28 Crucial airbnb house rules - the Ultimate Guide
Airbnb house rules are your first line of defense to guard against parties, unauthorized guests and many other problems airbnb issues today. Use these samples rules to protect yourself and your property from headache.
We will explain in depth what the crucial house rules are and why we chose them. If you're looking for the version we give to guest: 28 House rules in PDF here.
We may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story.
What are Airbnb House rules?
Airbnb house rules are a set of rules that you can post on your listing and share with your guests to set expectations, what to do and what not to do. Ex: limit smoking, limit visitors.
Guests must agree to your house rules before they book. Once the reservation is confirmed, your airbnb house rules are also sent to guests.
Your airbnb house rules need to complied with airbnb terms and conditions as well as local laws and regulations.
If guests break one of the house rules you set, you can choose to cancel the reservation.
This is different from a House Manual. House manual is where you can explain to guests where things are in your home.
To add or edit House Rules after you’ve listed your space:
Go to Your listings on airbnb.comClick Manage listing on the listing you want to editClick Booking settings at the top of the pageNext to House rules, click EditSelect your expectations and rules for guests, then click Save
28 Sample airbnb house rules
We have put together 28 house rules any airbnb host should have. You can use all 28 of them or a combination of them. Below we will explain why we choose these house rules.
1. AC / FANS / LIGHTS / HOT WATER/ COOKTOP
Utilities can cost you an arm and a leg if you don't manage these well. You might think that if the unit is not occupied then you will have low utility bills. Guests can leave your AC on high and blasting all day in a hot summer month while they are not even in the unit or when they check out already but your cleaner won't come later in the evening or the next day.
Ask guests to turn these off when not in use.
You can mention there will be additional fee if someone has to enter the unit and turn those off.
It's common to have hot water tank and cooktop to have a switch that you turn on or off. Leaving the hot water tank (the types you find in Asia) will keep it running all day and waste a lot of electricity. If you're the US, you don't need to mention this.
Tips: consider installing devices that would save you money like a Nest thermostat if you've central air. Not only that it will save you money in electricity bill, you can also remote control it.
If you don't have central air, Cuby Smart might be your solution. It took me 3 months searching for solutions before I came by this one. Now I can control split ACs in our rental remotely.
2. PARKING
To avoid confusion and dispute, ask guest to park in designated parking spot(s) only (if your unit has one) and abide by all street signs when utilizing street parking.
The last thing you want is for guest to block neighbor mailbox or cause upset in your neighborhood.
Tips: beside giving clear direction to guests where to park, investing in some parking signs on the property.
3. PETS
We are pet-lovers ourselves but for a vacation rental, pets can add additional cleaning time and additional wear and tears. We generally don't allow pets on these rentals.
We had guests brought pets into our units without telling us at all. Cleaner had to roll so much dog hairs on the blankets and deep clean the whole place, instead of the usually turn-over cleaning.
The urine smell on our carpet was the worst. We had to use OdoBan for 2 weeks straight to get rid of the smell.
You want to state clearly that No pets are allowed on premises. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in additional cleaning fees to be assessed, as well as eviction from property. No refunds will be given.
Tips: You can choose to allow pet and charge a higher rate and set a higher cleaning fee. You might get more bookings at a higher rate. Many travelers prefer to bring their pets with them, especially on road trip to stay close to their furry friends and also to save on pet-sitting.
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We use the carpet roller a lot even for units that are not allowed pets. We found that if we roll the hair off before washing, we don't have to worry about hair afterward.
4. NO PARTIES
Parties are the biggest headache for hosts. Did I tell you we had a unit damage for over $25K due to a party last December (2019)? The question for hosts is not if it will happen to you, but WHEN it will happen.
Absolutely no parties allowed!
Make it very clear in your house rules that no parties is allowed.
Tips: ask for ID for verification purpose. Once we started asking for ID for our unit in downtown Dallas, we don't have party yet so far. Guests are also more inclined to treat the property better.
