I don’t think you’re being fair. First of all, whole house short term rentals are ruining the rental markets and reputation of Airbnb in many markets.
We share our home, set clear boundaries up front and by and large receive kind and considerate and apparently very satisfied guests.
Originally, the “air” in Airbnb stood for air matress. As in probably in the living room…for guests that couldn’t afford an expensive hotel and or preferred the intimacy of staying in someone’s home.
Airbnb is NOT a hotel and it should not be expected to behave like them.
They are? The ‘rental markets’ being who, the old LTR’s? It is an interesting point.
I have no idea what you are referring to.
I don’t know where you live, but in many cities and towns in the US, rentals are hard to come by. Also, not having hosts present, lends itself to less than desirable guest behaviors like loud noise, litter, parking issues etc to neighborhoods that are otherwise residential. Are you new to Airbnb?
Weird, maybe I replied in the wrong place. I was originally referring to someone’s comment that they would never stay in an air where the host was on site.
Ah, now I see what you mean. The ‘Absentee Landlord’ reality.
Me? I live in Belize. New to the forum, not to Airbnb, we are sort of ‘compadres’.
Hi There, I think you definitely slipped onto the wrong thread.
I know that it’s popular to blame Airbnb for the lack of long term housing in expensive cities like San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, etc.; but all of those cities had housing shortages before Airbnb existed. Also, I think that if local governments want to encourage long term rentals; rather than banning Airbnb they should make it more attractive to rent long term. In California, it can take up to six months to evict a tenant during which you are not receiving rent and are paying legal fees. If you want to take your rental off the market you have to pay relocation fees to the tenant which can go up to over $10,000.00. If an evicted tenant leaves belongings behind; the landlord must pack them and pay to store them for a period of time after which the landlord can sell them at auction to try to recoup their costs. Is it any wonder that people with property to rent prefer to rent short term?
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I just did a quick look on Craigslist for may area for LTRs – plenty of them in the $2-3000 range, which would be where mine would be priced if I went to LTR. Affordable housing, mine is not and never will be. The run-down townhouses in my complex (not updated since the early 70’s) rent for over $1800/month. Just like with Air, I can’t change my townhouse’s location, which is awesome, so it will never be affordable. I am not contributing to the lack of affordable housing in my area. The City of Boulder did that years ago by buying up all the land around and making it into “Open Space”. Now, real estate inside of the city limits is at a premium because there is really no vacant buildable land and, with the access to open space, everyone wants to live here. The city created the high land-values and now low-income people are blaming “greedy” landlords and STRs.
Again, I have to take issue with your statement. In the townhouse complex where my Air is, one is rented LRT to four college “boys” (an 850 sq. ft. two bedroom). They are super loud, have parties all of the time, and their yards are a mess (I’m always picking up their garbage that drifts to the common areas). And, we are all stuck with them until their lease ends. On the other hand, I vet out my guests and, according to my immediate neighbors, I always have quiet guests. I even have as a house rule – quiet time is from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. If I happen to get obnoxious guests, at least they are gone in a few days.
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NEW? I was among the first to host with them. Before anyone had heard of them. I have a listing number under 40,000. I have been an Air host for seven years. No, I am not “new.”
I still don’t know what you are trying to scold me about. ???
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I live in a city that recently had a population boom and we now have a rental shortage and AirBnB is a popular source of the blame. AirBnB is blamed, and the companies that have relocated here and hire a lot of recent college grads from out of state. Like any civic problem, the actual causes are more complex than just one source, but the city council is nonetheless trying to place limitations on AirBnB rentals. AirBnB Action has tried to get us hosts riled up so we’ll testify at city council, but I’ve been following the news, and the city is only trying to restrict off-site hosts with multiple listings. Most of my friends are renters, so I have more empathy for those who can’t find a place to rent than the owners of apartment buildings who rent the whole building on AirBnB and may have to switch to LTR.
One solution my city council has proposed for the rental shortage is to get homeowners to convert basements, garages, and sheds into mother-in-law apartments. They’ve lifted some of the out-dated regulations restricting urban neighborhoods to single-family homes only, but I’d like to see them offer interest-free loans to cover the construction costs of such a conversion.
That’s a great solution! Good for everyone – the homeowners, the tenants, the businesses (who don’t have to build affordable housing), and the city, as they will get more revenue out of the new workforce and probably more taxes due to the increased house values (boo).
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An interest-free loan is definitely what would get me to make a conversation. It would cost probably 30k or more to make a separate full MIL apartment with a kitchen, so it would be at least two or three years before I could start making a profit on rent.
Which means you think you can get a little over $800/month in rent. 3 years is not a long time for that size of investment – and what you have afterwards is a house that is worth more and steady income …
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