I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb • Hacker News Board

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#301

Post by numbsafari » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 4:03 AM UTC

jorgem wrote: post #281

numbsafari wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because many of those who are renting out apartments in this manner are doing so without a "hotel license", charging the appropriate hotel taxes or otherwise abiding by laws put in place to preserve the rights of neighbors. You could probably argue that they are most peeved about not getting the hotel taxes.

>> laws put in place to preserve the rights of neighbors. Sure about that?

If you lived in a high-rise condo and paid go money to do so, and the two places on either side of you started being rented out to random people who were there one week and gone the next, how would you feel?

As others have pointed out, residential zoning laws aren't generally the product of corporate malfeasance. Usually they are there to help combat it. That's what NIMBYism is all about.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#302

Post by donutdan4114 » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 4:15 AM UTC

shawnee_ wrote: post #296

Find a great property manager / cleaner -- Without one of these doing this remotely would be impossible. I managed to find a great local cleaner on craigslist. She charges a flat fee of $200 per month which covers unlimited cleanings. And she's probably illegal . . . But even if she's not illegal, how can this "property manager" live with himself, taking advantage of people who don't "know" enough (whether of the lan…

It's not like the cleaner is working 40 hours / week at this guy's place. Depending on how the booking is for the month, she might have to go in and do some cleanup like 10 times per month. Combine her tasks like laundry with other clients to optimize time usage and she can probably handle 20 clients / month.

You made so many assumptions about this guy.. Don't try and assume...

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#303

Post by cft » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 4:24 AM UTC

shawnee_ wrote: post #296

Find a great property manager / cleaner -- Without one of these doing this remotely would be impossible. I managed to find a great local cleaner on craigslist. She charges a flat fee of $200 per month which covers unlimited cleanings. And she's probably illegal . . . But even if she's not illegal, how can this "property manager" live with himself, taking advantage of people who don't "know" enough (whether of the lan…

Just out of curiousity what about pre 1913, when there was no income tax and no minimum wages? Were all those people exploited? Was that all immoral or illegal? It was then that the American wealth was created, at the rates that seem incredible now?

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#304

Post by nsxwolf » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 4:59 AM UTC

shawnee_ wrote: post #296

Find a great property manager / cleaner -- Without one of these doing this remotely would be impossible. I managed to find a great local cleaner on craigslist. She charges a flat fee of $200 per month which covers unlimited cleanings. And she's probably illegal . . . But even if she's not illegal, how can this "property manager" live with himself, taking advantage of people who don't "know" enough (whether of the lan…

Frankly, it's a little offensive to assume these people are being taken advantage of and don't have any idea. It's entirely possible they know exactly what is going on, and don't need a galant white savior to tell them how oppressed they are.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#305

Post by gotrecruit » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 4:59 AM UTC

jongold wrote: post #185

jcdavis wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it makes you feel any better (I'm sure it won't), folks in San Francisco and New York face similar. Las Vegas is somewhat unique in having low housing prices coupled with a huge tourist market which makes such a setup workable.

Well, it makes me see the appeal of the Vegas tech scene ;)

as far as i'm concerned, though, is that other than zappos... there really isn't that much of a tech scene there. tony hsieh has been trying to develop one, and has put a lot of his own money behind it, but honestly i doubt it's going to work.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#306

Post by geofft » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 5:22 AM UTC

cft wrote: post #303

shawnee_ wrote: post #296

Find a great property manager / cleaner -- Without one of these doing this remotely would be impossible. I managed to find a great local cleaner on craigslist. She charges a flat fee of $200 per month which covers unlimited cleanings. And she's probably illegal . . . But even if she's not illegal, how can this "property manager" live with himself, taking advantage of people who don't "know" enough (whether of the lan…

Just out of curiousity what about pre 1913, when there was no income tax and no minimum wages? Were all those people exploited? Was that all immoral or illegal? It was then that the American wealth was created, at the rates that seem incredible now?

I think you would be hard-pressed to argue that large parts of the American wealth before 1863 were not created immorally. 1913 is not very much later.

Maybe you're being sarcastic, though, since _The Jungle_ was published in 1906.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#307

Post by sausman » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 5:26 AM UTC

shawnee_ wrote: post #296

Find a great property manager / cleaner -- Without one of these doing this remotely would be impossible. I managed to find a great local cleaner on craigslist. She charges a flat fee of $200 per month which covers unlimited cleanings. And she's probably illegal . . . But even if she's not illegal, how can this "property manager" live with himself, taking advantage of people who don't "know" enough (whether of the lan…

If he's offering $200/mo and she accepts, it's the best she can get. If she were being offered more by someone else I imagine she "knows" enough to determine the bigger of two numbers and accept the better offer. Her options range from $0/mo to $200/mo. You think her best option, the one she chose, should be taken away by force because after reading a blog post you know how to make better life decisions for her? I find that morally objectionable.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#308

Post by gotrecruit » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 5:27 AM UTC

acuozzo wrote: post #152

I still don't "get" Airbnb. How can anyone be comfortable letting a complete stranger into their home? I'd freak out if someone were to start fiddling with my electronics, perusing my Laserdisc collection, etc.

i think the idea is that you do not keep valuables or expensive things in the apartment when there are guests there. either that, or perhaps you also live in there at the same time and only rent out a room or a couch, thus mitigating some of the risks as well.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#309

Post by kordless » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 5:27 AM UTC

shawnee_ wrote: post #296

Find a great property manager / cleaner -- Without one of these doing this remotely would be impossible. I managed to find a great local cleaner on craigslist. She charges a flat fee of $200 per month which covers unlimited cleanings. And she's probably illegal . . . But even if she's not illegal, how can this "property manager" live with himself, taking advantage of people who don't "know" enough (whether of the lan…

As others are pointing out, your original comment is rife with blaming statements: "probably illegal", "live with himself", "people who don't know", "everything that is wrong". If you don't understand what that means, it means you are making up shit and saying it for someone else. How about doing a real analysis on this?

The screenshot had $90 a night with 13 nights highlighted. Assume $100 so I can do math late, and 16 nights rented a month. Assume blocks of stays, say 3 days average each (it's Vegas) and that means you get 4-5 'stays' by visitors a month. That's a one bedroom apartment, free of personal clutter - it would probably take 2 hours tops to travel to and clean it up with one person. Do that 4 times a month and that's ~8 hours of work for someone a month. Washing sheets at home is easy - takes me 30 minutes of my time to do a load of laundry and fold it.

200/9 hours = $22 an hour. This 3 times minimum wage in Nevada.

Re: I Bought An Apartment To Rent Out On Airbnb

#310

Post by DominicaW » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 5:30 AM UTC

bluedino wrote: post #98

Just buy houses in Flint or some other lowly rust-belt city. Buy the property for $5,000, fix it up a little (wait to see why) and then find a renter for $700/month. If you're lucky they'll be section 8 so you don't really even have to worry about them skipping out on the rent. Worst case you spend a few months evicting them and then spend a couple grand fixing it up after the house is completely trashed from piles o…

When software engineers discover that they could be slumlords: LOL.