Airbnb losing popularity and Ramifications

a reply to: JAGStorm

AnB type places have been hit or miss. Not a huge fan but it does have advantages in location.

We typically rent big houses to accommodate the family under one roof on lake or water front destinations that most hotels don't have.

However, we have numerous nightmare stories .
The pictures never really match the condition and reality of the place . We rented a McMansion right on the beach that could only be described as the Tony Montana residence. What was even better was when it started to rain the whole living room area and some of the bedrooms leaked all over the place. For some reason non of the bedrooms or even bathrooms door locks worked . The best part was that we booked it months in advance and drove up like 7 hours and got to the house . Called per the instructions about getting the keys and then they tried to pull a fast on us that they had rented the place to someone else and if we wanted to pay more we could get it. Luckily we were able to get hold of someone after hours of trying at vrbo or airnb (Dont remember which) and show them the paperwork but even they were not very helpful. After going back and forth between the host and vrbo we finally got them to agree let us stay there per our freaking reservation. HOrrible start of a vacation . the property was almost $20K a week and was literary falling apart. It was a beautiful propety but had clearly not been maintained since Tony Montana left it back in the early 1980's

Also It appears that when you take the insurance coverage the AnB owners always find something that is broken on the property despite us not breaking it.

I typically take hotels now more often over vrbo AnB type places because its not a 50/50 chance if turning into a pain in the arse vacation.


Having said that I'm playing with the notion of renting one of my properties as vrbo type place but would include full house cleaning as a requirement and not as an add on. People are never happy to do house cleaning while on vacation especially on their last day plus it will never be done correctly for the next guest.

IMO I don't think they need to compete on prices but they need to provide better and easier services for the guest like the hotels do.

a reply to: JAGStorm

You didn't cite one of the biggest obstacles AirBnB has hit: p!ssed off neighbors that purchased a *residential* property, in a *residential* zoned area, suddenly having to deal with others in their community making use of a *commercial* service in a *residential* neighborhood, leading to loud, inconsiderate, sometimes inebriated outsiders/strangers constantly shuffling through their community.

My opinion on this is its a scam, a dodge, an evasion (but clever one) of zoning laws. There have been instances where litigation has begun against the company and some of its (essentially) independent contractor salesman, i.e. folks renting out their own or investment property.

No way I would spend time in some schmo's privately owned "rental property", if the schmo has no legal oversight or has not gone through the vetting to like, actually operate a commercial enterprise for housing people. You know, stupid things like having working smoke detectors. proper fire exits, doors that lock, windows that lock, not having poisonous building materials, asbestos, potable water.

I wonder how many people stay at these places and end up appearing on footage of hidden cameras that these properties are likely riddled with.

I understand not everyone is an irresponsible, slum lord renter, but I don't need AirBnB to find those people. Local communities will have "word of mouth" attestation and reputable references for local people that rent out their own property to vacationers. Those types will also not just rent out their property to anyone, and have selective discretion on who they rent to, to protect the safety and peace and quiet of their community.

AirBnB is just a cunningly created middle man service to inject themselves (for a fee) into what is optimally a more personalized and exclusive negotiation between travelers/vacationers and reputable, community-supported renters, not a generic, fly by night stealth hotel service offered by shysters that run basically a tech company with 0 attachment or buy-in or skin in the game in the communities they suck money out of, but just snatch up property in a residential area and try to run essentially a hotel without having to really declare it (and pay for it) in such a capacity.

Tip: if you're interested in looking for a local, reputable renter on a vacation, visit or call local businesses, restaurants, retail shops, preferably not chain stores. Businesses where the proprietors and staff LIVE in the area, and KNOW the area well, and can vouch for folks that rent property to tourists.

I live in Cornwall UK and it's ridiculous down here.
Locals can't afford houses, the workers have nowhere to stay as there are limited long term affordable rentals.
So the knock on effect of businesses have no staff, or have to provide accommodation which cuts into any meagre profits, therefore prices go up and no one wants to pay the increases which cause a vicious circle for the economy.
I think the best I've seen are owners AirBnBing their homes out for the summer season and pay their yearly mortgage payments.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

You didn't cite one of the biggest obstacles AirBnB has hit: p!ssed off neighbors that purchased a *residential* property, in a *residential* zoned area, suddenly having to deal with others in their community making use of a *commercial* service in a *residential* neighborhood, leading to loud, inconsiderate, sometimes inebriated outsiders/strangers constantly shuffling through their community.

You nailed it! I almost forgot, I found out from the same friend that my city is offering up to $10k for owners of vacation rentals, to switch back to long term rentals.

So let’s get this straight, the cities poor planning / zoning has caused these problems. NOW, that same city is using our tax dollars (in large sums) to rectify the issue. HHHHMMMM, thank god it’s election season!!!

originally posted by: UKWO1Phot
I live in Cornwall UK and it's ridiculous down here.
Locals can't afford houses, the workers have nowhere to stay as there are limited long term affordable rentals.
So the knock on effect of businesses have no staff, or have to provide accommodation which cuts into any meagre profits, therefore prices go up and no one wants to pay the increases which cause a vicious circle for the economy.
I think the best I've seen are owners AirBnBing their homes out for the summer season and pay their yearly mortgage payments.

