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I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

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Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#42
post #13

If enough people do this it will be the end of Airbnb. This is one of the patterns the state of NY is using against Airbnb while Airbnb is arguing that the service is intended for people occasionally renting out their primary residence. If the state is able to prove a significant number of people used this model Airbnb is done in NY and I fear other states will follow.

I'm not that familiar with the Airbnb situation in NY. Why is this a "bad" pattern that NY state has deemed to be a violation of the law?

I'm not intimately familiar with the legal landscape, but in short I think its because a) the myriad laws governing personal property are much different than those governing commercial property b) significant part of AirBNB's model ignores consumer protection laws.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the HOA finds out he's breaking the terms that he agreed to when purchasing the condo, they'll fine him per offense. Then get a lean on the apartment.

Nitpick: lien. But yes, if I'm a neighbor there and I find out this is going on, I get angry.

Condo associations usually allow only a certain percentage of apartments to be rented. If too many units are rented, a buyer won't be able to get a mortgage. And most prohibit short term leasing.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#45
post #13

If enough people do this it will be the end of Airbnb. This is one of the patterns the state of NY is using against Airbnb while Airbnb is arguing that the service is intended for people occasionally renting out their primary residence. If the state is able to prove a significant number of people used this model Airbnb is done in NY and I fear other states will follow.

I'm not that familiar with the Airbnb situation in NY. Why is this a "bad" pattern that NY state has deemed to be a violation of the law?

There are a number of reasons. Most states have laws regarding how temporary rental properties (otherwise known as hotels) are zoned. You can't suddenly turn a building zoned for residential use into a hotel without getting it re-zoned.

Also, NY specifically worries that it will change the local housing market. If investors buy up enough local properties and turn them into mini hotels, locals may be priced out of these neighbourhoods and those neighbourhoods will in turn suffer.

Plus there are the complaints from the locals. Having a neighbour rent out their place to tourists a couple of times a year is not a big deal, but if it happens every single week it gets annoying. You never know who is coming and going and they aren't always all that worried about noise, garbage, etc.

And just to clarify, I think the state is right to be concerned about these issues. But at the same time I would hate to lose the ability for someone to put their primary residence on a site like Airbnb a couple of times a year. This helps visitors and the residents without significantly hurting anything else in the equation. Things only start to turn sour when enough people create dedicated Airbnb properties as investments.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#46
post #13

If enough people do this it will be the end of Airbnb. This is one of the patterns the state of NY is using against Airbnb while Airbnb is arguing that the service is intended for people occasionally renting out their primary residence. If the state is able to prove a significant number of people used this model Airbnb is done in NY and I fear other states will follow.

I'm not that familiar with the Airbnb situation in NY. Why is this a "bad" pattern that NY state has deemed to be a violation of the law?

In general, tenant / landlord relationships are heavily regulated - legal objections to AirBnB style rentals (pretty reasonably, in my opinion) claim that anyone who has a unit that is primarily a rental for tenants is a landlord, and should be subjected to all the regulations typically defined in that relationship - a different situation than someone who is going to be away for a few weeks renting out their own personal residence during that temporary time.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#47

It’s possible to find a nice apartment in a major city for less than $50,000. The place I found was in Las Vegas and it cost $40,000. Wow, I had no idea things were that good/bad. Here in the UK, I deliberately choose to live in a cheap part of the country and you'd still be talking $120k or so for an equivalent 1 bed flat. This really illustrates to me why efforts to turn various areas in the US into "mini Silicon V…

I think you exaggerate. zoopla and some research gives me (all city centre addresses): Manchester - £55K+ Leeds - £70K+ Birmingham - £45K+ Hull - 50K Bristol - 100K Norwich - 70K etc. If you're happy with a small village then I think you can find even cheaper.

You're talking in terms of pounds, $100k is approximately £63k. I'm inclined to agree with the parent here, good luck finding a place in a decent area in Manchester for less than £100k.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#48
post #13

If enough people do this it will be the end of Airbnb. This is one of the patterns the state of NY is using against Airbnb while Airbnb is arguing that the service is intended for people occasionally renting out their primary residence. If the state is able to prove a significant number of people used this model Airbnb is done in NY and I fear other states will follow.

I'm not that familiar with the Airbnb situation in NY. Why is this a "bad" pattern that NY state has deemed to be a violation of the law?

NY wants to protect the classic hotel business. Hotels and building owners need to take care of all kind of legal and administrative procedures, including security considerations for their users. Airbnb apartment owners are now competing for free with those business.

Not saying i agree, but that's the main motivation behind of Airbnb regulations, in NY and other places.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#50
post #3

Thanks for this, I wondered what the details might be like. I don't suppose you've had the County come after you for occupancy tax yet have you? While in general there are a lot of hotel rooms in Vegas (something like over 140,000) the hotels are a pretty strong political block and have been a thorn in the side of some folks who went the VRBO route.

Hotel stays in Vegas are also very cheap. I'm rather surprised he gets a price that lets this work.
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