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What's the big deal with it? How is it much different from just having some friend spend the night? Or is it just hotels being butthurt they have some competition?
Because it's not a friend, it's a random stranger and you are getting paid. Big difference.
Let say you are in a condo or multi family. If these people are not friends, then it is complete strangers who have access to your building. What if those people do not leave on time, overstay, and dont leave at all? What are the rules, and safeguards against this?
And where do you draw the line as to where the buck stops? Lets say you rent out whole apartment to someone, can this someone turn around and rent out the rooms. What if the person who sublets in turn sublet that same space out again? Where does it stop?
There was a case recently where someone overstayed and the owner couldn't get rid of them as they had legally established residency. Nightmare!
Not "just" that, but hotels lobbying against Airbnb, Homeaway, etc. is a big reason for the publicity. Let's face it, the main reason those sites are popular in NYC is because budget travelers got ripped off once with horrendous Kips Bay or Hell's Kitchen "hotels" with cockroaches and shared bathrooms and figured out they could rent a nice-looking studio, 1 BR or even 2 BR (the latter likely a Brooklyn brownstone) for a lower price. Of course there are liability and insurance issues but this fight is being driven by the hotels' declining market share.
Where is it written that airBnb places are like top of the line or better than most hotels?
I know of one situation in an old building one bedroom railroad style apt being shared by the tenant and four other different strangers every two days. Think how crammed that is. They share one bathroom. They sleep on mattresses on the floor, and have curtains for privacy.
We have used AirBnb twice this year, once in Budapest and the other time in Hong Kong. Both times we rented entire apartments. The people who rented the apartments to us were clearly using them as holiday lets.
The advantage of the apartments was that they came with a fully equipped kitchen so we could have some meals in and not dine out all the time. We enjoy cooking while we travel as it gives us an opportunity to sample the local markets. And you get more space than in a typical hotel room (especially in Hong Kong). And they were cheaper than renting even a mid-range hotel room.
I would happily use AirBnb again but I can see where the frustrations come from. And I can also easily see why hotels are scared of AirBnb because they really do provide great value for lower to mid range travelers who need to watch every penny.
I checked out AirBnB when it first came around and this thread reminded me I should have another look. It has really evolved in the past couple of years and it appears to be very active in my area, too.
We did this kind of accommodation all over Europe, but never here in the US. I'm going to keep it in mind for sure.
I find what some of you are saying difficult to believe. Are landlords doing this all over the country then? Have they always been doing this? AirBnb would have come out decades ago. Every single home in the country would also just be a bed and breakfast just so the owner reserves the right to use it as a hotel. Heck, every suburban home, every apartment building would be built with the idea in mind that it may be used like a hotel. Then what is even the point of residential zoning? Why did not orbitz, or priceline also have a separate section for this when they first came out? Why are we only hearing about people doing this now?
Air BnB just centralized the location of the service. Renting rooms for a week or a day, etc has been done on Craigslist for years.
Where is it written that airBnb places are like top of the line or better than most hotels?
I know of one situation in an old building one bedroom railroad style apt being shared by the tenant and four other different strangers every two days. Think how crammed that is. They share one bathroom. They sleep on mattresses on the floor, and have curtains for privacy.
That sounds more like hell than a vacation. I'd rather stay home. Why on earth would anyone subject themselves to that unless they had no other option (ie were going to be homeless.)
You act like every landlord out there would start renting nightly if this was an option. Airbnb unless you have a place in like times square isn't as good as having a steady tenant. I actually looked at buying a place strictly to rent as an airbnb business but unless you have 100% occupancy you're almost always better off having a steady tenant. Sure maybe I can rent my place for $200 a night which is great but if I only have it rented weekends thats $1600 a month wehre as a steady tenant would probably pay $3000 a month for a similar place. Google airbnb buisness and you'll find people do buy condos just for this purpose. It's probably not legal or within city codes but if you dont do it everyday you can probably fly under the radar.
I could rent my home for $2000 a week as a vacation villa. Given the amenities and location (near Disney World) it would stay rented at least 50% of the time. I could rent it long term for $3000 a month. So short term would be 25% higher gross. But then I'd have the headache of getting it cleaned and checked every week, not being able to check references, backgrounds, credit, etc. on each tenant, the list goes on. (Not to mention the HOA would have the city down my throat in a NY minute--as they should.) No thanks. I'd take the good $3000 a month stable tenant any day over short-term holidaymakers where I have a $750 security deposit and no recourse after they trash the place and return to wherever they are from.
We often rent villas or flats when we travel. The difference is that we rent through an established, licensed, bonded agency who follows local laws and zoning codes and collects taxes. We don't rent a mattress on a floor for $10 a night, or some farm where we have to milk cows and shovel manure to earn room and board. We actually spend about the same as it would run for a higher end hotel in that area (London is an exception, as we have a flat for just under $300 and a moderate hotel room would run $400), but get the space, washer/dryer, and kitchen. The only time we rent privately without an intermediary is one place we visit every few years. We rent a cottage that belongs to acquaintances in an area where weekly rentals are allowed and customary.
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