Renting and living with AirBnB
Owner Jewel Crawley says McKee Manor offers plenty of space and rooms to host lots of family or friends.
A view of one of the four bedrooms at McKee Manor in Monessen
The outer deck at McKee Manor
An outside look at McKee Manor in Monessen
The kitchen at McKee Manor in Monessen
AirBnB, the $25 billion business formerly known as Air Bed & Breakfast, has been a way since 2007 for travelers to book stays with homeowners instead of often more expensive check-ins at hotels, and the Web-based operation also is turning into a lucrative business model for those willing to try their hand at becoming de facto landlords with minimal outlay.
Homeowners from Washington and Monessen have been mapping out their success for interested couch surfers and prospective proprietors.
Jewel Crawley, a Monessen native who moved to Alexandria, Va., nearly two decades ago, has been leasing a property at 640 McKee Ave. for 12 years and moved all her stake in the property over to AirBnB booking and management in July.
“I like the concept over traditional contracts, or trying to list through realty management or Craigslist or similar sites. It gets the property a lot more attention,” Crawley said. The four-bedroom home, advertised as McKee Manor, was going for $350 a night, and was booked three weeks out every time a reporter checked its availability. “Wholesale” or longterm pricing has helped Crawley negotiate with those seeking a more extensive stay.
“The longest I’ve had someone stay was two months. Most people just take it for a long weekend, and among those most are using it as a cheaper way to visit with family or have a hopscotch way to scoot over to Pittsburgh for games and weddings without having to stay in the city,” Crawley said.
“But sometimes when people negotiate, AirBnB will list ‘sale’ pricing and I have to tell them, ‘No, sorry, that’s not the real price.’ But you can adjust the price in real time, or maybe hash it out in the messages,” Crawley said.
“Hashing it out” in the messages is what prospective renters have to do through AirBnB’s security protocols that prohibit phone numbers, email and physical addresses from appearing in the company’s messaging system. Even clever attempts to disguise numbers through phonetic spelling or dots and dashes are still redacted or obscured, a security feature AirBnB representatives said is a way to prevent fraud and ensure the safety of guests and renters.
Dr. David Bradley, owner and operator of Bradley’s Physical Therapy on Chestnut Street in Washington, said AirBnB has been a way to doubly advertise his vacation home in Canaan Valley in West Virginia.
“We still hire a realty management company to maintain the property since we’re so far away, but it’s been great since we started using AirBnB in July 2015,” Bradley said.
Bradley also has local properties listed for as little as $69 per night with 28 percent discounts for a week’s stay, according to AirBnB listings.
“You can still negotiate with people, and since you’re cutting out the middleman, it’s easier to do that in those situations. And the ability to leave and receive reviews is great, too. That helps in the same sense with a site like eBay where you’re more inclined to trust and rent from someone with high rates of positive feedback versus no or little feedback, even if it’s positive,” Bradley said. “And the message system, like business pages for Facebook, you’re encouraged to respond quickly and it shows your response rate. So you want to get back to people as quickly as possible.”
For Bradley and his family of six, AirBnB has been a viable option for his vacation trips, too.
“You need a full kitchen, multiple rooms and just space to deal with it all. With a hotel you might get charged for wi-fi or other surcharges you’re not aware about. With this service, you really are seeing what you’re getting,” Bradley said, “and there is a cancellation policy that the homeowner can set from lenient, medium to strict. And that applies to how far out a renter can cancel and how much of their deposit they get back, or under what conditions a person can cancel. Since all of that is clear up front, it helps negotiations.
“We’ve worked out deals where a renter wanted a fourth day for free instead of canceling or it was down time in the ski season where we didn’t have any bookings. Those things can happen, and it’s mutually beneficial,” Bradley said.
There are online forums dedicated to horror stories of using AirBnB – like airbnbhell.com – but both lessors said the worst they’ve dealt with have been properties left dirty or items destroyed, all of which is usually covered by security deposits, Bradley said.