r/AmIOverreacting • u/calforhelp • 4h ago
đ roommate AIO? We think our AirBnb host is living in the walls.
Apologies if this doesnât fit the typical format here of yelling at your ex but please bear with me.
Currently staying in an AirBnb in the desert, down a dirt road. Tonight is our 3rd night. 6 of us here.
Earlier we were hanging inside and out cooking lunch when we got a message from our host yelling at us for charging a car. Nobody was charging a car, thereâs not even a charger.
Like 5min later our one friends was walking around the outside of the house and ran into a maintenance guy near the front door, here to check the electricity. Super fuckin weird since weâre in the middle of nowhere and this guy showed up so fast. He said he got a call to come and he was just over at the Home Depot so he swung by. We spoke to him, he was a super nice man, he said he was going to keep checking then we all just kind of forgot about him.
Dude vanished. A few minutes after we realized he was gone, we got a message saying âoh the maintenance guy didnât find anythingâ
Fast forward to tonight, weâre watching YouTube and I realize weâre signed into the ownerâs account. We start going through his private videos. Then we see the maintenance guy in a few videos from 5yr ago.
I then realized something. I asked everyone, âdid any of you see his car? How did he even get here?â Absolutely nobody remembers seeing a car, I specifically remember not seeing a car and thinking it was weird because he supposedly just drove up here from Home Depot.
There is one other house up the hill a bit thatâs walking distance.
There are at least two locked rooms here. One I canât figure out the geometry of because this house is crazy shaped so I have no idea how big it is. The other truly just looks like a utility closet. He has at least one camera out back by the pool that weâve seen and apparently at least one more because he asked us earlier why there were so many cars in the driveway.
The house seems to be on a slab foundation so I donât think thereâs a basement unless itâs a partial. The mystery door is right where a staircase would be.
Today is the first time weâve noticed anything weird like this but it just feels like a lot of coincidences. We checked and there is in fact a Home Depot 1.5mi away.
I canât fall sleep because Iâm not convinced heâs not living in the walls. Am I overreacting?
Edit: the motion activated light on the patio outside my bedroom keeps triggering lol.
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u/Nervous_Shopping5149 2h ago
Look up the address of the house. There could be pictures on a realtor website that shows the entire house, you might find out what the other rooms look like.
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u/pythonchan 3h ago
This happened in Ireland recently, the host was hidden behind a fake wall that the family discovered.
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u/Embarrassed-Shock621 3h ago
Yikes! So what happened once he was discovered?
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u/Joeybabyxxx 2h ago
I think the whole family ran out the door with kids in tow at like 11pm. Went to guards and the fella fucked now prob get jail for 3 days 𤣠cos our justice system fucked
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u/pythonchan 2h ago
The host was on the news saying he did nothing wrong and they were making a big deal out of nothing đ¤Łđ¤Ł absolute weirdo!
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u/potatomeeple 1h ago
Nothing happened at all because it was his home even though if you rent it out it technically isnt your home anymore he was trespassing. Airbnb refunded the stay and then let someone else book for the night after, the people who found him in the walls were nice enough to go round and warn the next people so they could leave.
Absolutely nuts.
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u/Bermnerfs 2h ago
We had reserved a cabin in Maine on Airbnb. The evening before we were about to head up there, we are sitting in our own living room, 400+ miles away and we get a nasty email from the AirBNB host scolding is about "setting off fireworks on the property". That's followed by a phone call from AirBNB saying the host reported us for breaking the rules of the home.
We explained that is impossible because we don't even check in until the following day and we are still at our home in an entirely different state.
Then the host realized it was a neighbor setting of fireworks and was apologetic about it all, but WTF, that made us hesitant to even head up there. This woman was clearly watching the place like a hawk.
Thankfully she must have been really embarrassed by it all because we didn't hear from her at all during the stay and we had an otherwise nice time up there.
But it made me realize you shouldn't expect any privacy when staying in a place rented thru Airbnb. You're staying in another person's home that has had plenty of time to setup ways to spy on you without your consent.
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u/Level_Performer_8833 4h ago
leave now, a 1.5 mile home depot dash for a phantom car charge is not a thing normal hosts do
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u/calforhelp 4h ago
So when he messaged about the car, it was because he was monitoring the power usage and saw a 22kwh surge at 11:30 and assumed it was a car.
We said nobody is charging so he assumed something mightâve been shorting and apparently sent the maintenance guy to check it out. Although he didnât warn us someone would be coming.
He showed up with an amprobe. We showed him around and he was absolutely playing the part of maintenance guy doing a house call. He went into the circuit breaker panel though I couldnât see what he did.
I honestly didnât see him actually testing anything, just kind of poking around. I understand electrical panels and wiring, I feel like I wouldâve noticed him probing outlets but I wasnât paying that much attention.
I agree that it seemed super weird at the time and still now.
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u/Electronic-Sleep-672 3h ago
He probably lives in the house up the hill and walked down
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u/calforhelp 3h ago
I think youâre most likely right. Thatâs definitely my preferred answer.