Verbage: Please provide a picture ID after booking, the name on the ID needs to match the name on the reservation for verification.
5. VISITORS
airbnb
1-4 visitors during the day that are not staying overnight might be ok. But if you charge additional guest fees after a certain guest count, you will want to make sure no unauthorized guests are allowed to stay overnight.
We also note in our house rules that inaccurate guest count will result in additional fees and might lead to eviction.
Tips: Install security cameras or video doorbell help tremendously to protect yourself against unwanted guests. You can set notifications to be sent to your phone. We once stopped a party from happening by calling the guests as we started seeing cars and people start coming in from the driveway.
Blink camera: I like this the most as they are affordable and best of all, I don't have to pay for monthly subscription of the videos.Ring doorbell: If you live in an apartment complex that you're not allowed by the condo board to put up cameras on the outside wall, you can use a ring doorbell on your door. There are 2 versions, one you can wire into an existing electronic doorbell, one you can just use batteries that charge it from time to time.
6. SMOKING
Our units are 100% non-smoking. We find it's easier to clean and keeping it healthy for all guests (yes, including smokers). But we do strike to establish a spot outside the unit they can smoke.
To deter smoking indoor, we put signs in the living room and in the bedrooms to remind guests not to smoke.
7. QUIET HOURS
"This is a residential area- quiet hours are from 9pm-8am" is that we usually post in the units and in our house rules. You can choose what time works best for your neighborhood.
Sometime our neighbors would let us know it's too noisy at night. Having this house rule in place, all we need to do is to remind our dear guests about the quiet hours.
8. CANDLES
We used to have candle holders are decoration but due to fire hazard, we don't allow candles anymore. But we do provide flashlights just in case there is an power outage.
9. FURNITURES
No moving of furniture! Believe it or not, guests have moved furnitures around to make an arrangement works for them; it's fine as long as they move it back. We have a heavy baby crib in the master bedroom. By the time the guest checked out, the crib was in the other bedroom. With just one cleaner came for that day, it put us way behind schedule to get someone else to came since we needed two people to move the crib back to its original location.
Since we had this rule in place, we were able to send the guest photo the the misplaced crib and charged for the additional time needed to turn the unit over.
10. REMOTES & OTHER ITEMS
Verbage: No moving of remotes and other items. When you checkout, be sure to leave items where you originally found them. Missing remote controls and other items will be billed to you.
We even label the location of the remote with a label maker. This will save your cleaner a lot of time not have to search around and put things back where they should be. Thus, this tip alone will save you money in cleaning fee over time.
Even with the best cleaners, when they go through their days cleaning different houses with different setups, all the details might not be perfect all the time. The last thing you want is the next guest coming in and can't find the remote.
As you scale up, you might have a reservation coordinator or work with a hosting company that manage guest communication for you. If you have a clear system in place with items being labeled and are in their designated spots, your reservation coordinator can tell guest exactly where the remote is without having to double check with the last cleaner or you.
11. CHECK-OUT
On Airbnb, you can specify the checkout time in the listing (under Availability). It doesn't hurt to emphasize this again in the house rules. Delay in checking out can delay your cleaning screw's schedule, you don't want that to happen. And when it does happen, you want to be in a position that you get compensated for it.
12. DAMAGE
We ask guests to report any breakages or damages to us as soon as they happen. Unreported damages will be charged to the guest.
Tips: Post a list of inventory of all the items in your rentals on the fridge. When things go missing, you have a list ready on hand to proceed to next step to file a airbnb damage claim or vrbo damage claim. Your guests can be another set of eyes for you and let you know if anything that needs to be replaced. Ideally the cleaners should be the person to spot it but sometime they miss it.
13. TRASH
If you've multiple single family houses that are scattered across town, it's not cost effective to have someone driving around and bringing your trash bins and recycle bins out and in all week long.
In these cases, we ask the guests to bring the bins out and in. The longer the stay, the more the guests will be willing to do it.
At the beginning, we thought we might get a lot of complaints. Surprisingly, there have been no complaints at all so far.
