AirBNB?

J Pwrote:

Weird, that sounds like one step forward, two steps back. If ADUs can't be used for Airbnbs, then doesn't that shift the demand to regular (non-ADU) homes? 

It gets super convoluted for sure. The City wants to support homeowners that build a rental unit on their owner-occupied property and rent it out for full year leases. They have a rule that you can't make more than your estimated annual rent in short term rentals (!) I think they want to drive visitors to hotels instead of Air BnB's. The demand for buying new homes is insane right now exacerbated by people who can work from home and the houses lost in the fire at the end of last year. 

I've never had a bad airbnb or vrbo stay and I have used it frequently instead of hotels

I've always been super squirrelly about AirBNB and have never used it. When you arrive and there's a major issue, I know a hotel's response, including finding lodging elsewhere. What's my recourse with AirBNB?

David Housewrote:

It gets super convoluted for sure. The City wants to support homeowners that build a rental unit on their owner-occupied property and rent it out for full year leases. They have a rule that you can't make more than your estimated annual rent in short term rentals (!) I think they want to drive visitors to hotels instead of Air BnB's. The demand for buying new homes is insane right now exacerbated by people who can work from home and the houses lost in the fire at the end of last year. 

That and airBNB is one of the reasons the housing market is all jacked up right now, especially in vacation destinations 

Marc801 Cwrote:

I've always been super squirrelly about AirBNB and have never used it. When you arrive and there's a major issue, I know a hotel's response, including finding lodging elsewhere. What's my recourse with AirBNB?

We use it all the time for travel, especially in Europe.  We've bailed on places that were less than optimal for us and were so cheap I didn't care about the money ($20 per night for a spot on Hvar in Croatia).  We just left and found a great rental at a tourist info place.  Prefer to have a bit more room than a hotel.

VRBO has also been a good option for us.  

Marc801 Cwrote:

I've always been super squirrelly about AirBNB and have never used it. When you arrive and there's a major issue, I know a hotel's response, including finding lodging elsewhere. What's my recourse with AirBNB?

My family owns a short term vacation rental near the beach that is marketed at times through both VRBO and AirBNB. Your recourse is probably the same as a hotel, assuming you booked with a credit card and read the fine print. Our manager is on call all the time and comes out at all hours to fix anything that goes wrong. I'm sure there are shitty operations, too, just like there are shitty hotels. Reviews and history mean a lot. 

Marc801 Cwrote:

I've always been super squirrelly about AirBNB and have never used it. When you arrive and there's a major issue, I know a hotel's response, including finding lodging elsewhere. What's my recourse with AirBNB?

I don’t know about Airbnb but with Vrbo you’re shit out of luck if the host cancels on you. It happened to me 3 days prior to arrival to the rental. Messed up our plans for sure. And since we didn’t stay at the place, you can’t leave a review. Which made me wonder about the accuracy of reviews on Vrbo or Airbnb 

Fehim Hasecicwrote:

Which made me wonder about the accuracy of reviews on Vrbo or Airbnb 

Not sure on Vrbo but Airbnb automatically posts a review for you if the host cancels. It leaves a review that says something like, “Cancelled by host X number of days before arrival”

I have had great times in AIRBNB rentals and I made some money by renting out properties through them.   But then the house across the street became a constant short term rental.  Now I support efforts to ban all short term rentals.  Consider that even if short term renters are not particularly offensive the presence of new people in a neighborhood always throws things off.   Regardless of eccentricities, regular neighbors become understood entities.  You know when they come and go or when they do their crazy musical performance in their yards, so you get used to it.  When there are different people every night or two across the street from you, you end up being on high alert all the time.  When things change in your immediate surroundings and especially your home area, your attention naturally spins up and you check out what is going on.  Home should be a place where the neighbors’ habits are pretty regular, however weird.   Don’t support Airbnb.  

J Awrote:

I have had great times in AIRBNB rentals and I made some money by renting out properties through them.   But then the house across the street became a constant short term rental.  Now I support efforts to ban all short term rentals.  Consider that even if short term renters are not particularly offensive the presence of new people in a neighborhood always throws things off.   Regardless of eccentricities, regular neighbors become understood entities.  You know when they come and go or when they do their crazy musical performance in their yards, so you get used to it.  When there are different people every night or two across the street from you, you end up being on high alert all the time.  When things change in your immediate surroundings and especially your home area, your attention naturally spins up and you check out what is going on.  Home should be a place where the neighbors’ habits are pretty regular, however weird.   Don’t support Airbnb.  

Alt perspective: I live near the beach in Santa Monica, where short term vacation rentals are banned. On my block there are at least 8 houses that sit mostly empty and are only used once in a while by out of town owners. Personally, I'd rather see people getting some use out of these beach houses via AirBnB and the owners making a little extra cash. I don't buy the idea that consistency is better than variety, too. I've had long-term asshole neighbors before and there's no getting used to certain things. 

Andrew Ricewrote:

Alt perspective: I live near the beach in Santa Monica, where short term vacation rentals are banned. On my block there are at least 8 houses that sit mostly empty and are only used once in a while by out of town owners. Personally, I'd rather see people getting some use out of these beach houses via AirBnB and the owners making a little extra cash. I don't buy the idea that consistency is better than variety, too. I've had long-term asshole neighbors before and there's no getting used to certain things. 

