5 ms·
Airbnb is making this a distinct possibility. I regularly run into people in my small, tourism based town who own 2 or more properties they sit on and rent thro
by borkt 7y ago
Airbnb is making this a distinct possibility. I regularly run into people in my small, tourism based town who own 2 or more properties they sit on and rent through airbnb. The most frustrating was a guy who after receiving inheritance is doing exclusively this. Meanwhile the city is spending money buying run down apartments above market rate, competing with these investors who bring little value, to meet the demands of the community to protect the tenants from being forced out.
It is wildly inefficient and would not exist if airbnb followed local laws. If this is allowed to continue, I could easily see airbnb units exceeding the number of hotel units we have in town, where the total number of rooms is nearing 10% of the towns population.
- cosmodisk 7y agoAnd here's the problem - "investment". Residential property should never be an investment,it should only be a place one calls home.
- sokoloff 7y agoSo if someone wants to rent a house (for whatever valid reasons), we prevent that somehow? Sorry, want to live here? You have to buy; we don’t allow residential investing here.
- AgentOrange1234 7y agoSurely there are a lot of ways it could be discouraged that would fall short of a complete ban?
- sokoloff 7y agoWhatever extent it's discouraged would seem to reduce the supply of rentable residences, which is a negative for renters.
- cosmodisk 7y agoRenting a house isn't usually a problem, however there should be some safeguards in place,i.e. taxes that discourage excessive profiteering,etc. I remember working on this development( hundreds of flats)in London,where some Asian man walked passed, saw the building, went to the site office and said: I want to buy this block( at least 40 flats),I'll send the lawyers to sign the papers.The guy didn't even look inside. So he'd most likely end up renting the entire block.