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COMMENTS


  1. Heather says:

    I wish people would think twice before staying at Airbnb. I live in NYC and we had 5 airbnb’s just on our floor. All owned by the same person. We pay a LOT of money and went through a very rigorous background check to live here. It takes available apartments out of the rental pool for people who actually work/live in the city and it drives up rents artificially. It ruins the community for people who actually live here – no I don’t have extra towels and no I’m not taking the next elevator because you don’t like my dog. And no I don’t want drugs, hookers and parties next door either. Sure lots of nice, normal people stay but the negative impact is left long after you “check out”. Just about every airbnb in NYC (and most big cities) is illegal. Cities all around the world are dealing with negative impacts from airbnb. Just look at Barcelona, Florence, La Jolla and NYC. Please stay at a hotel.

    1. Jenni says:

      I hear what you are staying, I lived in NYC for 8 years and would have been annoyed if my building had apartment being rented, which is why I think it’s illegal. But for a city like Milwaukee, where we are working to bring people into the city and make it a destination, there is currently not as much negative impact. While that could change in the future if there are too many in a neighborhood, we check in regularly with our neighbors, and they are happy that we are taking rundown houses on the block, completely renovating and giving the home a new life.

  2. Paige Flamm says:

    This is super interesting to me. I know in Utah where we live the cost of AirBNBs have gone up so much that it’s almost not a novel and cost effective option like it once was. I guess the benefit is getting to stay in some cool and updated homes, but from what we’ve seen, if we want to travel, it’s actually become cheaper for us to stay in hotels recently.

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.com

    1. Jenni says:

      Interesting! All of our housed hold up to 6 people, so we are seeing a lot of family travel that want to be together instead of in separate hotel rooms.

  3. KatieV says:

    So interesting and informative. (Also, I think the NYC commenter isn’t very helpful here. Some communities are oversaturated with Airbnbs, but that obviously isn’t the case for the Yolos’ area. 🙂

  4. Monique says:

    Last year when we sold our home we moved our things into storage and didn’t buy a new home right away. Instead we packed up some backpacks and took our four kids on the road for a few months, and we stayed almost exclusively in Airbnbs. Getting to live like a local in so many different places and befriending our hosts and the neighbors in each city was such a gift. We’ve since settled down again and purchased a new home, but next time the itch comes to break out the backpacks we might need to try Milwaukee. What you’re doing is beautiful work! Thanks for the peek into the nitty gritty of hosting. Our experience with Airbnb was so positive we often talk about making our corner of the world welcoming for guests too.

    1. Jenni says:

      Glad you have had such wonderful experiences! We love staying in Airbnbs in most cities we travel to also. Especially if we are staying a while, you really feel like a local instead of a guest in a city 🙂

  5. Tricia says:

    I AirBnB’d my home in Denver and it was easy in someways but super mentally taxing (are they ok, why aren’t they messaging me back, etc.) The only thing they ever broke though was wine glasses. I went through a couple dozen, thank you IKEA!

    1. Jenni says:

      I hear you! It’s definitely tough when you feel like you need to be “on call” 24/7. That’s why we *try* to think of everything to cut down on communication!

  6. Dani says:

    Great post! Im sorry about that rant-er above. I’d love to have an AirBnB one day, and just love watching your process! Thanks for sharing. How smart to set these up before baby, too. You guys make an amazing team and are so inspiring!

  7. Devon Hillman says:

    Thank you for this post! You and Mr Yolo are awesome! I love the proactive part of this post. Being able to get into an airbnb and fix anything at anytime that a renter won’t think twice about is a huge pro. Do yall keep any pet friendly amenities at the airbnbs?

    1. Jenni says:

      In the two Airbnbs we have now, we allow pets, because we lived in them with dogs and have fenced in backyards, but we do not have anything additional at the house for dogs.

  8. Suzanne says:

    We have had an AirBnB for a little over 3 years and I wholeheartedly agree with everything you have stated here! My only other suggestion for folks that I found helpful would be to keep linens white. I used to put really pretty, colorful towels in the bathrooms but they just kept getting ruined by makeup/prescription stuff that people use. It felt like such a waste to have to get rid of a perfectly good towel or pillow case that just looked bad and could no longer be used. We are currently fixing up a house for our second AirBnB and your stories on Instagram have been an inspiration. Thanks!

    1. Jenni says:

      YES! Such a great tip, we are in the process of switching out all our our printed towels for white towels so we can do a bleach load and get rid of any makeup stains! Also make sure to have a bunch of washcloths so people wash their faced with that instead of towels!

  9. Ashley - The Gold Hive says:

    Hi! As someone who gets tons of Instagram DMs asking for long answers/resources/thoughtful replies or just any kind of response, I’m curious how you’re managing the process of not answering DMs. Are you ignoring them? Telling people your inbox is closed? Telling people to go to the blog?
    Thanks for encouraging people to go to our blogs where we spend so much time and energy sharing free info!

    1. Jenni says:

      Hi Ashley! Great question, it’s really a mix. I try to mention pretty often that I am not answering long form, and have seen less come through. But I am planning on creating a story with links to posts with sources so I can direct people there. Or encourage people to leave comments on my IG posts so I can answer questions there for more people to read

  10. Dianne says:

    Thank you for this great post!!! I have a vacation rental on my property behind my home so I’m very involved in all aspects including greeting guests and cleaning it myself most of the time. I’ve just discovered a couple of tips from you!

    Today’s post by my100yearoldhome who just -reno’d and opened an Airbnb in Waco Texas shows that she is providing dark gray washrags embroidered with ‘Make-Up’ on each one. Brilliant. I’ve lost more towels/washrags due to make-up. tanning lotion and who know what?

    I’m most interested in your saved prewritten messages to your guests…..that’s something I haven’t done and need to work on.

    Thank you so much!!

  11. Judy says:

    Thanks for all the great info! I currently clean for 4 AirBnB homes. We use a laundry service, which is awesome for me! One home, which sleeps up to 16 people, doesn’t use a laundry service and this takes up a huge chunk of time to get done. People tend to use every towel! Thanks for all the great tips!

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