6 ms·

? They are being devastated by COVID which could linger for a while. Their biggest risk is regulatory and taxation. Many AirBnBs are illegal, and what will re

by jariel 6y ago

? They are being devastated by COVID which could linger for a while. Their biggest risk is regulatory and taxation. Many AirBnBs are illegal, and what will really grind government to act are the potential lost revenues. I think they will do just fine, it's a matter of valuation.

an_opabinia 6y ago
Of the last $5,000 I’ve spent on AirBnB, not a single dollar was spent on a legal host.
- vadym909 6y ago
  I didn't know this was a thing until my friend said he stayed in a guest room of a small country's embassy in SF that the host probably never had permission to rent out.
  - qppo 6y ago
    You haven't lived until you find out your host lied about the address so it wouldn't tip off their landlord, who forbid it in their lease
    - zebnyc 6y ago
      Had this very experience happen to me a few years back. Took a cab to the advertised address. Door locked. So I call the host and the host gives us a different address. Catch a taxi to the other address and report it to Airbnb along with a request for cab refund (Airbnb just ignored the request). Host just started listing in a different address afterwards.
- jariel 6y ago
  Uber and AirBnB have revealed that the Western World is far more lawless than we had imagined. Who knew you could just 'start running cabs'. Even city hall says 'no' ... they just keep going. It's really bizarre. Irrespective of whether or now we should allow AirBnB and Uber it's crazy that civic institutions seem to have no control. If I was mayor and we decided 'no' on Uber I would be fining Uber millions and individual drivers a lot and ask regular cabs and cops to be on the lookout. It's mind blowing how much tax revenue is being missed out on, and how much money is flying out of the country.
  - asdff 6y ago
    if you were mayor in a city like LA you wouldn't have the ability to do anything really unless you had the council on your side, some of whom are currently being charged by the FBI in a corruption probe. Chicago is even worse. Most city governments are completely hobbled by design, powerless, and corrupted.
  - esoterica 6y ago
    The defining feature of a cab is that you can hail one down on the street. If you summon one through an app, it’s a car service, it a cab, and car services have never been subject to the same regulations as cabs. The real reason mayors don’t crack down on Ubers is that their constituents love them and any mayor that tried to outright ban them would become very unpopular very quickly. Welcome to living in a democracy. Airbnbs are somewhat more tenuous politically because the people who use them are from out of town and don’t vote in local elections.
  - unishark 6y ago
    This is not new. Meanwhile many of those same cities declare themselves sanctuaries and refuse to cooperate with federal immigration law. The US has always been partly "wild west", for better or worse.
  - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
    > Uber and AirBnB have revealed that the Western World is far more lawless than we had imagined. What an extraordinary extrapolation.
    - jariel 6y ago
      The lawlessness of Uber and AirBnB is not extrapolated, it's real. Ergo, Western Cities are lawless. City of Montreal has all sorts of rules against AirBnB and Uber and yet ... it still exists.
      - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
        And in eastern cities, someone picks a pocket. So that illegality means an equal amount of lawlessness there as here, right? Because all lawbreaking is equal, right? (You may have a point about montreal, could you post some links to the laws against uber and Abnb)
thesimon 6y ago
> Their biggest risk is regulatory and taxation. Many AirBnBs are illegal, and what will really grind government to act are the potential lost revenues And if they are legal, they tend to be a bit boring. When I look at some cities, agencies rent out tons of flat commercially. In In Porto I found over 100+ flats managed by one agency, they were dominating the list. airbnb is not so interesting anymore when the flats look all the same worldwide, you never see the actual owner and the person checking you in has no real connection with the apartment and can't help you with issues too much.

by jariel 6y ago

an_opabinia 6y ago

Of the last $5,000 I’ve spent on AirBnB, not a single dollar was spent on a legal host.

vadym909 6y ago
I didn't know this was a thing until my friend said he stayed in a guest room of a small country's embassy in SF that the host probably never had permission to rent out.
- qppo 6y ago
  You haven't lived until you find out your host lied about the address so it wouldn't tip off their landlord, who forbid it in their lease
  - zebnyc 6y ago
    Had this very experience happen to me a few years back. Took a cab to the advertised address. Door locked. So I call the host and the host gives us a different address. Catch a taxi to the other address and report it to Airbnb along with a request for cab refund (Airbnb just ignored the request). Host just started listing in a different address afterwards.
jariel 6y ago
Uber and AirBnB have revealed that the Western World is far more lawless than we had imagined. Who knew you could just 'start running cabs'. Even city hall says 'no' ... they just keep going. It's really bizarre. Irrespective of whether or now we should allow AirBnB and Uber it's crazy that civic institutions seem to have no control. If I was mayor and we decided 'no' on Uber I would be fining Uber millions and individual drivers a lot and ask regular cabs and cops to be on the lookout. It's mind blowing how much tax revenue is being missed out on, and how much money is flying out of the country.
- asdff 6y ago
  if you were mayor in a city like LA you wouldn't have the ability to do anything really unless you had the council on your side, some of whom are currently being charged by the FBI in a corruption probe. Chicago is even worse. Most city governments are completely hobbled by design, powerless, and corrupted.
- esoterica 6y ago
  The defining feature of a cab is that you can hail one down on the street. If you summon one through an app, it’s a car service, it a cab, and car services have never been subject to the same regulations as cabs. The real reason mayors don’t crack down on Ubers is that their constituents love them and any mayor that tried to outright ban them would become very unpopular very quickly. Welcome to living in a democracy. Airbnbs are somewhat more tenuous politically because the people who use them are from out of town and don’t vote in local elections.
- unishark 6y ago
  This is not new. Meanwhile many of those same cities declare themselves sanctuaries and refuse to cooperate with federal immigration law. The US has always been partly "wild west", for better or worse.
- throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
  > Uber and AirBnB have revealed that the Western World is far more lawless than we had imagined. What an extraordinary extrapolation.
  - jariel 6y ago
    The lawlessness of Uber and AirBnB is not extrapolated, it's real. Ergo, Western Cities are lawless. City of Montreal has all sorts of rules against AirBnB and Uber and yet ... it still exists.
    - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
      And in eastern cities, someone picks a pocket. So that illegality means an equal amount of lawlessness there as here, right? Because all lawbreaking is equal, right? (You may have a point about montreal, could you post some links to the laws against uber and Abnb)

thesimon 6y ago

> Their biggest risk is regulatory and taxation. Many AirBnBs are illegal, and what will really grind government to act are the potential lost revenues And if they are legal, they tend to be a bit boring. When I look at some cities, agencies rent out tons of flat commercially. In In Porto I found over 100+ flats managed by one agency, they were dominating the list. airbnb is not so interesting anymore when the flats look all the same worldwide, you never see the actual owner and the person checking you in has no real connection with the apartment and can't help you with issues too much.