced him to rent at my place, although he could have afforded a whole house nearby.

This reply also made ME feel more comfortable, and I offered him a discount for the month. I also said that if he arrived and found that the situation was unworkable (by now I was feeling pretty good about this guest) that I would allow a cancellation after a week, and that I would refund him for all the nights that I was able to re-rent.

He arrived two weeks later, and worked his new job remotely, quarantined at the house in the same way I was, going out only for food and exercise. He turned out to be a terrific guy, and there were no problems at all. He eventually found a place in downtown’s Pearl District, and I helped him get set up in his new place.

Although not all guest visits have gone as well, the vast majority have been very much like in regular times, with a few exceptions. The VAST majority of people are great. However, there have been a lot more people who are completely new to Airbnb. Their expectations are often different from the experienced travelers, and that has resulted in some confusion. 

For example: Some people continue to be surprised that my place isn’t an entire house all by itself. (Maybe they can’t believe their luck to stumble onto a beautiful home in Portland’s West Hills, only 2 miles from downtown but costs ~$50 per night.) 

Invariably, such inquiries come from people who have never before used Airbnb, and don’t realize that they need to search for a “Whole House” rental.

To help prevent such issues, I have adapted the automated messaging that Airbnb sends to guests. The Pre-Booking message is available only to hosts who use the instant book feature. After a brief “Thanks for your interest” introduction, I inserted this line: 

“In booking, you acknowledge that this is a room in a house in which some spaces are shared.”

I also developed my own set of “Special Pandemic House Rules,” which I inserted into the section of my listing that allows you to add any extra rules you like. You can find the full text of my Pandemic rules, along with instructions about how to find these sections in your own Airbnb listing, by following these links:

• Dave’s Pandemic House Rules
  
• Dave’s Pre-Booking Message
  
• Dave’s Welcome Message (sent upon booking)
  

To make myself and my guests as safe as possible during these unusual times, in addition to following new cleaning protocols, I have: 

• Added a handwashing station at the entrance to the house 

• Installed an air purifier (with UV light & ozone, both known to kill viruses)

• Become much more careful/rigorous about guest screening 

• Eliminated same-day bookings

• Completely changed the way I interact with guests

The first two bullet points are self explanatory. The remaining points are subsets of the final bullet point: The Pandemic has completely changed how I relate to guests. 

More Rigorous Screening

Since Airbnb allows instant book hosts to cancel any time we feel uncomfortable with a guest, I don’t hesitate to ask lots of questions. One prospective guest recently wrote to say that they wanted to host Thanksgiving dinner at my house, and invite a half-dozen other people to participate. Clearly, these first-time Airbnbers had not understood that I’m a home host who lives and is quarantined in the same space. (I was rather amazed to receive such a question.) Yet if I had not updated my pre-booking questions, I might not have engaged enough with these prospects to learn of their plans in advance. Such pre-screening saved everyone a lot of headaches later on.

Eliminating same-day bookings

In the past, I had been happy to have people arrive on a same day booking. Since I was usually booked in advance, this hadn’t been much of an issue, except when there was a late cancellation. 

I had already noticed, however, that same-day bookers were sometimes problematic. Although the vast majority of guests have always been great to deal with, same-day bookers tended to be more demanding and less flexible than other guests. (Maybe the convenience of same-day booking creates extra high expectations in other areas.) 

With the pandemic, this negative factor seemed to suddenly become much more significant. After two or three misunderstandings with guests who arrived on the same day they booked, I changed my availability setting. This can be found under: 

Listings→ Availability→ Reservation Preferences

I changed the setting from “Same Day” (with a customizable cutoff hour) to “At least 1 day’s notice.” The other available options are: 2, 3 or 7 day’s notice. 

This setting, combined with my updated Pre-Booking Message, allows enough time for both me and the guest to verify that my place will be a good fit for their needs. This change has definitely helped to ensure that I have fewer negative or problematic guest interactions. 