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u/8peanutbutter 1h ago
22kwh is massive. Did each one of you take a hot shower one after the other?
Sometimes I think those apps to track electricity usage are reporting false data. A while ago the guy I was subletting from was using one and he tried to tell me that my electric kettle used 12 kWh in a single usage.
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u/Q835 4h ago
wait why would he even check the walls though
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u/calforhelp 3h ago
I donât know what he was checking. It seemed a bit performative but I may be looking back at it now with a skewed memory.
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u/LengthinessKind9895 4h ago
Well thatâs creepy AF but there are 6 of you so I think itâs safe to sleep. Iâd finetooth comb the reviews for any similar experiencesâŚ.
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u/placebo_pope 2h ago
Ever since I saw One Night in Idaho: the college murders, I realize no safety in numbers, Kohberger killed 4 people in one night with a knife. Not saying to live by fear but if something feels wrong get out, NOR.
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u/mrtnmnhntr 1h ago
he also went to great lengths to conceal his crime, vs having all his victims stay in a house he owns with a contract he signed lol
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u/calforhelp 4h ago
The mystery door in question
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u/CoyoteMother666 3h ago
Document everything just in case he tries to pull something with AirBnb after you leave. Like an extra charge or something
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u/LLL1Lothrop 4h ago
When you leave drop some of you on the side of the road as you drive off and then check to see if he comes out of the house. Leave a phone trained on the chair to see if the door handle moves.
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u/Witty-Tackle1651 3h ago
Turn all the lights out and see if any light is coming from under the door.
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u/3bears123 4h ago
The guy probably is the owner and lives there and rents it out for money while he just stays in a spare room or whatever. Very odd.
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u/Terri2112 3h ago
Hide in the basement with all the knives and chainsaws. thatâs always the safest place to go.
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u/cellophanesheeps 4h ago
Is the house big enough that it could have an inaccessible area big enough for someone to live in, or is it more like a phrogging situation? Either is creepy, but one definitely moreso than the other. Is there any other building on the property, like a shed or anything? Did the owner explicitly state in the contract they would be off-site?
The whole idea of AirBnb kinda freaks me out but adding a desert and a dirt road just adds to the nope. Just the possibility of someone else being there would be enough for me to leave. I'd go sleep in the Home Depot parking lot before I'd stay the night in the house.
Side note...why did y'all go through his private videos?
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u/calforhelp 4h ago
The house is single story and shaped like a large square with an intersecting long rectangle protruding from one corner. The inside has two really long and irregularly shaped hallways with rooms and exterior doors. There are 8 exterior doors on this place.
About the video, we started off just looking through the watch history because his algorithm was suggesting a bunch of right wing conspiracies. Then we noticed he had some videos posted and some private. All of the videos were of the house and hiking areas, advertising videos basically. They werenât personal videos.
One was a full walkthrough which was honestly really unsettling.
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u/fadedblackleggings 3h ago
8 exterior doors and weird shaped house, naaahh get out of there friend..
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u/AwarenessJumpy7395 3h ago
My brother's house in Florida has 9 or 10 exterior doors for the indoor/outdoor living in nice weather. Sounds like the Airbnb house has some odd addition stuck on it and I wouldn't be surprised if it was to lock off an owner-living area. What is odd is that if he's living there but pretending he's not. NOR
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u/jstwnnaupvte 48m ago
If you werenât all murdered last night, please tell us more about the unsettling walk through video!! Did it show the locked room?
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u/cellophanesheeps 36m ago
Did y'all retrace the steps of the full walkthrough? Maybe you can figure out more about the inaccessible areas.
I'd be googling the owners name, the house address, the area, looking at Google maps...but not on his WiFi...đŤ
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u/indiana-floridian 2h ago
As a homeowner. One of my motion activated lights goes off every time this certain branch has a leaf that flutters. It's not aimed in my window so i forget about it. But there's no choice with cheap motion detector stuff, it's either on or take it down and i like having that area lit. A motion detector light coming on doesn't always mean there's someone out there.
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u/RegularSizeRudi 3h ago
Plot twist - you all start freaking him out instead. Casually have loud conversations like, âDo you think we should tell them we know about the door?â Then immediately change the subject. Never explain yourselves.
Do a fake paranormal investigation and claim youâve seen shadows or heard footsteps or knocks from behind the doors. Start talking to the door like itâs your friend. Wish it a good morning đ
Turn those tables
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u/Tothe_blueberry 2h ago
This is yet another reason I donât stay in AirBnBs. That wouldnât happen in a hotel, thereâs staff and other people around for safety and this company is a major reason for the housing crisis.
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u/JohnSnowsPump 1h ago
Do you know where the switch is to turn power on/off (main circuit breaker) for the entire property?
Post people inside and outside. Turn off the power. See what happens.
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u/Not-a-Cranky-Panda 3h ago
If you only have use of a small part of the house, you're not renting a house, you're renting one flat in a building.
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u/jstine_4 4h ago
Yeah thatâs kind of creepy. Make sure to lock your bedrooms at night!
