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AirBnb is a terrible, terrible company. Most of their money comes from corporate-owned mini-hotels yet they advertise as a mom and pop shop. At every turn thei

AirBnb is a terrible, terrible company. Most of their money comes from corporate-owned mini-hotels yet they advertise as a mom and pop shop. At every turn their solution is to sue small towns and cities so they can continue to extract wealth from our neighborhoods. Disgusting.

frontloadpro 8y ago
Why is your profile littered with anti Airbnb comments?
- matchbok 8y ago
  Because my neighborhood is littered with mini-hotels and AirBnb encourages this behavior.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    Are they bothering you more than non-registered cars in people's yards bothers the HOA type of people? On some level people have the right to do whatever they please with their property. That's kind of the point of ownership to begin with.
    - dragonwriter 8y ago
      > On some level people have the right to do whatever they please with their property. That's kind of the point of ownership to begin with. And on some level they don't (or, perhaps more precisely, on some level it's never entirely their property if they aren't the sovereign—even if they are a member of a group which collectively constitutes the sovereign), that's kind of the point of sovereignty.
    - drinkzima 8y ago
      Right - it's the level dictated by the zoning laws we all agreed to when we built a governmental framework for property ownership and the management of it's externalities. Ownership literally doesn't mean you can do whatever you please, that's the point of the top-level comment here.
    - Tsubasachan 8y ago
      Its often not even their property. Get a social housing unit, pay €500 per month. Rent it out for €90 per day on AirBNB. Profit.
    - gamblor956 8y ago
      On some level people have the right to do whatever they please with their property. That's kind of the point of ownership to begin with. An HOA is a community-owned development. The individual lots are owned subject to the (HOA) rules of the development. That subordination is quite literally written into the deeds of the individual plots. So in this case, the other owners have a right to tell the individual owner what they can't do on their property.
- prepend 8y ago
  Because ve likely works for homeaway.
dymk 8y ago
Source?
- wykfuckoff 8y ago
  the article?
TheHypnotist 8y ago
Why is this disgusting? Down vote with no answer?
- prklmn 8y ago
  Suing every city trying to regulate your service that’s harming city residents is just lovely to you?
  - TheHypnotist 8y ago
    That's not what he said.
    - parthdesai 8y ago
      Did you even read the article?
mbostleman 8y ago
What is a corporate owned mini-hotel? I am a fairly frequent Airbnb consumer and I have yet to stay somewhere that wasn't mom and pop.
- TheHypnotist 8y ago
  There are a few mini-hotels - properties with more than one room. How many are corporate owned is undetermined. This guy is just bitter about something, perhaps rightfully so. Or maybe just vote manipulation.
  - nerdponx 8y ago
    There are a few mini-hotels More than a few. Check out AirBnB listing in Miami Beach, for example.
  - matchbok 8y ago
    Incorrect. Most of AirBnBs profit comes from units that do not have the owner present. Aka a hotel.
    - TheHypnotist 8y ago
      Not only is that not the definition of hotel, you seem to think this carries a negative connotation?
      - matchbok 8y ago
        Yes, that's a hotel. You have "home-sharing" and hotels. Just because it's a single house does not make it less of a hotel.
    - CNJ7654 8y ago
      That is a pretty poor definition of hotel. Just because someone is renting out their second home/vacation home/in-law apartment/whatever doesn't mean they're corporately controlled. Many normal people in America own multiple pieces of property, especially in rural areas. If we're only talking about cities, I totally agree though. I've stayed at a couple of apartments that were bought solely for airbnb use, and managed along a dozen other ones by the owner.
flexie 8y ago
There are not many "corporate-owned mini-hotels" but there are certainly hundreds of thousands of people that buy one or more apartments with the purpose of renting them out through AirBnB (or not sell apartments that they would otherwise have gotten rid off). AirBnB doesn't make the little guy make a few extra bucks renting out a room as much as it makes those who already have money buy up studios and one bedroom apartments. The effect is that such apartments get more expensive for those who just need a place to live.
- matchbok 8y ago
  Correct, should have clarified.
- jseliger 8y ago
  AirBnB doesn't make the little guy make a few extra bucks renting out a room as much as it makes those who already have money buy up studios and one bedroom apartments. The effect is that such apartments get more expensive for those who just need a place to live. If only there were some way of increasing the number of housing units on a given area of land, this problem could be solved and we could have enough housing for everybody. This kind of technology could really ameliorate such problems. https://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/urban-sprawl-housing-costs-solutions-elevators https://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/urban-sprawl-housin...
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - siruncledrew 8y ago
    Increasing the number of housing units doesn't solve the problem though. What is to stop people with money from buying those up and then Airbnbing them out? Those "landlords/property investors" have enough cashflow and collateral to continue to expand their portfolios and get lines of credit to do so, which puts 'normal people' looking for housing at a disadvantage. In high-demand housing areas, there needs to be more housing regulation to balance the businesses vs. individuals. It's good that there are cool places that encourage visitors to temporarily stay and spend locally, but there are also people wanting to live there that would also spend locally. The property businesses are making such a $/day killing on Airbnbs that they would rather keep that system than rent units for people to live there (and have to adhere to all the landlord laws). Airbnb is a convenient loophole that offers more money with less effort as long as demand is high.
taborj 8y ago
I can't comment to their operational policies, but I have a coworker who owns a house they use for AirBnb, and they make quite a bit of money off of it. Enough to have a house dedicated to AirBnb, and so one of them doesn't need to work. They seem pleased with it, and they're not a corporation by any means. But, again, I don't have a horse in this race.
- mintplant 8y ago
  Frankly, I don't see that as a positive outcome. That house could be someone's home.
  - bradlys 8y ago
    In the scheme of it being "someone's home", it's not much different than renting it out for a longer period. Both are temporary and are at high risk for being kicked out. (Compared to owning it) No one I know who rents the home they're in claims it to be "their home".
    - gamblor956 8y ago
      It's pretty much the exact opposite of being someone's home. A long-term rental may not be permanent, but it's still a home for the duration of the rental. An AirBnB is not, by definition.
  - taborj 8y ago
    It could be, sure. But in this instance, anyone who could afford that home could afford any of the other (many) houses up for sale in the area. This is in a touristy area, rather than a major city. I can see this being an issue in a city, where housing is hard to find. But that's not the case in this instance.
188201 8y ago
In addition, register as a host in Airbnb does not require an ID proof, while register as a guest will be required to have an ID proof. And a host does not require to prove ownership of the property. You can see it is such a convenient place for illegal business and money laundering. Some Airbnb has hidden camera for you know what it does. And as a matter of fact, many Airbnb in Japan is ran by the yakuza. They will use a pretty girl as profile pic. When you call the host, it is a yakuza guy respond to you. Actually, no problem with that as long as it is a smooth trade, but if something happens, god knows who can help you. And Airbnb only care about the host and don't give a fuck about guest. I won't say don't use Airbnb, but just be reminded that use it if you can take some risk for some adventure.
jimmaswell 8y ago
AirBnB was a life saver for me while I was looking for an apartment in my new state. I think it's a great business model and local governments should just work with it instead of trying to legislate away something there's obviously a big demand for.

