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Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

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461–470 of 736 posts

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#461
post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The next time you try to enter or leave Japan after staying for 90 days, they would ask you how you are able to stay 3 months without working. If you cannot show significant savings, then you would get deported and banned for 10 years. Happens all the time.

Does it really happen all the time? Any references to this happening all the time? Because to me it seems like border patrol doesn't have the authority to check your bank account or demand that you "show significant savings". Sure they can refuse to let you in but does it really happen all the time?

I've seen a student required to show a bank balance and withdraw sufficient money before being granted a tourist visa for a different country. (He was in front of me in the queue.)

The UK requires some visitors to show bank statements when applying for a visa.

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#462
post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever heard of locals? You can't imagine how much better Rome has been in these last two years without Americans coming to colonize our historical districts. It's not entirely Americans fault, they do not belong here, don't know the language, the traditions, but they gather together all in the same place and suddenly it's not Rome anymore and obviously prices skyrocket up to the point that locals can't afford to live…

But this isn’t something you can just blame on tech workers. Big cities go through this constantly not only from tech expats but also from better paid local workers.

> Big cities go through this constantly

No, they don't.

Ask someone from Rome, Barcelona, Madrid even Warsaw, if they are happy of this airbnb-ization of their cities. [1]

Anyway, cities are for citizens, not for freeloaders. [2]

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/31/airbnb...

[2] The word city and the related civilization come from the Latin root civitas, originally meaning 'citizenship' or 'community member'

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I did. The whole point is that I wasn't just a one-or-two-day ghost. I lived in these places for as I said 3-6 months (in one case almost a year). So I knew my neighbors, and treated them as I would neighbors in any other apartment I rented as a regular tenant. [edit] I should just add that I'm as embarrassed to make noise or screw with anyone's living space as a homeowner as I was as a tenant. I could make $400…

What it is that leads you to believe the 3-6 months thing is so significant? There are (a very small proportion of) AirBnB guests who are awful. There are (a very small proportion of) longer-term tenants who are awful. At least with AirBnB, the awful guests are gone after a couple of nights. I know some AirBnBs are used as party destinations, and that's different -- but it's a problem with those hosts, not with the p…

There's no magical cutoff at 3-6 months, but the game theory is that the longer the relationship, the more of a repeated game there is, and the less socially destructive things you'll likely do.

If I'm going to live with a neighbor for ten years, in addition to purely friendly reasons, I'm going to say hi to her and get to know her. Whereas at a hotel I'm overnighting at, if I'm not in a chatty mood, I don't see the reason to oblige a neighbor's request for a 20 minute chat.

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#464
post #458

>Most companies don’t do this because of the mountain of complexities with taxes, payroll, and time zone availability, but I hope we can open-source a solution so other companies can offer this flexibility as well. I think this is a genius growth play for Airbnb. Make it easier for _other_ companies to operate in a similar way so that _their_ employees can travel and live in an... Airbnb! Next, they should lobby to g…

> I think everyone wins here. One theory I have (and it may be wrong): is that part of the rise we've seen in housing prices is due to WFH and AirBnB. Lots of people I've worked with who were WFH in the pandemic would spend a week (or a month) in a rental while they work, here and there. And during that time, their house/apartment would be empty. Imagine everyone does that for (say) 3 weeks a year. That's a 6% increa…

What about the reduction in office space usage that will have to be repurposed into something else?

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you have any thoughts about the home owners around you while you were doing the same thing?

Yes, I did. The whole point is that I wasn't just a one-or-two-day ghost. I lived in these places for as I said 3-6 months (in one case almost a year). So I knew my neighbors, and treated them as I would neighbors in any other apartment I rented as a regular tenant. [edit] I should just add that I'm as embarrassed to make noise or screw with anyone's living space as a homeowner as I was as a tenant. I could make $400…

Can you tell me more about what you mean by "airbnb jerks have subjected me to" ?

Honestly, my family and I use airbnb pretty frequently, and I would like to think that we're considerate guests... but, maybe there's something we're missing? What makes the guests next-door to you bad ones (or great ones) ?

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#466

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, unless your country has a special arrangement with the country you are visiting, you cannot work with a tourist visa, at all. Does not matter if the company is local or not. No work visa = no work.

This is a legal loophole for digital nomads. If I am connected to my work via a VPN, I am technically still working in the country of employment. I am not producing any commercial output in the country I am staying that I or my employer benefits from beneficially. I am 100% confident this has been reviewed by well paid lawyers at AirBnb who have zero sense of adventure, and that this is all water tight.

> If I am connected to my work via a VPN, I am technically still working in the country of employment.

I hope this is sarcasm. A VPN is a technical detail that would never stand up, legally. The only situation where I can see a VPN being useful is within your own company: if they don't want you working remotely a VPN might help cover up the fact that you are. But aside from that it won't help you.

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#467
post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's almost impossible to purchase a house if you live and work in a large city now. Airbnb "hosts" use their ever growing stream of reverse mortgages to purchase more and more single family homes at cash offers over what others can afford.

Do you think this is an primarily caused by Airbnb?

No, property management companies already did this to a limited extent - but airbnb has made it easy enough that it has reached a critical mass level resulting in home prices spiraling out of control to the point that homes are now relisted 6 months later at even 100% markup or greater.

The problem here in Atlanta is so bad that the core city has now banned airbnb without an explicit permit. We are hoping that gets adopted across the metro area.

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#468

I'm kinda of curious how this works if you are remote: "Most of you should expect to gather in person every quarter for about a week at a time. Some roles, especially senior roles, will be expected to gather more often. We’ll do our best to define windows when most large team off-sites will occur and give you plenty of notice so you can make it work with personal and family plans." Is this like just plan to be in the…

A week of travel a quarter is not at all unusual for a lot of professional jobs including people with families. In fact, for a fair number of jobs, that would be considered not a lot of travel.

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#469
post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think everyone wins here. One theory I have (and it may be wrong): is that part of the rise we've seen in housing prices is due to WFH and AirBnB. Lots of people I've worked with who were WFH in the pandemic would spend a week (or a month) in a rental while they work, here and there. And during that time, their house/apartment would be empty. Imagine everyone does that for (say) 3 weeks a year. That's a 6% increa…

What about the reduction in office space usage that will have to be repurposed into something else?

Office buildings are typically not suitable for conversion into apartments, there are no provisions for things like individual bathrooms or kitchens.

Re: Airbnb’s design to live and work anywhere

#470
post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think everyone wins here. One theory I have (and it may be wrong): is that part of the rise we've seen in housing prices is due to WFH and AirBnB. Lots of people I've worked with who were WFH in the pandemic would spend a week (or a month) in a rental while they work, here and there. And during that time, their house/apartment would be empty. Imagine everyone does that for (say) 3 weeks a year. That's a 6% increa…

What about the reduction in office space usage that will have to be repurposed into something else?

Commercial leases can't be repurposed that quickly, and I suspect a lot of companies are holding off on doing anything different with their office space. If the past two years have resulted in permanent change, then some office space will likely get repurposed, but it's too early to tell whether it's permanent, and nobody wants to jump the gun and get it wrong.
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