The New Way to Interact with Guests

Although I have always enjoyed meeting new people, and have found hosting to be an excellent way to connect with people from all over the world, for the time being, at least, the pandemic required an entirely different mindset: 

I now view every new guest as someone who could pass along the virus to me. At the same time, I must also consider myself as a possible source of infection for my guests, and behave accordingly. Although I still try to meet every guest, I keep interactions with them to a bare minimum. I try to never spend more than a few minutes in their immediate presence, always wearing a mask:

• Check-ins now begin outdoors, in the driveway, where I greet them and ask them to maintain a 6-foot social distance between me and any other guests.

• Next, we move to the entrance, where I show them how to use the keypad. 

• I direct them to the hand washing station in the home’s entryway, where I ask them to wash their hands.

• I have found that I can conduct the rest of the house tour in a socially distant fashion.

• At the end, I explain that they will see very little of me during their stay, since I minimize my own use of the home’s common areas when guests are present.

For these reasons, I explain that I don’t expect them to wear a mask when they’re alone in their room, or when using the common areas of the house. (Such as crossing the hall from their bedroom to the bathroom.) I explain that when I’m alone, I also don’t wear a mask around the house, since I do my best to only venture out when I know that no one else is present. “But I always have a mask with me so I can put it on if needed, and I request that you do the same,” I explain, and reiterate Airbnb’s policy that we must wear masks for all interactions. 

I also show them the air purifier I’ve installed in the common hallway between the home’s bedrooms. Since we now know that transmission of the virus is primarily airborne from person to person, I run the device continuously. 

The air purifier I’ve installed sits atop a bookshelf at the end of the hallway. It uses UV light, electrostatic filtration, and also produces ozone as it maintains a continuous airflow throughout that section of the house, which (hopefully) minimizes the chance of transmission. 

This photo from Amazon is a newer version of the one I have, which I selected because the filtration components can be removed, washed, and reused. My exact model is no longer available, and has features that are now found only on more expensive models. 

Human beings are walking petri dishes. We can pick up and transmit airborne viruses just by breathing. As a result, although I would prefer to have much more interaction with guests, I do my best to avoid all contact. With the exception of a brief meeting at check-in, to the greatest extent possible, I have replaced face-to-face contacts with written information.

In December 2020, a new feature of Airbnb messaging allows us to automate and send customized messages. Here’s a link to the Airbnb page that explains how it works:  How to create scheduled messages & send them to guests automatically. 

As a writer myself, I have always made extensive use of the tools available on Airbnb's messaging system, and have now built up a long list of (at least four dozen) editable message templates that I can easily send to guests. Topics include everything from detailed driving & parking directions at my home to suggested side trips that include links to Google maps itineraries (which I have created) for some of my favorite places like the Columbia River Gorge or Short Sands Beach. 

Before the pandemic, these were the kind of fun and interesting travel tips that I enjoyed sharing with guests. Now, however, I do my best to engage with them in a written format. For example: Both of my Airbnb rooms include a wall-mounted, full page document entitled “Check-in/out Checklist”  which explains everything I would normally say in person.

Getting back to the True/False question posed at the beginning: 

“Home Hosting during a pandemic is exactly the same as in normal times, except with more cleaning.”

True. But the Pandemic has intensified every element, and made things more challenging. The bottom line is this: 

It’s still all about finding ways to connect with people, and earning their respect and trust. 

_____________________________

An Airbnb Superhost since 2016, David Boe has welcomed more than 1,100 guests into his home in Portland’s West Hills. This article is based on his experience of personally hosting more than 50 trips between April and December of 2020. David is a charter member of Host2Host, and is also the author of Secrets of an Airbnb Superhost, and Walk With Me, Discover Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon, based on the Airbnb Experience he created in the Arboretum, which is within ½ mile of his home. Both books are available on Amazon.com.

Submitted by Jaime Johnston, H2H Member & owner of Goddamn Man, premium products for body & beard care. 

On November 10, Host2Host convened its fourth annual conversation with a panel of accounting and tax experts to help us get our taxes in order. Expert panelists included Stephanie Solomon, a licensed tax preparer from Block Advisers, Lorilyn Wilson, CPA and owner of Collective accounting firm, and Kim Boaz, owner of Back To Basics Bookkeeping. All of our experts are H2H members. Alanna Schroeder, also a H2H member and owner of The Distinguished Guest, moderated the discussion by asking panelists frequently asked questions submitted by members. Below are some highlights.

