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"Unfortunately, a lot of other people have problems paying their rent or mortgage. 75% of Airbnb hosts in San Francisco say that their income from Airbnb helps

"Unfortunately, a lot of other people have problems paying their rent or mortgage. 75% of Airbnb hosts in San Francisco say that their income from Airbnb helps them stay in their homes, and 60% of the Airbnb income goes to rent/mortgage and other housing expenses." C'mon Sam, you can do better than this. Just about everyone's income helps them pay their rent or mortgage regardless of where it comes from. And let's not pretend (a) parkinson's law doesn't exist or (b) people allocate specific income sources to specific expenses. If you make more, you spend more. If you have to pay your rent on the 1st, you write a check from your bank account–you don't pull cash out of your "AirBnB income" envelope. And, BTW, I've never rented an AirBnB in SF who wasn't (a) a young professional that could afford to live there or (b) someone 40+ who clearly had lived in SF a long time and bought prior to the spike in prices. These statistics and stance just don't compute for me. Look, I love AirBnB and I think it's a great service. But it's just that–the best short-term/vacation rental service. Nothing more. I'm a little tired of them (and their apologists) acting like they're some kind of cultural juggernaut. I always knew they'd have huge political forces to answer to (my friends and I would often wager who was more likely to succumb to governments: Uber or AirBnB). They're going to have enforce bed taxes. They're going to have to police municipal laws, HOA regulations, and more. And after it all shakes out, maybe this isn't as profitable of a business as people thought (for both AirBnB and hosts). Of course, like Uber, they'll likely take the lobbyist route to fight this (maybe they already have). But this is a case where a little humility would go a long way IMO. Would it be so hard for AirBnB or Sam to say "yeah, there's a housing issue and we might even be part of the cause. so let's work together to find a solution or compromise."?

sama 11y ago
I'm not arguing that people allocate specific income to specific expenses, just that people need and deserve more income. I think Airbnb is well aware of the housing issue and more than willing to work together on solutions.
- kelnos 11y ago
  Careful... "deserve" is a bit of a loaded term there. I don't think I'd say that people "deserve more income". Having said that, I think Airbnb is a fine way for people to earn some money making use of their existing spare housing. I may dislike the PR/marketing bullshit that is the term "sharing economy", but I'm pretty disappointed that this thread seems to be full of Airbnb bashing. While they may not be the ideal solution to SF's housing woes, it's pretty clear that they're not part of the problem... or if they are, it seems they're at least doing more good than bad.
- justizin 11y ago
  > I think Airbnb is well aware of the housing issue and more than willing to work together on solutions. I'm sorry, that's just not true, and Sam, I admire a lot of what you've said on a lot of issues, but I cannot believe that you are sincere in this article overall, unless you are just naive. Any property owner in San Francisco has always been able to go to the Planning Commission and request a conditional use permit to turn their home into a bed and breakfast, and as far as we can tell, no such request has ever been denied. Renters in San Francisco do not in almost any case I have ever heard of have the right to sublet our apartments, even to additional roommates, without the approval of our landlords, and with good reason. If a person has lived in San Francisco for some time, and loses their ability to earn enough to pay their rent, it is abusive and narcissistic for that person to believe that simply by having the keys to a place that already does not belong to them, they can - with no consideration for their neighbors - turn their home into a business. A hotel business, no less, which kind of foists upon them the responsibilities of travel guides, as we read in an article this morning. Now, as demand for housing in an area is shooting up, individual renters are leveraging that in a way that does not contribute to the cost of maintaining property, putting increased pressure on other tenants, and disallowing the landlord from actually satisfying that demand. All that aside, AirBnb knows what the fuck they are doing. I know at least one successful AirBnb host who has had AirBnb approach them and encourage them to rent up nearby apartments and turn them into new units! San Francisco housing activists have asked time and time again for AirBnb to open up data about how many hosts have multiple units, and who is renting when not in their unit, so that data may be used over time to guide regulation, but as is becoming a trend with YC companies, private executives and investors feel that they can do better city planning than people who have decades or perhaps their entire lives invested in doing so. Put up or shut the fuck up, sir.
  - mildbow 11y ago
    "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair iirc
    - cwilkes 11y ago
      Not sure who is downvoting you -- this quote is entirely appropriate.
- larrys 11y ago
  "just that people need and deserve more income" You may be aware that there are people who specifically choose not to live in a high rent place such as San Francisco or Manhattan (as only two examples) because it is expensive and they can't afford it. And they know it and understand that is part of the "life is not fair" theme. Not everyone will make enough to rent or buy in those places and there is nothing new about this either. That it impacts startups is an entirely different issue. And startups are the reason the rent is so high obviously in San Francisco, right? Where I am located it's impossible to get anywhere near the quality of labor that I might get if I was located in San Francisco, NYC or really any large metropolitan area. Obviously I have made a choice (for many reasons) to be where I am (as have many others). Everyone makes choices. If you move to San Francisco to take a job you have to factor in the cost of housing when you make your decision to work there. As far as the legacy people who live there and are impacted in a negative way that is truly an unfortunate situation.
- snappy173 11y ago
  "that people need and deserve more income." for some, income is just a means to an end. airbnb isn't providing this extra income for free. it expects hosts to provide a service, which requires work, which requires time and energy. if that extra income is just offsetting the rise in housing costs, then quality of life is decreasing ...