If you think this is too much to ask your guests, of course, you can manage this yourself or pay extra for your cleaner to take care of this.
Verbage: Guests are responsible for removing all waste from the unit and placing it in the appropriate bins outside (this includes removing all open food items from the refrigerator and cabinets, trash, recycle). Additional cleaning fees will be assessed to guests if trash is left in the unit after checkout. Please take the bins out to the curb to be serviced as posted inside your unit.
14. DISHES
Washing pile and pile of dishes would turn your turnover cleaning into a forever cleaning.
If the unit has a dishwasher, we ask guests to rinse the dirty dishes and run the washer before they checkout. For other units, we ask dishes to be washed before checking out.
You can specify how much you want to charge (depending on how much it costs you) to handle dirty dishes in your airbnb house rules. For us, we just wrap it up into the additional cleaning fee rate.
15. SUPPLIES
There is no amount or type of supplies can delight all guests. At the minimum, we provide the basic supplies airbnb requires like salt and pepper, etc. We then go above and beyond with larger quantity of basic stuff like trash bags, paper towels and plenty of toilet paper and even a welcome gift.
Setting expectation is key. Our rule of thumb is "under promise, over deliver." In our room rental rules and regulations, we listed that supplies will be a small start up even though we do stock more. Once the startup supply runs out, guests are on their own to purchase additional supplies if needed. This way, when guests want more of a certain item, instead of asking us (where we would have to pay the cleaner an additional shopping fee to buy and deliver the item) or complaining and giving us a bad review, they understand they need to get their own supplies.
16. LOCK
In our sample house rules for guests, we ask them to always lock all doors/windows when leaving the premise. This also means locking the lockbox right after they use it. Leaving the lockbox open will expose the property to risk of theft (with lockbox, the combination code can be seen when the lockbox is open).
17. PEST CONTROL
Even with diligent pest control, properties will tend to have a modicum of bugs, ants and geckos. We listed in our room rental rules and regulations that contacting with a pest inside or outside of property is not a reason for terminating the rental agreement, nor is it a reason for a refund of monies.
The property interiors and exteriors are treated regularly for pests. Guests are encouraged to report any pest problems so follow up professional treatment can be scheduled as soon as possible.
We do schedule quarterly pest control with Terminix. Prevention is the best course of action.
18. SHOES
In Hawaii or in asia, where it's customary to remove shoes before entering the house, we leave a "Please remove your shoes" sign to ask guests to do so and provide a shoes rack.
It keeps the unit cleaner and better especially if you have carpet.
We also try this for our units in Dallas; however, we provide Finleoo Lightweight slippers in addition to shoes rack. Most guests complied with no question or concern. We love these rubber slipper since they last long and when they are dirty, we can rinse them outside and then wash them in the dishwasher, they come out nice and clean.
19. DRAIN
Have ocean front property or rental in a beachtown? Sand will be your concern. Beautiful beaches are great for your guests but not so much for your drain.
We always state in our airbnb house rules pdf to remove sand before they enter the house. If there is an outside water hose, we point it out to renters. Also mention clearly in room rental rules and regulations that there will be charge if they clog your drain.
To combat hair clog, we use these 2.7 inch sink strainer drainers and they work wonder.
20. LAUNDRY
If multiple units share the same laundry area, you will want to have some clear guideline like laundry hours, what to do when someone leave their clothes inside the machine for an extended time, etc.
At the very least, provide instructions on how to use the machines. If you have international guests, this will help them tremendously.
21. KEY
Common issues with keys and lockbox:
Keys can be lost.Guests forget to put the key back into the lockbox when they check out (usually they left the key inside the unit). Cleaner can't come in because there is no key in the lockbox.Guests don't close the lockbox after taking out the key; therefore, they expose the lockbox code to any passerby.
