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Unbundling Airbnb

peterfabor.com

1–10 of 148 posts

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#2
What’s funny is that in France we had various alternatives to Airbnb for so long before Airbnb that Americans are completely baffled by the choice when they learn of them.

Actual upscale bnb? Gîtes de France.

I’m coming with 20-30 friends -> gîtes pour groupes, you’ll get an industrial kitchen and dormitories.

Those things existed long before the internet.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#3
or you can up-bundle airbnb. I would like to be able to pick "2 years in " as a package that includes everything from home to food/gym/car etc

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#5
post #4
post #3

or you can up-bundle airbnb. I would like to be able to pick "2 years in " as a package that includes everything from home to food/gym/car etc

You mean real estate agent?

Never rent through a real estate agent. You're at a disadvantage, they're too good at screwing tenants.

Look at it objectively: two people have to be able to make a profit off of you in this arrangement (the owner and their realtor) and both of those margins will be pretty fat since neither of them is a long-term employee of the other, like you'd see in an apartment complex with an on-site manager.

Real estate agents are always on the landowner's side. Just accept this and the whole system will make more sense (this goes for buying or selling a house too).

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#6
post #4
post #3

or you can up-bundle airbnb. I would like to be able to pick "2 years in " as a package that includes everything from home to food/gym/car etc

You mean real estate agent?

I'm going to go for personal assistant in this case.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#8
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean real estate agent?

Never rent through a real estate agent. You're at a disadvantage, they're too good at screwing tenants. Look at it objectively: two people have to be able to make a profit off of you in this arrangement (the owner and their realtor) and both of those margins will be pretty fat since neither of them is a long-term employee of the other, like you'd see in an apartment complex with an on-site manager. Real estate agents…

This has not been my experience as a renter and as an owner. The realtor's margins for renting are quite low, which means they try to make things as smooth as possible for everyone, to minimize their work: in particular, they try to get the house/apartment rented as soon as possible, to make as few visits as possible; the also have an interest in the tenant staying the longest time possible. As always, I guess it depends on your real estate agent, though!

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#9
post #2

What’s funny is that in France we had various alternatives to Airbnb for so long before Airbnb that Americans are completely baffled by the choice when they learn of them. Actual upscale bnb? Gîtes de France. I’m coming with 20-30 friends -> gîtes pour groupes, you’ll get an industrial kitchen and dormitories. Those things existed long before the internet.

(As someone whose family has often hired gites for holidays) Airbnb just offers simplicity and centralisation over the previous offerings. Less regular gite-hirers might not know of the precise businesses to go to, to hire a gite.

Taxis existed before Uber; but it was the app (handling location, real-time updates, and seamless payment) that changed things.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#10
post #2

What’s funny is that in France we had various alternatives to Airbnb for so long before Airbnb that Americans are completely baffled by the choice when they learn of them. Actual upscale bnb? Gîtes de France. I’m coming with 20-30 friends -> gîtes pour groupes, you’ll get an industrial kitchen and dormitories. Those things existed long before the internet.

One contributor to Airbnb's success was making things like this accessible to international travelers. It's that whole "live like a local" vibe.
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