Yes vicious cycle indeed! If there aren’t workers, a lot of these tourist places won’t have good service. Without good service people won’t want to visit, if they don’t visit…

Some of the places in Wisconsin, The Wisconsin dells in particular actually have created housing/dorms for workers. That’s find for young folks, but there are still other levels of workers and they too need housing.
I’ve visited a couple of other areas in the state and some stores/restaurants were just closed.

originally posted by: KKLOCO
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

You didn't cite one of the biggest obstacles AirBnB has hit: p!ssed off neighbors that purchased a *residential* property, in a *residential* zoned area, suddenly having to deal with others in their community making use of a *commercial* service in a *residential* neighborhood, leading to loud, inconsiderate, sometimes inebriated outsiders/strangers constantly shuffling through their community.

You nailed it! I almost forgot, I found out from the same friend that my city is offering up to $10k for owners of vacation rentals, to switch back to long term rentals.

So let’s get this straight, the cities poor planning / zoning has caused these problems. NOW, that same city is using our tax dollars (in large sums) to rectify the issue. HHHHMMMM, thank god it’s election season!!!

I understand why people would give AirBnB a try, and we have been tempted to use it, but the 'hit/miss' nature of what you said, and some of the news stories about the ABB horror stories (along with stories from acquaintances) made us think otherwise.

We rented a vacation home on a lake a few years back, and the property was listed on a local classified publication. We went and met the owner, (real owner, not investor or corporate manager) and chatted with him, and then closed the deal. Granted this property was only an hour or two from home, but we were happy with the rental.

Just my 2 cents, but some things (like picking out non-hotel vacation homes) are best left to you and your family, without a company like AirBnB in the middle.

a reply to: KKLOCO

I have a friend that lives in the most suburbia residential area and one of the houses is an Airbnb.
It is very bizarre and none of the neighbors like it.
She isn’t close to any big tourist places either.

She said there are a lot of “bachelor” parties there… Makes me wonder if something more seedy is happening there.

a reply to: JAGStorm

We used them when we travel home to Puerto Rico for vacations, they screwed up twice, we got refunded the first time, but the second time they refused.

I will never use their serves again.

I do a lot of work on these types of properties. I dont offer warranties for my work on properties that are rented out short term, unless they use commercial grade hardware, as in my eyes, it's a commercial property. Hopefully the cost of maintenance will drive out a sick of these people and property prices will slow down a bit.

The entire hospitality industry isn't what it was two years ago. Not a single hotel I've stayed in this year cleaned the room daily. One of the few benefits of traveling on business was that at the end of they day, you'd get back to your room with the bed made and fresh towels in the bathroom. Not anymore and I've stayed in some very good hotels.

As for Air BnB, I have to agree, it's not my first preference anymore for vacations. We've been on a couple of vacations this year and both times we looked at ABnB but could find anything reasonably priced.

We recently bought a house and had renovations going hoping to have them completed by move-in date. lol.

We ended up staying in several airBnBs for 6 weeks. Everyplace we stayed here in South Florida was really nice, with great owners, wonderful amenities, and comfort that beats hotels every time. We spent three nights at a hotel and it sucked. In an airBnB, you get a full kitchen, a laundry room, bedrooms, and the one by the beach had a hot tub and a really nice grill outside the Florida room. You get none of that with a hotel.

I hunt out unique bed and breakfast places and some are strange while others delightfully feel like a second home and the prices, depending on the time of years, can be a steal.

We usually use them when we stay. It's usually a group of 6 to 8 at least with the kids and their significant others. It always works out to be less expensive than a hotel stay, plus we have our own pool and hot tub. The only place it may run a bit more is the Turks and Caicos but a house on the beach is worth it over a hotel on the beach.

Reviews mean everything when booking to me. So far, we've had no bad experiences, one house we were at just for a night before a flight the next morning in Fort Lauderdale had no toilet paper, but a quick text to the owner and he brought it.

I do see a lot of new listings every time I look though, so the market seems saturated with them.

Our family owns properties that we use as Airbnbs. One thing people don't realize is how much the fees have gone up on the Airbnb side. It's now a hefty percentage of the rental and we have no control over that.

The other thing is that these rentals have certainly had a major increase in property taxes, insurance, etc. The cleaning fee is passed on to the consumer, yes, but cleaning fees have also gone up dramatically.

We use a property management company since we don't live in those areas, and the good ones are available 24-7, just like a hotel. The good ones charge 30% of the total rental as a commission, think about that.

The hosting companies are the ones making the real $$$.

For large parties, it's still cheaper to do an Airbnb in a large house, vs a hotel. As usual, two sides of every story.


reply to: JAGStorm

a reply to: KKLOCO

If they are empty, the owner should lower the price.

According to this website airbnb's bookings, listings, and revenue are all in the increase year over year (with the expected dip during covid).

link

SPAMMER

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