For these reasons, for units that have keys/lockbox, we make sure to include in our airbnb house rules:
Place the key back into the lockbox as soon as they open the door, and leave it there when they don't need the key.Always close and lock the lockbox itself. Charge a fee for key replacement and a fee to deliver a new key if they get locked out.We keep another set of spare key (in another lockbox) and hide it somewhere.
Tips: The best way is to get an electronic lock, especially one that you can control remotely and change the code remotely.
The best setup that we love so far is Schlage with Samsung SmartThings hub. The smart app we use to control the lock remotely is Lock User Management by RBoy SmartThings Apps. We only paid $39 (one time fee only, but per hub, so expect each rental to use 1 hub) to control it remotely (lock, unlock, change user code, etc.). If you want to have it automatically sends a unicode for each stay directly to the guest, you can do that too for a $99 lifetime subscription.
22. MAIL/PACKAGE
Handling guest's packages can be another logistic operation by itself. Packages can arrive early or late, outside the timeframe of the guest stay. Your cleaner or someone will need to locate the package, secure it and mail it to the guests (if the package arrives after the guest has left).
Squatters can establish their tenancy by receiving their mails at your rental among other tactics. For this legal concern, if you can avoid allowing mailing of packages, that's better.
A solution for this is not to let guests mail their packages to your rental but let them know about USPS General Delivery, where they can mail the package to their name and address it to a local USPS location that offer general delivery service. They can pick up the package at the USPS store.
23. MAINTENANCE
Letting guests know you or your maintenance crew might need to enter the unit for the purpose of general maintenance, bug spray, etc. in your airbnb house rules so you will not startle your guests when you do need to come in.
When guests review their stay, airbnb asks the a question on whether or not there were unexpect people there.
Review question: There were unexpected people on site
Answer choices: Yes, No, Not sure
Airbnb questions to guests when they review their stay
Managing expectation is everything here.
24. VIOLATION OF HOUSE RULES
Here you want to mention what the consequences of violating your house rules will be. In our sample house rules for guests, we clarify that violation of airbnb house rules may result in a fine and/or eviction.
Per airbnb, if guests violate your house rules, you can cancel the reservation, and usually that means you should be able to keep the money for the reservation.
25. LINENS / TOWELS
AIrbnb: https://airbnb.com/h/seascapecottage
Little items can add up in cost quickly. If you lose 1-2 towels, it doesn't seem like a lot. But if you have 20 units, 40 units, constantly replacing towels can affect your profitability.
"If linens or towels are rented from Owner or supplied with Rental Property, Guest is responsible for lost or damaged items at the cost of two (2) times the published standard rental price for such damaged or lost linens or towels." This is what we stated in our airbnb house rules template download.
26. REFUND
Setting clear refund policy will help you and your guests deal with unpleasant situation when something goes wrong.
In our sample house rules for guests:
No refunds will be provided due to inoperable appliances, pools, hot tubs, elevators, etc. The Owner will make every reasonable effort to assure that such appliances will be and remain in good working order. No refunds will be given due to power blackouts, water shortage, flooding, snow, construction at adjacent properties, or mandatory evacuations of the area by county officials due to hurricanes or other potentially dangerous situations arising from acts of god or nature.
27. COMPLIMENT ITEMS
Providing beach gears or recreational toys for guests is fun. Getting sued when something wrong happens is not.
Make sure you put language into your airbnb house rules and ask guests to sign a waiver. Consult with your favorite lawyer for specific language for your state.
28. PORTABLE AC (if applicable to your unit)
Last but not least, portable AC usually requires draining the inside reservoir from time to time. If you have a long stay, guests might have to empty it.
Anticipate something like this and put them into your airbnb house rules, will help you when you need to ask your guests to do something.
When setting your airbnb house rules, it's all about setting the right expectations and preventing surpries when something goes wrong. Definitely having a refund policy in place and no parties rules is a must. These two alone will save you a ton of money and headache.
Which of these rules will you implement right away?
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Disclaimer: These house rules are for sample only. We make no guarantee about the validity and enforcement ability of these samples. Please consult with your real estate expert or lawyer.
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