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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

#241

Post by StavrosK »

distances wrote: post #172
StavrosK wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The situation in Greece is very different, as everything is a highrise (sadly, because we tore down a lot of beautiful centuries-old antique villas to do that). The situation used to be much better, but the start of the problem coincides suspiciously with the rise of AirBnB, and you'd expect housing prices to drop in a recession, not rise. That's why I think it's fair to blame AirBnB for that. We'll see what happens…

But apartments in Athens are very affordable still, aren't they?

I'm not sure, I'm not in Athens, but I've been trying to find a new apartment for three years in my city and the pickings have been extremely slim.

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

#242

Post by cornholio »

vuln wrote: post #221
xapata wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, sure, I'd prefer a better transit system, too. But in the meantime, I'd rather have more choice than less. Uber costs less than a taxi, so this is giving poor(er) people more choice.

Until the VC money runs out and the poor(er) have zero choice. Those people chose to give their money to Lyft / Uber instead of supporting their local public transit. Fast forward through Uber/Lyft's 'disruption' the local public transit shuts down due to lack of funds for maintenance, upgrades, etc. The public transportation ridership will be at an all time low, so it would be very hard to get tax payers to shoulder…

Uber has a low cost because it doesn't use monopoly power to gouge consumers like cities do when issuing medallions. So Uber's secret sauce is the fact that it breaks the law, not VC money.

The medallion laws are unjust and should be broken, other laws like insurance, driver training and vehicle safety are not. This is what makes the debate so complex and passionate, with people taking one side or the other depending on their personal incentives and political bias.

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

#243

Post by mmt »

StavrosK wrote: post #118
piyh wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's go back to taxis while we're at it.

Taxis are a problem, but Uber is not the solution.

I wonder, though, if the original iteration of Uber (now Uber Black?), their actual commercial car/driver version of the service, is the solution.

It didn't have the hyper-growth potential of the current model, but it didn't draw most of the ethical/moral objections, while still providing at least some "disruption" to the taxi monopolies.

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

#244

Post by xapata »

xapata wrote: post #198
danudey wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber is a great concept, but the reality is that Uber has shown us time and time again why taxis cost what they do: regulation to protect users and our cities. Uber, like AirBnB and a lot of other startups, are 'disrupting' industries by entering them and taking them over by ignoring regulations, insurance, and even laws to keep costs low and make a profit. In this day and age, they can grow fast enough that by the t…

Uber provides commercial insurance, no? Other than that, I generally feel safer in an Uber ride than in a taxi.

To explain: I've never been yelled at by an Uber driver. I have been cursed at by taxi drivers. Yes, more than one. They often don't like my destination and get mad at me for being in their cab.

"I've been waiting for two hours, and you're going to Chinatown!? Fuck you!" (Not far enough)

"Brooklyn?! Fuck you!" (Wants to stay in Manhattan)

One cabbie was so pissed he went 70 in a 35 zone to demonstrate how annoying my destination was.

Cabbies pretend to get lost so that the fare is longer. Uber will refund the difference. Etc. Etc.

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

#245

Post by StavrosK »

mmt wrote: post #243
StavrosK wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxis are a problem, but Uber is not the solution.

I wonder, though, if the original iteration of Uber (now Uber Black?), their actual commercial car/driver version of the service, is the solution. It didn't have the hyper-growth potential of the current model, but it didn't draw most of the ethical/moral objections, while still providing at least some "disruption" to the taxi monopolies.

Yes, that's much better. We have something similar here, called Beat, which I like much more. It's just taxis, but you can see and leave reviews, you get an estimated price, you can pay by card, etc.

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

#246

Post by xapata »

Xylakant wrote: post #215
xapata wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I meant "pay" in the literal sense of paying a fine.

I don’t know about anything but Germany, but here you’d have to sue the owner yourself. Enjoy. Well now, since AirBnB is illegal in Berlin he might actually get fined.

> sue the owner yourself

That's awful. In the US we have misdemeanor noise violations that carry a fine (or jail time if you refuse to pay).

Neighbors will call the police if your party is too rowdy. They'll show up looking for underage drinkers. Usually if you are nice to the cops and promise to be quiet (and everyone they see is 21+) they'll just warn you and not write a ticket.

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

#247

Post by Xylakant »

xapata wrote: post #246
Xylakant wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know about anything but Germany, but here you’d have to sue the owner yourself. Enjoy. Well now, since AirBnB is illegal in Berlin he might actually get fined.

> sue the owner yourself That's awful. In the US we have misdemeanor noise violations that carry a fine (or jail time if you refuse to pay). Neighbors will call the police if your party is too rowdy. They'll show up looking for underage drinkers. Usually if you are nice to the cops and promise to be quiet (and everyone they see is 21+) they'll just warn you and not write a ticket.

are certain that the fine could be levied against the owner instead of the actual perpetrator?

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

#248

Post by heurist »

geebee wrote: post #108

There's a lot of emphasis on bad behavior from Airbnb guests, but I think that's only part of it. Another big issue is that formerly residential communities often resist the conversion of housing that used to host neighbors (and especially kids) into short term tourist rentals. The pressure, and controversy, is especially intense in areas that are largely residential but immensely popular with tourists. The French qu…

For what it's worth, as an airbnb host in a residential neighborhood in a small tourist town that attracts a lot of young people in the summer I have never had poorly behaved guests. I've had a couple that could have cleaned up after themselves a little more or ruined our towels but otherwise have not had any issues, even with noise. Airbnbs in the area absorb the extra demand for space that hotels cannot supply, and having strangers around during tourist season is far preferable to having new hotels built and dealing with the invasion of the sprawl that comes with them. We do not (yet) have the problem of investors buying real estate to rent out on Airbnb because there is not yet enough demand to support it.

I realize you're talking about large cities, but it seems everyone else in this thread is as well and forgets that Airbnb operates well outside of large cities.

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

#249

Post by ggm »

iandanforth wrote: post #86
tnolet wrote: post #64

In Amsterdam they already set the limit of allowed rental days per year to 30. Just last month the new city council announced they will completely forbid AirBnB in certain neighbourhoods. As someone who studied and worked most of his life in Amsterdam I welcome these measures a lot.

Nimbyism at its best.

A significant proportion of rental in Amsterdam is rent controlled. They have highly socialised housing policy. This is a huge upside benefit for renters, and treasured by renters. Its taken for granted that a long lease social housing option exists, including some inter-city mobility of your lease if you've been in the system long enough.

A significant number of AirBnB and short lets are people who have a rent controlled home, live with their partner in their partners home, and rent their rent controlled home out for market price. This is rorting the system. Its distorting the system. Its exploiting the system. Dutch tax, the Amsterdam city hall, and their neighbours all wanted this to stop.

Its not NIMBYism, its anti-social, tax-avoiding, law breaking and distorting the rental market.

Disclaimer: I lived in Amsterdam for 6 months two years ago, and lived below a rental compliance person working in the private sector, policing long-lease breakages by tenants amongst other things. Much of this opinion was formed by talking to him about the problem.

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

#250

Post by ozim »

pmiller2 wrote: post #154
lechiffre10 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

That is a joke because why I would use AirBnB, to have cheap accomodation with kitchen. If the price is around the same as hotel I could not care more. Hotels have to follow a lot of regulations and guest is always right in a hotel. Wi fi not working well, I got upgrade to better room, airbnb host cannot upgrade your room to one with view or else.
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