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DIY B&B

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Re: DIY B&B

#41

Post by nostromo »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #11

Just about every year for as long as I can remember, my family has taken a summer vacation at a beach about 300 miles away. We always stay in a hotel. Over time, the beach has gotten tacky. Big billboards. Lots of nightlife. Amusement park rides. All kinds of things that reek of Las Vegas, but not so much a relaxing family vacation. So this year we decided to try something different. I got onto VRBO online and picked…

> Vested interests can fight as much as they want, but this is a done deal

I think this is absolutely the case. Right now we're seeing what happened in the early days of Napster. The RIAA and governments were shocked shocked at the widespread disregard for the law. Now a decade or so later it's common and widely accepted that breaking copyright is just something that happens.

Airbnb & Homeaway/VRBO & Craigslist are currently the exchanges for a p2p transaction, like Napster or Kazaa were for music. I suspect they will be targeted by existing interests and governments and they might even be taken down in some jurisdictions. But if they do, more will pop up in their place, as always seems to be the case in distributed p2p markets.

Re: DIY B&B

#42

Post by tptacek »

jtbigwoo wrote: post #32

Despite the touching stories about financial ruin, the government has a legitimate interest in making sure B&B's are minimally safe and operate without disturbing neighbors. All of these "It's my property!" arguments are supremely disingenuous.

Also, The Washington Monthly has here painted the most sympathetic possible picture of someone stung by hotel regulations.

But in NYC, there's some reason to believe that the intended target of those regs isn't homeowners trying to make an honest buck, but rather unscrupulous businesspeople abusing Airbnb to operate "off the books" hostels --- my many NYC friends and acquaintances have taken to calling these "mob hotels".

Re: DIY B&B

#43

Post by derleth »

sliverstorm wrote: post #15
blaines wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to take my couch offline because my HOA threatened to fine me. No more visitors, no more foreign friends. :( It seems the first wave of enforcement has come from HOAs, I've heard of various people having to remove their listing for that reason. [1] Now it appears, according to the article above, municipal authorities are pushing back. Could this be a result of lobbying from hotels? Vacation rentals is not a new…

... telling me who I can or can not have over to stay. They aren't telling you who you can or can not have over, they are prohibiting you from having temporary guests that pay. Why? Well, an establishment that houses temporary guests traditionally has to answer to health & safety codes and regulations. Under-the-radar AirBnB rentals circumvent that system. You'd probably get similar kickback if you tried running an i…

> They aren't telling you who you can or can not have over, they are prohibiting you from having temporary guests that pay.

Right. Now try to get the average person to care about the distinction.

Re: DIY B&B

#44

Post by anamax »

In some vacation places, such as Monterey, it's illegal to rent a house/apartment for less than a month without a hotel license.

These laws predate AirBnB by decades.

Re: DIY B&B

#45

Post by mattgreenrocks »

tgrass wrote: post #33
cletus wrote: post #26

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the negative reaction to this here. The HN demographic is presumably tilted towards young men. What those criticisms seem to be neglecting is that those--particularly for apartment buildings--these temporary visitors impact beyond just you. In Australia, for example, one useful metric used by people when assessing apartment buildings to buy in is to look at the ratio of owner-occup…

I am a father, and I rent. Are my rights less (as proxied by my landlord) than my neighbor who owns an underwater house? [EDIT] When I go down to the polling station on election day, I assure you my rights are equal.

Plenty of HOAs would consider you less desirable. Which is completely wrong, of course.

(personally I consider the super-serious-HOA-attending-is-my property-value-always-increasing-neurotic undesirable, but that's just my bias.)

Re: DIY B&B

#46

Post by tgrass »

sp332 wrote: post #40
tgrass wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a father, and I rent. Are my rights less (as proxied by my landlord) than my neighbor who owns an underwater house? [EDIT] When I go down to the polling station on election day, I assure you my rights are equal.

edit OK I misunderstood. skip this post :) Yes, of course. Starting with the obvious, your landlord could just throw you out. Your agreement almost certainly prevents you from making significant changes to the structure of the building. You can't sell the property. Your rights are much, much less than your neighbor.

"As proxied BY my landlord"

I am speaking of my rights in the community, not to the property. That is, should there be a speed bump on the street, should a WalMart be allowed to build on the condemned lot around the corner.

Re: DIY B&B

#47

Post by jaems33 »

sp332 wrote: post #40
tgrass wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a father, and I rent. Are my rights less (as proxied by my landlord) than my neighbor who owns an underwater house? [EDIT] When I go down to the polling station on election day, I assure you my rights are equal.

edit OK I misunderstood. skip this post :) Yes, of course. Starting with the obvious, your landlord could just throw you out. Your agreement almost certainly prevents you from making significant changes to the structure of the building. You can't sell the property. Your rights are much, much less than your neighbor.

Indeed. Not to mention a lot of agreements specifically state that the renter is not to sublet their apartment. If the person doesn't like it, just find a landlord willing to allow it.

Re: DIY B&B

#48

Post by mseebach »

arahuja wrote: post #30
Unoeufisenough wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about consumer protection. That's just a smoke screen. It's entirely about government revenue. Municipal taxes, sales taxes and government fees. Hotels and taxis and the like have to pay them and AirBnB and private rental models typically don't. By disrupting these models, these new services cut off revenues to cities and make it harder to justify the high taxes they milk the traditional businesses and touri…

This is a very different situation in NYC. 1) Most people live in apartments, therefore a person who is an approved tenant is now inviting an un-approved tenant to take there place, giving them access to the building and common areas. 2) More importantly most NYC apartment buildings are co-ops and not condos. They are usually selective about owners and have appropriate sublet policy. Most Air BnB type sites would vio…

What you are talking about are private contracts - breach of contract is not a crime. The article is about the government persecuting AirBnB renters as criminals, and specifically refers to the protagonist as a homeowner.

Re: DIY B&B

#49

Post by mhurron »

cletus wrote: post #26

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the negative reaction to this here. The HN demographic is presumably tilted towards young men. What those criticisms seem to be neglecting is that those--particularly for apartment buildings--these temporary visitors impact beyond just you. In Australia, for example, one useful metric used by people when assessing apartment buildings to buy in is to look at the ratio of owner-occup…

> Would people feel the same way if someone was operating a brothel in their house or apartment? After all, it's their property and they can do with it as they please right? What about operating a bar or a club?

That's the way you're going to go with it? Why don't you try it. You'll find that those issues are actually already handled by local laws in most places.

Re: DIY B&B

#50

Post by rprasad »

makmanalp wrote: post #10
blaines wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to take my couch offline because my HOA threatened to fine me. No more visitors, no more foreign friends. :( It seems the first wave of enforcement has come from HOAs, I've heard of various people having to remove their listing for that reason. [1] Now it appears, according to the article above, municipal authorities are pushing back. Could this be a result of lobbying from hotels? Vacation rentals is not a new…

HOAs make me want to puke. Why did you agree to join anyway?

The HOA for a condo generally covers building maintenance, insurance, and other necessary costs that are shared by all of the units in the complex. Thus, if you buy a condo, you do not have a choice about joining the HOA unless you buy the entire complex (meaning the building and all the units*).
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