Hire a professional or use Turbo Tax? 

The answer boils down to what the experts can do for you versus what you can do for yourself. Stephanie posed the analogy of building a deck. Would you build your own deck or hire an expert to make sure it is built safely? The benefits of hiring tax professionals are many. For example, they:

• Are experts on annual changes to tax laws and how they apply to a variety of short-term rental host situations, 
  
• Ensure you save money with organized accounting of expenses and appropriate deductions (many of which are overlooked, including depreciation),
  
• Protect you from tax liability and represent you in audits,
  
• Prepare your taxes according to individual details to a degree that programs like Turbo Tax are not able to, and many more!
  

Schedule C or a Schedule E?

Panelists often get asked by short-term rental hosts whether they should use a Schedule C or a Schedule E. In short, use a Schedule C when you are a “sole proprietor” and your rental is set up as a business. As a sole proprietor, you will pay 15% self-employment tax.  If your rental is not a business, income is treated as passive and you can use a Schedule E. To help you prepare your Schedule E, Lorilyn shared a handy tool - Schedule E Template. 

Potential changes to tax laws?

Tax laws change every year. We discussed potential changes with the new Biden administration taking office in January. Lorilyn explained that real estate taxes are historically “favored” in tax law, meaning they are generally low relative to other types of taxes. However, with a new administration, panelists anticipate changes may increase the amount of taxes hosts pay, especially related to depreciation (it’s complicated). On the bright side, they hope the new administration will forgive Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans awarded to small businesses because of the pandemic. 

If you would like to hear the answers to all the tax questions and related discussion, you can view a members-only recording here. Not a H2H member yet? Become one to view the Tax Meet-up, plus all our Meet-up videos. Join Host2Host.

Not registered yet? Click the link below:

Bon Voyage 2020! Happy Hour & Gift Giveaway - Free!

Our generous community has donated some amazing gifts! All of which will be given away at the Host2Host Happy Hour – Bon Voyage 2020! Must be present to win. Here are the goodies under the tree:

• Four $50 Restaurant Gift Cards from Ryan Tigner, ITrips
  
• $100 Amazon Gift Card from Conrad O'Connell, Guest Hook
  
• One Year Host2Host Membership from Host2Host
  
• Vintage Face Serum from Jaime Johnston, Goddamn Man
  
• $50 Amazon Gift Card from Debi Hertert, Hosting Your Home Podcast
  
• Ice Cream Party for 10 from Becky Burnett, Ruby Jewel
  
• $50 Etsy Gift Card from Charity & Maylene Kuahiwinui, Ensourced
  
• Montana Gift Basket from Justin Brodin, Proper Insurance
  
• 1-hour consulting session with Alanna Schroeder, The Distinguished Guest
  
• $50 InnStyle Gift Card from Lorinda Taylor, InnStyle
  
• Manefesto Magnets from Alanna Schroeder, The Distinguished Guest
  
• $50 Amazon Gift Card from Arthur Colker, StayFi
  
• One Year Direct Booking Website Subscription from Brian Ruan, Kopa Website Builder
  
• $50 Target Gift Card from Kate Birtch, Property Protect
  
• Short-Term Rental Safety Certification from Justin Ford, Breezeway
  
• $50 Spin Laundry Lounge eGift Card from Morgan Gary, Spin Laundry Lounge
  
• Together Anywhere T-shirt & Hoodie from Christy Hey, Together Anywhere
  
• $100 FabStayz Gift Card from Robert Geller, FabStayz
  
• Ultimate Guide to Vacation Rental Photography E-book from Tyann Marcink Hammond, Tyann Marcink
  
• One night stay at The Wind-by-the-Sailor Camp Cabin in Olivia Beach (Lincoln City) from Miel, Sweet Haven
• Naturapathic consultation & Vitamin D test from Pamela Jeanne ND, Dr Pamela Jeanne
• $50 Amazon Gift Card from Erica Muller, Vrolio

Dear Fellow Members of Host2Host and Hosts everywhere

Baby steps. It’s okay if that’s the best we can do right now. I have to remind myself of this nearly every day. How can we help each other as we try to make our way through a landscape that has become unfamiliar, the terrain shifting, where what we once relied on as predictable and steady seems to have disappeared beneath our feet?

