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Airbnb CEO Says Airbnb Hosts in New York City Make ‘An Average’ of $21K

10 points by llambda 15y ago

citadrianne 15y ago
At $200 a night, you'd still have to rent your extra room in your teeny tiny apartment 105 days out of the year.
ashokn225 15y ago
One of the downsides with a statement like this (i.e x city is making y$/person) is that once you hit enough of a threshold of people on airbnb, it seems like there's going to be too much noise for anyone to really find a place of any value. Reviews and location/price filtering obviously help with that, but I'm curious as to what other types of filtering algorithms the team is working on.
untog 15y ago
Fun question, putting aside the tax implications (which people have already discussed): how legal is this when you're already renting the property? Everyone I know in NYC rents their apartment. Is it actually legal for you to sublet out your room in short term bookings?
- ashokn225 15y ago
  Most people, myself included, who rent in the city have all of that laid out in the lease agreement. Most landlords probably wouldn't know either way unless they are coming by the apartment often. In either case, it's not a huge issue in the city.
  - untog 15y ago
    * Most landlords probably wouldn't know either way [...] it's not a huge issue in the city.* I don't know about that. If it's not legal then I think people should know that, whether their landlord is aware or not. Same as avoiding paying tax- you could get pretty badly burnt.
    - ashokn225 15y ago
      I wouldn't liken tax evasion to letting someone use your apartment. I was really just speaking casually about how the situation would unfold. It's also a grey area since this is less of a sublet and more of a micro sublet (akin to letting a friend over for the night who buys you lunch in turn), which complicates the legality of it. Err on the side of caution I guess, but reading your lease agreement is obviously the best thing one can do.
- wdewind 15y ago
  You cannot profit legally from a sublet. Some leases may allow you to rent it out for the same amount monthly, or even partially, but you are never allowed to charge more than you pay. AirBnB is actually pretty illegal in NYC, at least the way most people use it.
  - rdouble 15y ago
    That is not exactly true. If the apartment is not rent controlled there aren't restrictions on how much you can charge. However, you are supposed to do sublets above board with a real lease agreement and the landlord's knowledge.
- rdouble 15y ago
  If it's a rent controlled apartment you are prohibited from charging more than the fair value of the room. If it isn't rent controlled, anything goes.

10 points by llambda 15y ago

At $200 a night, you'd still have to rent your extra room in your teeny tiny apartment 105 days out of the year.

One of the downsides with a statement like this (i.e x city is making y$/person) is that once you hit enough of a threshold of people on airbnb, it seems like there's going to be too much noise for anyone to really find a place of any value. Reviews and location/price filtering obviously help with that, but I'm curious as to what other types of filtering algorithms the team is working on.

untog 15y ago

Fun question, putting aside the tax implications (which people have already discussed): how legal is this when you're already renting the property? Everyone I know in NYC rents their apartment. Is it actually legal for you to sublet out your room in short term bookings?

ashokn225 15y ago
Most people, myself included, who rent in the city have all of that laid out in the lease agreement. Most landlords probably wouldn't know either way unless they are coming by the apartment often. In either case, it's not a huge issue in the city.
- untog 15y ago
  * Most landlords probably wouldn't know either way [...] it's not a huge issue in the city.* I don't know about that. If it's not legal then I think people should know that, whether their landlord is aware or not. Same as avoiding paying tax- you could get pretty badly burnt.
  - ashokn225 15y ago
    I wouldn't liken tax evasion to letting someone use your apartment. I was really just speaking casually about how the situation would unfold. It's also a grey area since this is less of a sublet and more of a micro sublet (akin to letting a friend over for the night who buys you lunch in turn), which complicates the legality of it. Err on the side of caution I guess, but reading your lease agreement is obviously the best thing one can do.
wdewind 15y ago
You cannot profit legally from a sublet. Some leases may allow you to rent it out for the same amount monthly, or even partially, but you are never allowed to charge more than you pay. AirBnB is actually pretty illegal in NYC, at least the way most people use it.
- rdouble 15y ago
  That is not exactly true. If the apartment is not rent controlled there aren't restrictions on how much you can charge. However, you are supposed to do sublets above board with a real lease agreement and the landlord's knowledge.
rdouble 15y ago
If it's a rent controlled apartment you are prohibited from charging more than the fair value of the room. If it isn't rent controlled, anything goes.