‘I Almost Bought a Dream Home—Until an Airbnb Stay Revealed the Nightmare Inside’

For the past six months, Jennifer Beeston of Miami Beach, FL, has been tirelessly looking for a home three hours away in Sarasota, FL.

Her efforts paid off when she finally found what she thought was her dream house listed online.

"It was perfect. It looked like it fell out of a magazine," she explains to Realtor.com®. "I was so excited. I thought my house hunt was over."

The newly built home Beeston became "obsessed with" checked all her boxes.

"It was the square footage and bedrooms we were looking for, in a great part of town, a short ride to the beach and had a pool," she says. "Plus, it was in my budget."

Then, she noticed the listing stated that the house was currently being used for a short-term stay on Airbnb—and a light bulb went off.

"My husband and I decided to rent the house to test it, but did not tell the seller or listing agent," she says. "We wanted to see the real deal."

Testing their dream house to find out it was a nightmare

Beeston and her husband rented the home for four nights, shelling out $2,000 for the covert, recon vacation.

"My theory was that if we loved the house, we could see how working from there worked and really test the neighborhood," she explains.

She also was confident that they would love the home and was prepared to write an offer while in town.

"That way, we could be there for inspections and to start planning where furniture would go," she explains.

The plans were set, and when they arrived, Beeston and her husband were optimistic.

"Pulling into the driveway, I thought I was driving up to my new home," she says. "It was stunning and picture-perfect."

But once they got inside, they discovered things were not what they seemed.

At first, it was little, fixable things.

"In the kitchen, the built-in refrigerator wasn't working and a bunch of the cabinets were broken," she says.

But that turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.

"The AC rattled the bed in the main bedroom at night because it was positioned right under it," she recalls. "Then the bathtub did not work, and the sliding glass doors were broken."

The list of problems inside the house went "on and on," but things weren't much better outside.

"A lot of the tiles around the pool deck were loose and cracked in half to the level where it was hazardous," she says. "Plus, the Jacuzzi did not work and made crazy loud sounds at night."

It was so noisy, they actually left two nights early.

"Sleeping was impossible," she says.

Why they walked away

After seeing how much work the home needed, Beeston decided against making an offer.

"As a seasoned homeowner, I have dealt with my share of issues, and I never expect perfection," she explains. "But after doing a few remodels, I can tell what is easy and what is expensive. This perfect-looking house would have cost a fortune in repairs in both the short run and the long run."

Beeston says spending a night in the home offered insights she never could have gained from a tour or listing photos alone.

"In pictures, things can look perfect, but pictures do not show quality of work," she says. "When we spent the night in the house, it was clear it was built to look great, but the work was done as cheaply as possible. That's why even though the house was only 4 years old, so much of it was broken."

She says Airbnb helped her dodged a major bullet.

"Renting the home was the best decision I have ever made, as it saved us a fortune and allowed us to avoid a homebuying horror story," she says. "I strongly recommend doing this if you ever get the chance."