New York bans airbnb, Hotel owner cheers ability to raise prices

[nate]

https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/10/27/0541223/hotel-ceo-openly-celebrates-higher-prices-after-anti-airbnb-law-passes?utm_source=slashdot&utm_medium=twitter

[Spirit]

I really hope AirBnB wins their lawsuit against NY state.  This is such crap.

 

 

 

[RallyMo]

Total garbage.

[Blarg]

Any word from Trump? 

[Taylor]

3 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Any word from Trump? 

No, but it's a great opportunity for this guy to come back out of the woodwork:

[Blarg]

Some of the comments actually make sense as to why there needs to be regulation but it is much cheaper for the city to slam the door than open up another department to oversee the sub rental abuse. 

[nate]

I don't know why people act like housing should be affordable.  If you can't afford it, move somewhere more affordable.

[Adam]

Yay Freedom! 

 

[gotbeer]

One of the problems with Short term rentals, and why the area I'm in are actually fighting them, are as follows:

Party houses.  Might be one in 10 or 20.  But considering some of the houses in my area are pretty much mansions in Hancock park, even one is a huge problem.

monthly rental vs daily rentals.  There is a housing and affordable housing shortage right now.  There is at least one case in which the owners of a rent control property kicked out everyone, so he could rent on AirBNB.  Economically, if you could get $2-4k in rent a month, or rent for $500-$1k a day, it's worth it to go the day route.  It starts eliminating regular housing.  And it's also a loophole to get out of rent control housing.  (I think in Los Angeles, rent control laws say you can't increase rent by more than 5% a year.)  Just think about it.  You have a tenant that for the last 10 years has been renting for $800 a month.  You can't kick them out, because they pay on time like clockwork.  You  can only raise rent by 5% a year.  Your neighbor just rented their place (by month) for $3k.  You can easily rent the place for $500 a day.  You can't go your neighbor route and raise rents.  So you kick out the tennant under the guise of I'm moving in, then rent out your place on AirBnB and make more money.

Parking.  In some areas in Los Angeles, parking is just a bitch.  A block down from me are duplexes, and down the street more, apartments.  You can't find parking in those areas.  And it's annoying when that spills over to your street, especially on street cleaning days.  And on event days at the local theater, you could be parking 3-4 blocks away from your place.

Crime.  While AirBnB says they insure rental houses.  What about other houses.  This is what I call the construction effect.  At least for me, I know exactly what cars my neighbors drive.  And the scary thing is, I know when my neighbors are home, and when they aren't home, just by looking on the streets and seeing what cars are there.  (for some reason, most everyone in the neighborhood parks on the streets or driveways, and never garage or behind a fence)  When someone is doing construction, you get new cars that you don't recognize a lot from construction guys.  And it just seems like more crime/burglaries occur because now that conspicuous car parked in the street becomes inconspicuous.  If that even makes any sense. 

Personally, I like the AirBnB idea.  But like most anything in this fashion, I wouldn't want AirBnB in my neighborhood.  It's great for going to another persons neighborhood.  It's not great for people living in that neighborhood.

[Spirit]

Most of the items on your listed (parking, house parties, crime) could also be a problem with a regular neighbor.  

Regarding monthly rental vs daily rentals - It's their property!  If they want to rent it for a day or on a yearly rental contract, that should be their choice.  If you have a property you don't live in, you have that property as an investment.  Why shouldn't you be able to maximize your investment as best you can?  If housing and affordability are an issue ... move!  I swear, I don't know why anyone lives in CA anymore.  I was born and raised there, enjoying going back to visit, but good God ... I would never live there again.  

 

 

 

[Schildog]

2 hours ago, nate said:

I don't know why people act like housing should be affordable.  If you can't afford it, move somewhere more affordable.

this is bullshit tbf. why should only rich people get to live where they want.

[Spirit]

I'm ok with non-rich people living anywhere they want that they can afford. 

 

 

 

[nate]

23 minutes ago, Schildog said:

this is bullshit tbf. why should only rich people get to live where they want.

Are you serious?

You know what else is bullshit?  Why do only rich people get to drive whatever car they want?  I want my lease controlled Ferrari!

[Schildog]

i'll use austin as an example. people lived in houses for years. as values went up, so did prop taxes. that forced a bunch of people to move. doesn't seem right to me. 

[Adam]

I agree. Abolish property taxes

[nate]

40 minutes ago, Schildog said:

i'll use austin as an example. people lived in houses for years. as values went up, so did prop taxes. that forced a bunch of people to move. doesn't seem right to me. 

That is different.  Those people should be pretty happy though, really nice ROI.

[Spirit]

Adam is a problem solver. 

 

Another option would be for people to sell their homes at a huge profit (property values did go way up, right?) and move to a new area that they find to be more in their budget. 

 

 

 

 

[nate]

CA has prop 13... property taxes are based on the original purchase amount.

I know a guy, he owns a small plumbing company and makes at most like 75k a year, lives in a beach house in manhattan beach.  Bought it in the early 70s for nothing.  Now he is a millionaire.

[m0nkey]

It's simple really. Just don't be poor 

[Kevin]

There is someone suspiciously absent from this thread I feel like.

[Spirit]

48 minutes ago, nate said:

CA has prop 13... property taxes are based on the original purchase amount.

I know a guy, he owns a small plumbing company and makes at most like 75k a year, lives in a beach house in manhattan beach.  Bought it in the early 70s for nothing.  Now he is a millionaire.

 

How is Joe the Plumber? 

 

 

[Spirit]

7 minutes ago, Kevin said:

There is someone suspiciously absent from this thread I feel like.

 

Obama?

 

 

[mrwicked]

airbnb is tricky stuff.

its ground zero here. very hot debate.

im not sure where i stand, i can see both sides.

so for me, I'm a homeowner. if i was to buy another place that i want to live in, i would rent my place out (should get $8,000-$10,000/mo for it, depending). but, when you rent out your place in SF, the renter gets ALL the rights, and they basically get to claim ownership to your home and don't have to leave until they want to leave. this might be a year later, this might be 30 years later. and you can't raise the rent on them more than 2% a year because of rent control. is it very, VERY hard to evict someone here. so ok, i don't want to rent it out now because i don't want to deal with the person that feels entitled to my place and won't leave (very very common). 

so, i would use airbnb and rent it to tourists or business folks, and make a mountain ton. but that's not fair to my neighbors. they bought expensive places, and did not choose to live next to a bed and breakfast / hotel. people coming and going non stop is not fair to them. 

so what would i do? probably just leave it off the market, and let it sit empty for just friends and family to use. which really hurts the rental market. i have many friends that do this, mostly because rent control is such a clusterf*ck. or you go the corporate / furnished rental route, which is usually safer. 

its tricky.

[ABC]

Not cool to rent out your home as a hotel and skirt hotel rules. We have zoning for many reasons. 

[gotbeer]

5 hours ago, mrwicked said:

(should get $8,000-$10,000/mo for it, depending).

Dang, $8-10.  I thought the $4-5k a month for houses in my area was way too high.