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Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

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Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, sorry. AirBnB is creating immense problems in tourist destinations, to the point where people in major cities in Greece (and other countries) are having trouble finding affordable permanent housing. Barcelona and Rome are overrun with tourists, and it's killing the cities. AirBnB should just go away, the market worked very well before it, even if things were a bit more expensive.

>> the market worked very well before it You mean during the recession?

That would imply things got better in some way, which they haven't. We're still in a recession and deteriorating.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#152

I understand all the ramifications in certain cities where the housing prices are getting effected by airbnb, but I think in this case it is just the Hotels strong arming because they were losing business and the Olympics are coming. I am a budget traveler and low income remote worker and I really am glad I got to slide in before airbnb got shafted. It's a shame that I now have to choose between hostels and overprice…

Same here! It is such a surreal experience to just nestle into the heart of a Japanese neighborhood for the first time (and actually still is, going on well over a year now). If it wasn't for AirBnB's abundant selection of places and prices it would have been near-impossible to get those kind of experiences (and new friends and countless other random things).

Same

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#153
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but I'm saying "AirBnB sucks for people living in the city" and you're saying "it's great for if you want to travel there".

> the market worked very well before it That's specifically what I was replying to. I live(and rent) in a city that is tourist based and less affordable because of airb&b and the like. It has a vacancy rate of under 1%. So i completely understand what you're saying. I just disagree that the market for staying somewhere worked well before airb&b.

Oh, I see. Maybe, I don't really have experience with traveling with a family.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#154
post #102

I think this is an interesting and unintended consequence of AirBnB not investing nearly on filtering their users. AirBnB obviously was interested in getting their product used by as many people as people (growth at all costs) - but this had the effect of getting a lot of young, cost conscious people to take holidays in area that were traditionally residential. While most AirBnB renters are polite and respectful, eno…

"AirBnB is already very strict with landlords: it needs to start being a lot stricter with its users too." It's not as strict with landlords as it should be. And while it is strict with users it actually favors landlords and by a landslide. Have you ever rented long term with AirBnB? Hosts can literally cancel the reservation for any reason( Airbnb says they punish for doing so but rarely if ever because the Host can…

The last few times I was tempted to use Airbnb for stays of around a week, I found the price to be comparable to hotels in the area. I ended up getting a hotel, because I wanted my stay to be managed by professionals.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#155
post #21
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm European, and in general I like (well thought out) regulations, but in the case of the taxi industry Uber is actually not a bad guy but a huge blessing. In a lot of countries (80%+) taxi drivers are rude, try to price gouge, try to scam you or try to take longer routes. Uber takes all of this away. The rating system ensures drivers are polite. The estimate € (plus route tracking) ensures they don't take the sceni…

>In a lot of countries (80%+) taxi drivers are rude, try to price gouge, try to scam you or try to take longer routes. Made up percentages don't count as credible data, unless you can cite the objective and peer-reviewed analysis that demonstrates that over 80% of taxi drivers are "rude, try to price gouge, try to scam you or try to take longer routes," you're just trying to disguise your opinion as fact. Which is fi…

This is anecdotal, but I have taken many cabs in Philly, and every single driver I've had in my entire life here has been on the phone for the entire ride. That and they don't listen to directions because they are on the phone, and the cabs are often in poor condition. I've only had one or two uber/lyft drivers ever pick up the phone while I was in their vehicle.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#156
post #130
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in London and a couple of years ago several of my neighbours had their flats on Airbnb, then my upstairs neighbour got married, moved out and had his flat on Airbnb, that was a massive burden on us as we suddenly went from one quiet neighbour from never knowing who was going to be living there to lots and lots of noise and weekend afterparties, luckily our council took action but only after my next door neighb…

That's an argument against gentrification in general; not AirBnB. An area progressing is a good thing, but there are pointy edges to it and local residents not keeping up with the local market is one of the thornier ones.

The same thing happened in San Francisco... in the super expensive neighborhoods... the ones already gentrified. It wasn't until the city started enforcing some of the short-term rental laws that it calmed down.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#157
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, I used uber in japan when I was traveling there and it worked quite well. What kind of problems were they having?

Uber has not been successful in Japan for many reasons. 1) the public transportation system is excellent. 2) the taxis are ubiquitous in the major metro areas. 3) the taxi companies have worked together to compete against Uber Japan successfully (Japan Taxi app, etc.)

When I tried using Uber in Tokyo, I was only able to call a licensed taxi through the app, which was incredibly expensive. The one time I actually needed a taxi (in a tiny town in Tohoku) I had to walk around hoping to physically hail one (getting a SIM card that can make phone calls is apparently very difficult in Japan, so I didn't have one).

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like those cities do not have an educated/skilled workforce. Sure there are spots near the Roman forum you would expect to have lots of tourists(basically inside the Aurellian walls). But outside of that its a 20+ minute drive for a tourist to popular areas. If a 50$ airbnb is beating out a $1,000/mo rent its because people cannot afford $1000 in rent. We host an airbnb ourselves, lots of business travele…

I'm not sure I understand what you mean, but nobody is going to be able to afford to pay hotel rates for their permanent residence.

Airbnbs are not passive income.

You need to take down sheets, wash them, remake the bed, clean the bathroom, buy fruit/food every ~3 days, vacuum, be available for your guests.

When you have tenets, its passive income. You clean up every 6 months to 3+ years.

Airbnb pays better, but its labor. The ~300$/mo difference can easily be accounted for with that. Not to mention the cost of food(always HQ), electricity, water, heat/AC.

The items I listed are not optional, people can give you a bad review regardless what expectations you set with prices + description.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#159
post #134
post #102

I think this is an interesting and unintended consequence of AirBnB not investing nearly on filtering their users. AirBnB obviously was interested in getting their product used by as many people as people (growth at all costs) - but this had the effect of getting a lot of young, cost conscious people to take holidays in area that were traditionally residential. While most AirBnB renters are polite and respectful, eno…

Not true in Canada, AirBnB breaks municipal and in some cases provincial laws for short term rentals. Thousands of houses are in no rent zones and AirBnB knows damn well. The tactic to combat these rentals is to use provincial & city inspectors who levy huge taxes and prohibit short-term rentals with the landlords, but they are very understaffed and generally ineffective. AirbNB is getting away with very grey legal a…

I wonder what the environment would be if there wasnt so many laws ontop of laws.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#160
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, sorry. AirBnB is creating immense problems in tourist destinations, to the point where people in major cities in Greece (and other countries) are having trouble finding affordable permanent housing. Barcelona and Rome are overrun with tourists, and it's killing the cities. AirBnB should just go away, the market worked very well before it, even if things were a bit more expensive.

I can't wrap my mind around people that think that 'too many tourists' or 'too many jobs' are a problem. Those are 'problems' that most cities in the world would kill for: if we consider them problems it's because we are not nearly creative enough to take advantage of them. As a simple example: if we have too many tourists, give a progressive daily tax that's charged to every visitor that automatically includes museu…

Let me flesh out a few very simple proposals: a complaint that a lot of city residents have is that tourists that arrive in a city don't spend a lot of money there because they pack their own lunches/avoid museums, etc.

How about charging a very high tax (in the form of a voucher) for hotel/AirBnB stays, but make that voucher spendable in local restaurants/museums? This would have the bonus that you'd also kill the local black market economy, as tourists would insist on being able to pay for goods using their voucher.

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