Yes, Airbnb hosts can survive. Yes, Airbnb hosts can fail. “Airbnb hosts” is too big a category to lump together. I wish there were a widely accepted term for what this article calls a pro host or multi-unit host. Airbnb investor-owner? The English in Ireland were called the absentee landlords in my textbooks. Slumlords is what the tenement owners were called. Maybe shortlords? LOL.
Long before the pandemic the majority of actively posting members here have been hostile towards the investor hosts and most of us would be happy to see inventory reduced. We are especially unfriendly towards the over leveraged and the rental arbitrage people.
I’m happy to know the platform looks like it will survive and I know I have a model that will survive. As for the others, in the US there is a new initiative with a suggestion:
Let them eat cake.
I share your frustration with the “lumping”. I, for example, have three listings but they are all rooms in my own home. We even rent our own bedroom in busy season. All are snoozed now.
I think it depends on location. Some cities were affected more than others. Some countries had smaller amounts of COVID cases whereas other countries saw cases by the thousands.
@Christine_Shirtcliff. Thank you for sharing the article.
Often I wonder if authors ever talk to the affected hosts? I’m weary of statistics being quoted without references and comments like , “ hosts pay the rent”. (Any host paying rent on the property is probably running an illegal sub-let so not part of a valid business model. )
Always good for me to read others perspectives.
This host will survive.
RR
Cue up
Seriously though, yes, we will survive.
I’ve loved hosting my spare bedroom /bath in the home I own and where I live. I have no rent or mortgage. The extra income was, of course,welcome and useful, but the space is just sitting empty right now, just as it was for years before I started Airbnbing, aside from when family or friends came to stay.
Hopefully I’ll be able to host again in the not-too-distant future, but if I can’t, yes, I will survive. Those who based their survival on a steady stream of guests, were foolish.
I thought it was “Let them eat beans (as long as they’re Goya)”.
I am questioning whether or not I want to continue. I have had some experiences over the years that have really given me anxiety. I do like the “game” Airbnb makes you play to make money for them, and I spent a lot of time and money creating this little studio. But it would be nice to tear down that wall and make it part of my house again. Not sure yet which way I’ll go on this. I always thought the Airbnb would be a good hobby when I retire, and here it is, only months away and it’s not a fun game at all right now.
At this point, I am most concerned about staying alive and will deal with whatever the Airbnb future holds.
Will AirBnB hosts survive? It’s a good question and I suspects many of the “shortlords” mentioned by @KKC might not survive in the long run. Two months ago you could have asked me and I would have been quite pessimistic about hosting on AirBnB. But I think those who have weathered the storm, perhaps even upgraded their listing over the three to four month empty period (as we did), might see more bookings coming in the future. This, in turn, might also warrant higher prices (as we did). Of course the empty period was quite painful but we have always been clear as hosts that comparing month-on-month is not an accurate measure on AirBnB, particularly since monthly income can fluctuate so dramatically. Rather, what we have decided from beginning on is to compare year-on-year. I think some hosts might be surprised that once you calculate year-on-year earnings, 2020 might not turn out as bad as some hosts thought.
We’ve all have difficult decisions to make as we move forward.
Historically my area in the summer is busy and fully booked May-Mid-September. This year there are plenty of nice properties available at shockingly low prices.
I need rentals to pay the bills.
Do I join the race to the bottom to pick up bookings?
I don’t know if I am up to the problems discussed on other threads that come with cheap rentals?
I guessing many of us are facing this same decision.
Also expecting to survive but have completely written off 2020. Am currently not planning to host anyone in 2020 aside from the few guests who have yet to cancel but am taking 2020 bookings.
Going forward my view is that lower inventory here in Amsterdam is a good thing for those remaining in business.
You don’t want the problems.
Well, thank goodness my last 2 early bookings for August cancelled as soon as they could. My doc says I can’t risk the exposure. And I’m sure as hell not going to scrub walls after every guest. Blocked for the forseeable future.
Went to a garage sale Saturday at a house I know is an Air listing. Introduced myself to the host before I bought a real art bargain for a guest room. They have 3 rooms/2baths on 2 upper floors but the 2 br unit is on LTR now. They said summer has been slow compared to last year when there were few rooms available anywhere.