frontloadpro 8y ago

Why is your profile littered with anti Airbnb comments?

matchbok 8y ago
Because my neighborhood is littered with mini-hotels and AirBnb encourages this behavior.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  Are they bothering you more than non-registered cars in people's yards bothers the HOA type of people? On some level people have the right to do whatever they please with their property. That's kind of the point of ownership to begin with.
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    > On some level people have the right to do whatever they please with their property. That's kind of the point of ownership to begin with. And on some level they don't (or, perhaps more precisely, on some level it's never entirely their property if they aren't the sovereign—even if they are a member of a group which collectively constitutes the sovereign), that's kind of the point of sovereignty.
  - drinkzima 8y ago
    Right - it's the level dictated by the zoning laws we all agreed to when we built a governmental framework for property ownership and the management of it's externalities. Ownership literally doesn't mean you can do whatever you please, that's the point of the top-level comment here.
  - Tsubasachan 8y ago
    Its often not even their property. Get a social housing unit, pay €500 per month. Rent it out for €90 per day on AirBNB. Profit.
  - gamblor956 8y ago
    On some level people have the right to do whatever they please with their property. That's kind of the point of ownership to begin with. An HOA is a community-owned development. The individual lots are owned subject to the (HOA) rules of the development. That subordination is quite literally written into the deeds of the individual plots. So in this case, the other owners have a right to tell the individual owner what they can't do on their property.
prepend 8y ago
Because ve likely works for homeaway.

dymk 8y ago

Source?

wykfuckoff 8y ago
the article?

TheHypnotist 8y ago

Why is this disgusting? Down vote with no answer?

prklmn 8y ago
Suing every city trying to regulate your service that’s harming city residents is just lovely to you?
- TheHypnotist 8y ago
  That's not what he said.
  - parthdesai 8y ago
    Did you even read the article?

mbostleman 8y ago

What is a corporate owned mini-hotel? I am a fairly frequent Airbnb consumer and I have yet to stay somewhere that wasn't mom and pop.

