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comment by b_b
b_b  ·  1672 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: ‘A Bargain With the Devil’—Bill Comes Due for Overextended Airbnb Hosts

    Why don't they?

I feel like you're trying to get a bite on that line. Obviously housing policy is a big problem here, and one that liberals love to whine about until anyone suggest that zoning laws be relaxed in their neighborhood to create low-income multi-family housing. I think Minneapolis is in the middle of an interesting experiment, as they recently banned single family housing exclusive zoning. I haven't been following it, but my guess is it will take years to get any data around it.

Personally, I like AirBnB. I like it even more since I've had kids, since staying in a hotel sucks when you can't go to restaurants for every meal due to kids, and you need separate bedrooms due to kids. Try renting a suite with a kitchenette at any hotel worth its salt. Usually not an option and when it is it's like $1200 per night. AirBnB obviously fills a niche that needed to be filled. Whether they satisfy all the appropriate tax laws and safety standards I guess should be up to local authorities.

I won't shed a tear for anyone who leverages the shit out of their personal income to get more AirBnB properties. There's no such thing as free money, and high reward is the opposite side of high risk. But as long as I can rent a condo in a desirable location when I travel with my family I'm going to do it.





kleinbl00  ·  1672 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    AirBnB obviously fills a niche that needed to be filled.

They're called Bed'n'Breakfasts. They're licensed. They're run by small proprietors. They pay taxes. And they're generally in the same neighborhoods as the AirBnBs. Oddly enough, it's almost as if "AirBnB" had them in mind.

The price difference between an AirBnB and a non-air BnB is the difference in taxes and regulation.

Period.

b_b  ·  1672 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah for sure. But just as with ride sharing, it's not just about price, but availability. The chance to get an ultra short term rental anywhere you want to go is enough to paper over the problems. Not at all saying it's problem free. Just saying that while it's available it's irresistible.

kleinbl00  ·  1672 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I resist 'em just fine. They have zero fucking charm for me and they destroy neighborhoods. You probably haven't seen end-stage weirdness like I have - you visit a friend in his 1-br apartment and are told to talk quietly because the lump on the couch is an AirBnB "guest." You stop in on friends from out of town and you talk about the decor and you hear a loud "HAH!" from the upstairs you didn't know it had because behind that door over there is a stairway that the family retreats behind when they rent out their house to cover their ridiculous Santa Monica rent.

My last apartment in LA was $2850 a month for 1300 sqft. As soon as we left the landlord flipped it to a $300/night AirBnB despite every CC&R forbidding them from doing so. Why? 'cuz it takes months for condo boards to act and that's at least six months worth of income while "guests" break corona bottles in the hot tub.