> airbnb is not changing much of that, only making it more visible. I think it i...

user5994461 · on April 17, 2017

Airbnb is a drop in the ocean, I guarantee you.

eric_h · on April 17, 2017

Oh for sure. I've known plenty of people who've done relatively brief (~ 2mo) sublets completely against leases etc (of course NYC is still a bit of a Wild West as far as housing is concerned, particularly at the more affordable end of the rental market).

My point was that AirBnB has vastly inflated the potential scale of revolving door short black market sublets (the loud, drunken vacationers that seem to be the source of most disgruntlement/anti AirBnB mentality here in the HN comments) much more than, say, craigslist.

user5994461 · on April 17, 2017

The media are vocals about a few big cities on a few topics. It brings a lot of readers. Nothing special, it's always been the wild west over there.

AirBnb is already self regulating quickly: You rent a property, the guests damage it, you're not renting it on airbnb again for the next decade.

Or you simply realize that it's not sustainable. Revolving door short sublets are, in fact, usually not sustainable.

eric_h · on April 17, 2017

Fair point - again dependent on the property/neighborhood. I stayed in an AirBnB in Denver that was one of three cookie cutter buildings next to each other each on about 1/4 acre, built sometime in the last 5-10 years, all clearly used exclusively as short term rentals (as best I could tell).

Great AirBnB experience, literally no complaints, and no neighbors close enough to give us the stink eye (admittedly we were staying in the one that was in the middle of the three on that street). Mind you we were generally respectful and there for a very short time, not enough to really piss anyone off.

That seems sustainable to me, whether or not it's legal.

People AirBnB'ing their apartment in my current building (which has a 24 hour doorman/woman/person who pretty much knows everyone who lives there? obviously that shit wouldn't fly for long, never mind that it's flagrantly against the lease we all signed, there's no way to fly under the radar).

user5994461 · on April 18, 2017

I meant that it's not sustainable because it takes a lot of work to welcome the guests, clean the flat and sheets all the time. It gets to a full time job really quickly if you have a few flat, and they better be in the same building.

Also, the price is expensive for guests... but as host, AirBnb takes 20-30% commission and you don't get paid for empty times. There are lots of emptiness if you do short rents.

warcher · on April 19, 2017

I find the notion of business "self regulating" to be no more or less absurd for AirBnb than I would an oil or coal company. Of course I understand why they'd make the argument, I just can't fathom who would believe them here in the 21st century.