TheHypnotist 8y ago
There are a few mini-hotels - properties with more than one room. How many are corporate owned is undetermined. This guy is just bitter about something, perhaps rightfully so. Or maybe just vote manipulation.
- nerdponx 8y ago
  There are a few mini-hotels More than a few. Check out AirBnB listing in Miami Beach, for example.
- matchbok 8y ago
  Incorrect. Most of AirBnBs profit comes from units that do not have the owner present. Aka a hotel.
  - TheHypnotist 8y ago
    Not only is that not the definition of hotel, you seem to think this carries a negative connotation?
    - matchbok 8y ago
      Yes, that's a hotel. You have "home-sharing" and hotels. Just because it's a single house does not make it less of a hotel.
  - CNJ7654 8y ago
    That is a pretty poor definition of hotel. Just because someone is renting out their second home/vacation home/in-law apartment/whatever doesn't mean they're corporately controlled. Many normal people in America own multiple pieces of property, especially in rural areas. If we're only talking about cities, I totally agree though. I've stayed at a couple of apartments that were bought solely for airbnb use, and managed along a dozen other ones by the owner.

flexie 8y ago

There are not many "corporate-owned mini-hotels" but there are certainly hundreds of thousands of people that buy one or more apartments with the purpose of renting them out through AirBnB (or not sell apartments that they would otherwise have gotten rid off). AirBnB doesn't make the little guy make a few extra bucks renting out a room as much as it makes those who already have money buy up studios and one bedroom apartments. The effect is that such apartments get more expensive for those who just need a place to live.

matchbok 8y ago
Correct, should have clarified.
jseliger 8y ago
AirBnB doesn't make the little guy make a few extra bucks renting out a room as much as it makes those who already have money buy up studios and one bedroom apartments. The effect is that such apartments get more expensive for those who just need a place to live. If only there were some way of increasing the number of housing units on a given area of land, this problem could be solved and we could have enough housing for everybody. This kind of technology could really ameliorate such problems. https://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/urban-sprawl-housing-costs-solutions-elevators https://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/urban-sprawl-housin...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- siruncledrew 8y ago
  Increasing the number of housing units doesn't solve the problem though. What is to stop people with money from buying those up and then Airbnbing them out? Those "landlords/property investors" have enough cashflow and collateral to continue to expand their portfolios and get lines of credit to do so, which puts 'normal people' looking for housing at a disadvantage. In high-demand housing areas, there needs to be more housing regulation to balance the businesses vs. individuals. It's good that there are cool places that encourage visitors to temporarily stay and spend locally, but there are also people wanting to live there that would also spend locally. The property businesses are making such a $/day killing on Airbnbs that they would rather keep that system than rent units for people to live there (and have to adhere to all the landlord laws). Airbnb is a convenient loophole that offers more money with less effort as long as demand is high.

taborj 8y ago

I can't comment to their operational policies, but I have a coworker who owns a house they use for AirBnb, and they make quite a bit of money off of it. Enough to have a house dedicated to AirBnb, and so one of them doesn't need to work. They seem pleased with it, and they're not a corporation by any means. But, again, I don't have a horse in this race.

mintplant 8y ago
Frankly, I don't see that as a positive outcome. That house could be someone's home.
- bradlys 8y ago
  In the scheme of it being "someone's home", it's not much different than renting it out for a longer period. Both are temporary and are at high risk for being kicked out. (Compared to owning it) No one I know who rents the home they're in claims it to be "their home".
  - gamblor956 8y ago
    It's pretty much the exact opposite of being someone's home. A long-term rental may not be permanent, but it's still a home for the duration of the rental. An AirBnB is not, by definition.
- taborj 8y ago
  It could be, sure. But in this instance, anyone who could afford that home could afford any of the other (many) houses up for sale in the area. This is in a touristy area, rather than a major city. I can see this being an issue in a city, where housing is hard to find. But that's not the case in this instance.

188201 8y ago

In addition, register as a host in Airbnb does not require an ID proof, while register as a guest will be required to have an ID proof. And a host does not require to prove ownership of the property. You can see it is such a convenient place for illegal business and money laundering. Some Airbnb has hidden camera for you know what it does. And as a matter of fact, many Airbnb in Japan is ran by the yakuza. They will use a pretty girl as profile pic. When you call the host, it is a yakuza guy respond to you. Actually, no problem with that as long as it is a smooth trade, but if something happens, god knows who can help you. And Airbnb only care about the host and don't give a fuck about guest. I won't say don't use Airbnb, but just be reminded that use it if you can take some risk for some adventure.

jimmaswell 8y ago

AirBnB was a life saver for me while I was looking for an apartment in my new state. I think it's a great business model and local governments should just work with it instead of trying to legislate away something there's obviously a big demand for.