Great strides, grand plans, bold gestures - all worthwhile and often noble - sometimes begin with baby steps. Remember (I say to myself) baby steps are learning steps.

I remember watching my kids learning to walk. At first they were hesitant. They held onto me or the sofa. And they fell down a lot. (I have a picture of my daughter with a big scab on her little nose after a notable face plant on the sidewalk.) What did we do after these things happened? We comforted them. We praised them for trying. And we cheered them on.

Maybe that’s what we are being called to do here and now. Learning to navigate this changed reality, how to walk into this new world of hosting, may feel so awkward that we need just baby steps right now, something or someone to hold on to and to cheer us on.

I like to think that one wonderful benefit of Host2Host is that together we are building a community which recognizes the value of baby steps in this shifting terrain. We are willing to hold out our supportive hands, and to cheer each other on.

This we know: hosting is in our blood. We are working together to find our way to be resilient and successful in this new world of hospitality.

Remember, those children who began with hesitant baby steps, soon were showing off how fast they could run.

Here’s to your baby steps - and running.

Alan Colley, Host2Host President

Written by Jaime Johnston, Host2Host Member

As many of you have observed, the global pandemic has had a significant impact on the short-term rental industry. While many hosts have stopped hosting or shifted to longer term rentals, others continue to welcome travelers and have adopted new safety practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the pandemic has created new trends in travel. Guests are traveling closer to home, staying longer while working, and many more people are traveling with pets. 

To catch up with Airbnb on these and other changes, Host2Host organized a meet-up with the Airbnb Global Hosting Team on October 12^th. 

During the conversation, Global Head of Hosting Catherine Powell and members of Airbnb’s Community Team, Dorothy Kilroy, Danni Zheng and Dominique Ng, responded to questions submitted by H2H members. They also discussed Airbnb’s efforts to support hosts during the global pandemic. While many topics were discussed, hot topics included Airbnb support to Super Hosts, guest reviews and COVID-19 safety practices. We share highlights from the conversation below.

Airbnb support to Super Hosts

Most Host2Host members are Airbnb Super Hosts. Catherine Powell confirmed that Super Hosts are Airbnb’s strongest ambassadors. They are always seeking ways to elevate, listen to, and support them. H2H shared that members are concerned about being able to maintain Super Host status despite higher cancellation rates and closed listings during the pandemic. Dorothy Kilroy responded that Airbnb has waived the number of stays and cancellation requirements to help Super Hosts maintain their status. Airbnb will continue to monitor how Super Hosts are impacted during the pandemic.

Additionally, Super Hosts receive priority queuing for customer service calls. Hosts can escalate a customer service issue by asking. Once escalated, it will be reviewed by a supervisor. As many of you know, Airbnb restructured in response to the pandemic, causing staffing issues and a backlog of customer service calls for several weeks. Catherine and Dorothy confirmed that Airbnb has caught up on the backlog and is now able to address issues as they come in. 

Guest reviews

The guest review process is a hot topic for many hosts. The H2H community shared several ideas to reduce the impact of one poor review on a host with five-star status. Meanwhile, the Airbnb team acknowledged the challenges of creating a review system that is fair to both guests and hosts. While it works for most people, there are still outliers. 

Dominique Ng shared that the review process is continuously evolving as Airbnb data scientists analyze and interpret data and receive input from the Airbnb community. They have learned that while reviews are universally understood, it is difficult to define what a five-star review means and to balance both sides of the review process. While the team is applying data to continuously improve the review process, they are also looking at how to better share guest reviews to hosts so that hosts can make informed decisions about whether to host a particular guest.

