Live data from Hacker News

Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

sfgate.com

31–40 of 107 posts

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#31
post #21
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and airbnb really doesnt care about this or they would take further steps to ensure that their rentors have the authority to rent the place. they say they do, but they don't. without renters i think airbnb would be in trouble..how many homeowners really want strangers coming in and out of their home regularly?

There's a category of homeowners like that: vacation home owners who DO explocitly want people coming in and out and paying.

we are talking about homeowners who own a 2nd home and in many cases, have bought it expecting to rent it out at least part of the time. they went into that purchase with the mindset of sharing with strangers. i would be very interested in using airbnb if i owned a vacation home.

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#32
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and airbnb really doesnt care about this or they would take further steps to ensure that their rentors have the authority to rent the place. they say they do, but they don't. without renters i think airbnb would be in trouble..how many homeowners really want strangers coming in and out of their home regularly?

"how many homeowners really want strangers coming in and out of their home regularly?" Everyone who runs a Bed and Breakfast business from their home? (In the UK this sector is huge ).

"Everyone who runs a Bed and Breakfast business from their home? (In the UK this sector is huge)."

"everyone" and "huge" - can you put some #s or %s behind this statement? is it 5% of the homeowner population?

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#33
post #10

Much of the criticism of Airbnb in this article seems to stem from renters "subletting" their apartments to vacationers. Why does Airbnb allow renters to list their apartments on Airbnb at all? In virtually no case does a renter have a lease that permits Airbnb-style listings; the boilerplate lease that virtually everyone works from requires landlord approval for each subletter. It seems unconscionable to rent an apa…

Not all landlords have leases, credit checks, or references. What about those cases?

You just knew someone was going to come in here pointing out that they knew of a landlord that drafted their lease on the back of a used Kleenex. Well. I stand corrected, then.

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#34
post #31
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a category of homeowners like that: vacation home owners who DO explocitly want people coming in and out and paying.

we are talking about homeowners who own a 2nd home and in many cases, have bought it expecting to rent it out at least part of the time. they went into that purchase with the mindset of sharing with strangers. i would be very interested in using airbnb if i owned a vacation home.

This practice is part of the problem. It is bidding up the cost of apartments for locals who need a place to live.

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#35

Two of my coworkers are in SF right now for WWDC, having flown there from Europe, and their AirBnB host was just handed an eviction notice for subletting - they have to leave immediately. So this article feels extremely ... timely. And I'll be in SF in 2 weeks for Google IO, also staying with an AirBnB host. Not the kind of article I want to read before flying out there :-)

I had that happen to me, subletting an apartment for two months outside of AirBnB. (We were taking over an apartment of friends of friends while they were in France.) So, a few days after the house was broken into and our laptops were stolen, the landlord (from Germany) found out we were there and we had an hour to get out. Since then, I've been very wary about subletting unless everything is above board.

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#36
I can say as someone who moved to New York two weeks ago and hoped that AirBnB would allow me to find a good temp place that i feel pretty critical towards the experience.

The prices are insane. I paid 3300USD for a shitty studio in China Town for a month.

I am ok with paying a lot of money for a place and I know NY well enough to know it's expensive.

But people who get only profit from subletting and pumping up the prices by a factor 2x-3x should not be allowed onto the platform.

Of course Airbnb don't really care because they get a percentage of the transaction.

So great idea but pretty shitty service at least in NY.

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#37
post #10

Much of the criticism of Airbnb in this article seems to stem from renters "subletting" their apartments to vacationers. Why does Airbnb allow renters to list their apartments on Airbnb at all? In virtually no case does a renter have a lease that permits Airbnb-style listings; the boilerplate lease that virtually everyone works from requires landlord approval for each subletter. It seems unconscionable to rent an apa…

All of this is true, it is unethical and illegal. But it is also true, that in cities like San Francisco and NYC (especially SF-Co) rents are absurdly high, and landlords care nothing other than making the most of it. My previous two landlords forced me to pay only cash for rent, and I know many other landlords do the same, and cheat on taxes.

In one place I went, they wanted 450$ for "application fee and credit check", and it was not even a luxury apartment, wasn't in Manhattan or any high rent place.

I am not defending any party here - just pointing out, noone in this mess is totally ethical.

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#38
post #37
post #10

Much of the criticism of Airbnb in this article seems to stem from renters "subletting" their apartments to vacationers. Why does Airbnb allow renters to list their apartments on Airbnb at all? In virtually no case does a renter have a lease that permits Airbnb-style listings; the boilerplate lease that virtually everyone works from requires landlord approval for each subletter. It seems unconscionable to rent an apa…

All of this is true, it is unethical and illegal. But it is also true, that in cities like San Francisco and NYC (especially SF-Co) rents are absurdly high, and landlords care nothing other than making the most of it. My previous two landlords forced me to pay only cash for rent, and I know many other landlords do the same, and cheat on taxes. In one place I went, they wanted 450$ for "application fee and credit chec…

What about the legitimate tenants in the building?

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#39
post #31
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a category of homeowners like that: vacation home owners who DO explocitly want people coming in and out and paying.

we are talking about homeowners who own a 2nd home and in many cases, have bought it expecting to rent it out at least part of the time. they went into that purchase with the mindset of sharing with strangers. i would be very interested in using airbnb if i owned a vacation home.

I am my sister in-law both do this. It's a great way to purchase a vacation home and off-set the cost. Just make sure you financially plan for the worst and hope for the best :)

Re: Short-term rentals disrupting SF housing market

#40

I can say as someone who moved to New York two weeks ago and hoped that AirBnB would allow me to find a good temp place that i feel pretty critical towards the experience. The prices are insane. I paid 3300USD for a shitty studio in China Town for a month. I am ok with paying a lot of money for a place and I know NY well enough to know it's expensive. But people who get only profit from subletting and pumping up the…

Well there are places on Craigslist you probably could've found cheaper in Chinatown of all places. But studio apartments in general are expensive in a place like

Secondly, Airbnb does have plenty of shared places in Queens and Brooklyn that go for less than seventy bucks a day, and studios that would be closer to 2k.

Post reply on HN