City to assess Airbnb and other rental websites in Boston

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“A Boston city councilor wants to take a closer look at the practices of several short-term rental websites after hearing complaints ranging from raging parties to homes and apartments where tenants cycle through like revolving doors.” - http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2014/08/city_to_assess_rental_websites

What does everyone think of this? As hosts, of course we are biased towards viewing Airbnb as a positive thing but let’s play devil’s advocate for a minute. Imagine that you’re not a host but your neighbor is. You constantly see people coming in and out of the apartment or house every few days or every week. Would this bother you? Would you be concerned about safety?

I’d be curious to see what everyone thinks. Personally I don’t have a problem with it but I could see that if I had a family with young children, I might be more concerned. Not so much in a house but in an apartment building this could be more of an issue.

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You can’t control who your neighbours are. That is unrealistic. I own a house I rent out on airbnb as it is more lucrative then renting long term. It also gives me more control and I can work on it when it is empty (which isn’t very often). The house is about 5k from a university. How would the neighbours feel if I decided to rent it out to a bunch of first year students?

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Wendy - absolutely true. I think people fear the unknown and Airbnb is still not completely mainstream yet and with all the flack that it’s getting, people are quick to attack without knowing exactly how it works. All we can do is be good hosts and neighbors and try to change that image.

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I also own a house in Brooklyn and my neighbors know I host via Airbnb. They send me their family members who might be visiting. But I’m at the house at all times. At the beginning of my hosting carreer I wasn’t staying here and guests were rowdier. So I understand noise concerns.