Higher cleaning standards due to COVID-19 safety practices

In June, Airbnb implemented voluntary enhanced cleaning protocols for hosts to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. These practices became a requirement for all hosts in October. The Airbnb team has compiled several resources to make the enhanced five-step cleaning protocol accessible to hosts. Resources include videos and materials summarizing the steps, appropriate cleaning supplies, tips on how to communicate the new protocol to guests, and a handbook that provides greater detail. These resources and more can be found at  Airbnb.com/cleaningresources. Additionally, Catherine describes Airbnb’s comprehensive community standards for guests, hosts and safety in her new video.

Dorothy shared that hosts who have implemented the enhanced cleaning protocol receive considerably more bookings and guests report they feel safer staying in an Airbnb compared to staying at a hotel. If you have not yet confirmed your agreement to Airbnb’s enhanced cleaning protocol, you have until November 20^th. Hosts that do not agree may not be able to accept new reservations. For more information, visit Airbnb.com/progress/cleaning. 

Other topics discussed include new guest education, damages caused by pets, emotional support vs. service animals, travel insurance, and cancellation policies. 

Host2Host members can watch the entire event here, along with all recorded H2H meetups. If you are not yet a member of Host2Host, consider joining us. Annual dues are nominal and monthly Meetups and Wednesday Conversations are free. Join us here.

As hosts, we are in this business together. And together we will thrive.

I am a word nerd. I like to know the underlying meanings of words, especially those that grab our current attention. Resilience is one of those words. So when I looked up definitions, I found this one from the Oxford dictionary particularly helpful: “The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape.”

As hosts we are particularly impacted by all that’s going on here in Oregon. The pandemic with its need for distancing, smoke from our wildfires and the disturbing protests that seem endless in Portland, just one of these would be enough, but all combined really mess with us!

So Resilience looks like something we might all want to explore, and bring into our lives and in our hosting businesses more. It was a relief to me, thankfully, to learn that we can all learn to be resilient.

While I am speaking here of our ability to learn and to practice resilience for ourselves, I also recognize that many of our guests these days are also yearning for some form of relief. Our welcoming can be a respite and give them space to reconnect, to re-energize, to find their own ability to face challenges and to “spring back into shape.”

In my research I discovered a great article published in March 2020 in Psychology Today which I commend to you for a deeper dive into this wonderful topic.

Seven Skills of Resilience | Psychology Today

And, for another spin on Resilience, check out this art exhibit produced by The Red Brick Center for the Arts in Aspen, Colorado. They bill it as “a multidisciplinary exhibit that speaks to the moment.“ I learned of this exhibit when my son, Brian, told me several portraits he painted were included. The exhibit overview reminded me that resilience applies to each of us as hosts.

May you all find your resilience and put the spring back in your step!

Alan Colley, Host2Host President

How do you measure success? By the number of nights you have booked? By the size of your bank account? By the number of times you have been awarded SuperHost status? Or by some other measure?

This letter is a shout out to Chip Conley, the former Head of Global Hospitality at Airbnb and now Founder of Modern Elder Academy in Baja Sur, California, Mexico. When the founders of Airbnb were interviewing him to join their organization, they put this “success” question to him. They were not expecting his answer: “Airbnb will be successful when we are nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

When I heard his response it completely shifted my view of what hosting could actually mean. Sure, it is important to see our hosting bring us income so we can pay our bills, and in some cases, remain in our homes. Yet it’s not too far fetched to acknowledge that welcoming guests to our communities does break down fear and barriers.

I know in our case, greeting and welcoming people from all over the globe, watching them share experiences and laughter with our local neighbors, we know something special is happening. When we notice these encounters, Dabney and I have often looked at each other and said simultaneously, “Nobel Peace Prize.”

There is no denying that the world we live in is in turmoil. The whole hospitality industry is severely challenged. Yet as we strive to reimagine and create new ways to welcome guests, there is something quite wonderful about lifting our sights above the turmoil to see that at its heart, hosting is about connection, building community and creating a climate that deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

Thanks for being an important part of Host2Host!

Alan Colley, President Host2Host