sama 11y ago

I'm not arguing that people allocate specific income to specific expenses, just that people need and deserve more income. I think Airbnb is well aware of the housing issue and more than willing to work together on solutions.

kelnos 11y ago
Careful... "deserve" is a bit of a loaded term there. I don't think I'd say that people "deserve more income". Having said that, I think Airbnb is a fine way for people to earn some money making use of their existing spare housing. I may dislike the PR/marketing bullshit that is the term "sharing economy", but I'm pretty disappointed that this thread seems to be full of Airbnb bashing. While they may not be the ideal solution to SF's housing woes, it's pretty clear that they're not part of the problem... or if they are, it seems they're at least doing more good than bad.
justizin 11y ago
> I think Airbnb is well aware of the housing issue and more than willing to work together on solutions. I'm sorry, that's just not true, and Sam, I admire a lot of what you've said on a lot of issues, but I cannot believe that you are sincere in this article overall, unless you are just naive. Any property owner in San Francisco has always been able to go to the Planning Commission and request a conditional use permit to turn their home into a bed and breakfast, and as far as we can tell, no such request has ever been denied. Renters in San Francisco do not in almost any case I have ever heard of have the right to sublet our apartments, even to additional roommates, without the approval of our landlords, and with good reason. If a person has lived in San Francisco for some time, and loses their ability to earn enough to pay their rent, it is abusive and narcissistic for that person to believe that simply by having the keys to a place that already does not belong to them, they can - with no consideration for their neighbors - turn their home into a business. A hotel business, no less, which kind of foists upon them the responsibilities of travel guides, as we read in an article this morning. Now, as demand for housing in an area is shooting up, individual renters are leveraging that in a way that does not contribute to the cost of maintaining property, putting increased pressure on other tenants, and disallowing the landlord from actually satisfying that demand. All that aside, AirBnb knows what the fuck they are doing. I know at least one successful AirBnb host who has had AirBnb approach them and encourage them to rent up nearby apartments and turn them into new units! San Francisco housing activists have asked time and time again for AirBnb to open up data about how many hosts have multiple units, and who is renting when not in their unit, so that data may be used over time to guide regulation, but as is becoming a trend with YC companies, private executives and investors feel that they can do better city planning than people who have decades or perhaps their entire lives invested in doing so. Put up or shut the fuck up, sir.
- mildbow 11y ago
  "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair iirc
  - cwilkes 11y ago
    Not sure who is downvoting you -- this quote is entirely appropriate.
larrys 11y ago
"just that people need and deserve more income" You may be aware that there are people who specifically choose not to live in a high rent place such as San Francisco or Manhattan (as only two examples) because it is expensive and they can't afford it. And they know it and understand that is part of the "life is not fair" theme. Not everyone will make enough to rent or buy in those places and there is nothing new about this either. That it impacts startups is an entirely different issue. And startups are the reason the rent is so high obviously in San Francisco, right? Where I am located it's impossible to get anywhere near the quality of labor that I might get if I was located in San Francisco, NYC or really any large metropolitan area. Obviously I have made a choice (for many reasons) to be where I am (as have many others). Everyone makes choices. If you move to San Francisco to take a job you have to factor in the cost of housing when you make your decision to work there. As far as the legacy people who live there and are impacted in a negative way that is truly an unfortunate situation.
snappy173 11y ago
"that people need and deserve more income." for some, income is just a means to an end. airbnb isn't providing this extra income for free. it expects hosts to provide a service, which requires work, which requires time and energy. if that extra income is just offsetting the rise in housing costs, then quality of life is decreasing ...