Alt Perspective: I have enough money to buy a home that I will use only once or twice a year. I have no desire to make money off my mtn house, nor beach house, as I don't need/ want to. I do want my really nice house to stay really nice without dealing with ugly renters.

In my neighborhoods, neighbors are spectacular and the consistency makes these neighborhoods stay relevant in the housing market.

x15x15wrote:

Alt Perspective: I have enough money to buy a home that I will use only once or twice a year. I have no desire to make money off my mtn house, nor beach house, as I don't need/ want to. I do want my really nice house to stay really nice without dealing with ugly renters.

In my neighborhoods, neighbors are spectacular and the consistency makes these neighborhoods stay relevant in the housing market.

Obviously have have the right to do whatever you want with your home. Nobody is making someone else AirBnB. Don't you live in Idyllwild? The whole place is weekenders. 

J Awrote:

Don’t support Airbnb.  

Homeowners who make income from AirBnB may not agree with you.  I spent a couple of weeks in the small fishing village of Leonidio, Greece a couple of years ago.  My 3 bedroom place which I shared with friends was the home of a middle-aged couple who moved into the lower apt of the building for our stay.  My landlord Gregory gave me the impression that climbing and AirBnBs have brought very welcome influx of money into the town.  Similarly, during a stay in Lucca, Italy, we stayed in a little converted apt on the lower level of a big old house.  I spoke with the landlord/owners and they seemed very happy about the situation and enjoyed meeting people from all over the world.  I once stayed in a very nice 2 bedroom condo near Fleet St in London.  The owner and his family, who live in Malaysia, Boston, elsewhere use their London place themselves but rent it out on a very part-time basis.  That owner was great - invited us to come and stay with him for free at his home in Malaysia anytime we wanted to visit!  

There are bad things happening in some places but it's not all bad, all places.

Andrew Ricewrote:

Obviously have have the right to do whatever you want with your home. Nobody is making someone else AirBnB. Don't you live in Idyllwild? The whole place is weekenders. 

Heck no. My folks finally sold their homes on the hill a few years ago. The weekenders are a pain that I am glad I no longer have to deal with. But squatters can be a huge nuisance on the hill, especially if one happens to take up residence in the house next door!

No one is making someone else rent out their home, but the calculus of low mortgage rates and easy rental income is driving up prices.

x15x15wrote:

Heck no. My folks finally sold their homes on the hill a few years ago. The weekenders are a pain that I am glad I no longer have to deal with. But squatters can be a huge nuisance on the hill, especially if one happens to take up residence in the house next door!

Yo! I just saw this and want to see how you and Jack are doing these days. Not to create thread drift, you guys should come up to Kernville for a visit and romp out to Church Dome (The Needle is limited gig since last years fire. Anyway, come on up and stay at my house. Climber discount fo sho! Same goes for you phylip....   :)

Yellow Jacket Retreat (Kernville)

I've used AirBNB in Costa Rica, Belize, Ecuador, Galapagos, Maine & New Hampshire USA, Nova Scotia. So far, always have had good experiences with the hosts.

Hotel personnel recommend restaurants and places they often have a financial arrangement with. AirBNB hosts recommend their personal favorites. I've gotten good recommendations for restaurants (Belize, Costa Rica),  places to rent kayaks (Nova Scotia), best tour guides (Galapagos). 

It pays to be friendly. In Costa Rica I helped our host repair the lock on his driveway gate. He then took us to a favorite rainforest waterfall/swimming hole he used to go to as a kid. We had a blast and would never have found it or even know about it on our own.

The AirBnb across the street from me that I can't stand, is renting for $263 a night plus all the fees.  We aren't really in a convenient location to access a lot of things.  I don't get why someone would spend $300 a night for someone's spare bedroom when that will get you a very nice hotel room.  Plus, renters just might encounter an angry neighbor harassing them if they walk around the area.  

Tzilla Rapdrillawrote:

The AirBnb across the street from me that I can't stand, is renting for $263 a night plus all the fees.  We aren't really in a convenient location to access a lot of things.  I don't get why someone would spend $300 a night for someone's spare bedroom when that will get you a very nice hotel room.  Plus, renters just might encounter an angry neighbor harassing them if they walk around the area.  

When you're a family of 4+, and when you want to save some $ by eating in, $300/night can be a bargain.

I’ve used Airbnb all over the world. Have had mostly very good experiences.

It is definitely more expensive now, that when it first started, and there are circumstances where I would choose a hotel.

Recent bad experience was in Las Vegas. But it was definitely the owner of the place, and not the Airbnb itself. I took a chance on reserving a newly-listed place without reviews. I can’t think of any other Airbnb place/experience that was as bad as this one. 

The other less-than-ideal scenario was last year at the Red. There was no problem with the place itself, it was exactly as advertised, or the owner. But I had found out after I reserved the place that it was a case of owner hiring a StayOver Rentals as his management company, and StayOver Rentals then turning around and listing the place in Airbnb. If I had reserved through StayOver directly, I would have saved $200+ in Airbnb fees, but I couldn’t cancel and rebook without losing money. Left an unpleasant taste for both StayOver and Airbnb