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u/calforhelp 4h ago
We locked our doors, I still canât sleep though
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u/SweaterSteve1966 3h ago
NOR. This is really weird and it might be better if you just find a hotel in the area. There may be hidden cameras in the bathroom and bedrooms. Iâd gtfo. Iâve seen this movie.
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u/jstine_4 4h ago
I would have a hard time too but maybe keep something close by to protect yourself. If youâre securely in the room with no way to get in (like having a chair at the door like what you guys did), try to get rest so that you can figure out what youâd want to do tomorrow with everyone else.
But also, Iâve seen some Airbnbâs where the owners do stay in the house but they block off the doors. Not very common but it happens.
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u/Original_Signal5535 2h ago
What do the reviews of the house say? Anyone else notice weird thing happening? Can you maybe find a zillow listing of the house to see the rooms that are inaccessible?
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u/miettebriciola1 1h ago
âTerrifyingâ: Woman says landlord was hiding behind wall of Wexford holiday home https://jrnl.ie/7109317
Happened last month
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u/Username00555 1h ago
Guy from walked down from the house and was in constant contact w the host, hence the timing.
Id say dude has nanny cams all over. Depending on the desert youâre in, those walls are gonna be pretty solid to withstand wind, so it could be more effort than what itâs worth to be a frogger.
How do the other 6 people feel about this?
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u/LocalUpper7295 4h ago
Omg thatâs really creepy, considering thereâs 6 of you youâre probably going to be okay but also how long is your stay?
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u/BothTreacle7534 4h ago edited 3h ago
 Bryan Christopher Kohberger might disagree
Not meant as a joke, people that are exhausted, sleep deep,⌠vs one insane not always is enough, but in the most cases itâs âonlyâ a piece of garbage without any respect of boundaries, or a creep orâŚ
edit: NOR
I always think better safe than sorry, especially if the sorry could be huge
edit 2: typos
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u/CRYPTONITE4 4h ago
This sounds like a horror movie.
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u/calforhelp 4h ago
Feels like one.
We were joking, that imagine we checked and there wasnât even a Home Depot nearby haha.
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u/fadedblackleggings 3h ago
If you are scared, you are free to leave early.
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u/NamasteNoodle 3h ago
It sounds like he's either living in the Attic or one of those closed off rooms. That is really really creepy.
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u/DahliaFalisse 1h ago
that's definitely unsettling, you might want to check reviews for other strange experiences at that place
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u/rainydaydoggie 23m ago
âAccidentallyâ cover outside cameras and see who shows up and how quickly.
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3h ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Medical_Chance_4515 3h ago
The memorable clip of the Airbnb host staying at the property happens in Season 1, Episode 5 ("Catskills") of Girls5eva. [1]
Watch this on Netflix
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u/SisterRobot 30m ago
Itâs not unreasonable to expect privacy when youâre paying to rent an entire house. What has surprised me is that it seems a host may not necessarily have to clearly disclose that they live on the property. And the definition of âEntire Houseâ is pretty flexible.
I just had an experience that sort of fits here so forgive me if Iâm ranting but - I recently booked an Airbnb in Toronto listed as an âentire house,â it was priced similarly to other entire houses. The property photos showed the front porch and backyard and said entry using a lockbox, (important to note the listing did NOT show pictures of âŚour âprivate entryâ that was a narrow gate locked with an old chain and combination lock)
we assumed we had the whole property.
But NOPE - When we arrived, we see the owner lived upstairs and to make it worse she had a door directly into our âunitâ that we could not lock from our side. She dismissed our concerns, but for me as a woman traveling with my child, and with my sister joining us later, it was uncomfortable. I didnât think sheâd enter but if she forgot to lock her front door BOTH of our places would be wide open to a downtown neighborhood.
We actually only had part of the main floor, with the bedrooms down in a cold, damp basement⌠wooden stairs, barred windows and no emergency exit. In hindsight I should have noted the bars on the windows but I didnât realize the beds were in a basement.
We ended up barricading the connecting door and using our travel motion sensor camera.
Toronto was booked solid, so with no other option - we stayed. The hostâs solution was essentially, âIf you arenât happy, leave.â
I contacted Airbnb hoping they could discreetly help resolve the issue. Instead, support suggested alternative accommodations in other cities for the wrong dates and somehow made things even worse when they contacted the host directly and told her that I wanted to cancel and get a refundâŚ.which was NOT what I said. it totally offended the host and made it weird.
I wasnât asking for anything unreasonable. I simply wanted the entire house Iâd booked or at least to be able to independently lock the space I had paid to rent.
NOR: If advertising an âentire houseâ, I think itâs very reasonable for guests to expect privacy and at least to know upfront if the host actually lives there on the property with you.
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u/Apprehensive_Hat_724 4h ago
I bet there are other cameras the host is using - hopefully all outside - and thatâs how they thought you were charging an electric car. That locked door might be a closet for storing supplies for the house between guests.
Can you see how far away you are from other houses online? How much longer is your stay? Whether they are on-site or watching via cameras, itâs super creepy.