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If I buy a house in a neighbourhood that is zoned single family residential, Am I an "inefficient incumbent" because I expect that over the mid-to-long term it

If I buy a house in a neighbourhood that is zoned single family residential, Am I an "inefficient incumbent" because I expect that over the mid-to-long term it will stay that way? These companies are not democratizing investment, accommodation, tranportation or whatever they are rent seekers that use a combination of technology, business model and rule breaking to extract a portion of every transaction. They explicitly position themselves as 3rd party to the transaction. While the rest of us suckers play by the rules or gasp work to change them, they realize a portion of their advantage by just ignoring them.

ummonk 8y ago
>If I buy a house in a neighbourhood that is zoned single family residential, Am I an "inefficient incumbent" because I expect that over the mid-to-long term it will stay that way? Yes, you are. You're trying to freeze your neighborhood in amber, which is most definitely a sign of an inefficient incumbent.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  No, they just bought it with reasonable expectations - expectations, which were priced in the home valuation. If they didn't care about single family aspect, they probably could've found a cheaper house elsewhere. Also, let's not pretend that AirBnB is progress. It's just a third party that encourages people to start illegal hotels, to earn money for themselves at the expense of their neighbours. This is not a case of local owners having opposing interests to society at large; this is a case of a company enabling some people to parasite on the others.
  - therealdrag0 8y ago
    Who's parasitizing? Airbnb has 38 million users. That's a ton of value being provided! Clearly people want options besides classical hotels. Just because some guests aren't respectful or something doesn't mean the service as a whole is bunk.
wallawe 8y ago
> If I buy a house in a neighbourhood that is zoned single family residential, Am I an "inefficient incumbent" because I expect that over the mid-to-long term it will stay that way? The incumbents I was referring to are clearly hotels and taxis. But I think it's also important to point out that I wouldn't presume to tell you who to rent to or for what duration since you own the home and it's your property. AirBnB is merely a facilitator of that transaction. If you don't own the property, that's different story.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  > The incumbents I was referring to are clearly hotels and taxis. Sure, but you're forgetting about another party in the transaction: everyone else. You don't have to remember about them most of the time, because unlike Uber and AirBnB, most businesses aren't dumping externalities on non-customers. > I think it's also important to point out that I wouldn't presume to tell you who to rent to or for what duration since you own the home and it's your property. AirBnB is merely a facilitator of that transaction. That works well if you're the only one with a property within shouting range. Most people live (and most AirBnB activity happens) in large, organized groups. In a civilized society, you're not free to do anything you like without regard to the freedoms of others.
  - smileysteve 8y ago
    You say this, but in the great depression it was perfectly normal to open up extra rooms to borders if you had the room. We live in a time/place where money is reasonably readily available; You take that away and "society" makes all sorts of accommodations for "you're preventing homelessness" and "you're doing what you have to do to pay your debts". Though given rising inequality, we might be closer than we think.

ummonk 8y ago

>If I buy a house in a neighbourhood that is zoned single family residential, Am I an "inefficient incumbent" because I expect that over the mid-to-long term it will stay that way? Yes, you are. You're trying to freeze your neighborhood in amber, which is most definitely a sign of an inefficient incumbent.

TeMPOraL 8y ago
No, they just bought it with reasonable expectations - expectations, which were priced in the home valuation. If they didn't care about single family aspect, they probably could've found a cheaper house elsewhere. Also, let's not pretend that AirBnB is progress. It's just a third party that encourages people to start illegal hotels, to earn money for themselves at the expense of their neighbours. This is not a case of local owners having opposing interests to society at large; this is a case of a company enabling some people to parasite on the others.
- therealdrag0 8y ago
  Who's parasitizing? Airbnb has 38 million users. That's a ton of value being provided! Clearly people want options besides classical hotels. Just because some guests aren't respectful or something doesn't mean the service as a whole is bunk.

wallawe 8y ago

> If I buy a house in a neighbourhood that is zoned single family residential, Am I an "inefficient incumbent" because I expect that over the mid-to-long term it will stay that way? The incumbents I was referring to are clearly hotels and taxis. But I think it's also important to point out that I wouldn't presume to tell you who to rent to or for what duration since you own the home and it's your property. AirBnB is merely a facilitator of that transaction. If you don't own the property, that's different story.

TeMPOraL 8y ago
> The incumbents I was referring to are clearly hotels and taxis. Sure, but you're forgetting about another party in the transaction: everyone else. You don't have to remember about them most of the time, because unlike Uber and AirBnB, most businesses aren't dumping externalities on non-customers. > I think it's also important to point out that I wouldn't presume to tell you who to rent to or for what duration since you own the home and it's your property. AirBnB is merely a facilitator of that transaction. That works well if you're the only one with a property within shouting range. Most people live (and most AirBnB activity happens) in large, organized groups. In a civilized society, you're not free to do anything you like without regard to the freedoms of others.
- smileysteve 8y ago
  You say this, but in the great depression it was perfectly normal to open up extra rooms to borders if you had the room. We live in a time/place where money is reasonably readily available; You take that away and "society" makes all sorts of accommodations for "you're preventing homelessness" and "you're doing what you have to do to pay your debts". Though given rising inequality, we might be closer than we think.