Bed Bug Inspections for Air BnB Rentals
When a host posts their apartment/home on Airbnb.com, it is very important for you to understand that bed bug inspections will become your best friend. Recently we have noticed many calls related to these types of online bed and breakfast services. Rather than sit back and watch this ticking time bomb explode we want to educate hosts on some of the risks. Travel in big cities has changed 10 fold. People no longer want to spend 7 nights in one location at a hotel, when they can hop from one town to another daily. The only problem of this nomadism is that it increases the spread of bed bugs. Here is why you should have bed bug inspections performed on your Air BnB room.
- Air BnB allows the guests to leave reviews. If there is any reputation at all that your rental has you want it to be a plesant one. Any sign that there is a rumor of bed bugs, it won’t look too good for your future guests.Because of this bad bed bug review many guests will opt for other rentals that don’t have any associations with vermin.
- If Air BnB gets a complaint from a guest, they will freeze the payment for that guest. This usually ends up in the guest getting refunded, or Air BnB holds the payment till the problem is resolved. Rentals in NYC can start at $50.00 a night and some can go as high as $600.00 a night depending on the neighborhood. That is a lot of money that you don’t want to have in limbo.
- Air BnB will remove your listing from their website for two weeks (and sometimes more) if a guest complains about bed bugs or similarly any pests. The host will then have to hire an exterminator and get a inspection report stating whether or not you have bed bugs on the premisses. If there are not bed bugs found, great. All you have to do is provide Air BnB with a negative inspection report. However, if you do have bed bugs the host will now have to wait till the Pest Control company gives you the all clear. Getting the “all-clear” after treatment could take anywhere from one month to as much as 6 months, depending on the infestation size. When the host is charging $150.00 a day, that adds up big time.
- Lets face it, its not ALL about the money. The host wants their guests to have a nice stay. When you have guests visiting from another City or even Country, you don’t want your home to be the place that gave your neighborhood a bad reputation. We all want to be good hosts. We don’t want our guests to be the hosts for the bed bugs. Be hospitable!
The bottom line is that you want to be on top of these types of maintenance programs so you money is not in jeopardy. Some Air BnB hosts will post all inspections in a booklet to show the guests they keep up with proper maintenance. The rule of thumb is for every 10 guests, get a bed bug inspection performed on your apartment/home. If you have any further questions about this please feel free to contact us. If you need a bed bug inspection on your Air BnB rental in NYC, give us a call!
