Entrepreneurs are seeing mini-empires of Airbnb properties collapse

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/30/entrepreneurs-are-seeing-mini.html

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Boo hoo! I’m so, so sorry that these people who destroy neighborhoods and drive up housing prices to turn a quick buck are finding out that investment can have risk as well as rewards.

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Look… so smol!

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Oooh that is good. YOINK!

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These poor souls have made some real estate markets really tough for folks who actually want to rent long term, not to mention the unfair competition for entrepreneurs who turn classic homes into real BnB’s, follow all the rules, and pay all of their fees and taxes.

I have less than zero sympathy. All they have to do is put those properties back in the real rental market. You won’t get rich, but you won’t go broke either.

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Can’t find my tears…

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Your point is largely correct, and society would be better off if there were more regular rentals on the market, but I have to imagine that with all the lost paychecks and rent strikes going on right now a lot of landlords of “regular” rental properties are also not getting the income they were counting on.

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think-of-the-children

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Yes, but real landlords can insure against tenant non-payment, and it can be part of the terms of a buy-to-let mortgage. These kind of financial offerings generally aren’t available for “holiday let” properties like an AirBnB.

At least that is how it has worked for my parents, in my country, with their bank etc. YMMV

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How is this possible? AirBNB’s talking point for it’s entire existence has been that the people renting out space are just individuals renting out their private residences when they aren’t using them to make a little extra cash. If that’s the case, the situation described here just doesn’t seem possible.

Could it be that AirBNB was just talking a bunch of crap?!

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General W.R. Monger|424x180

I’d cry if I hadn’t lost my tear ducts in the war.

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Yup, those people who violate leases and co-op/condo association rules in order to trash buildings and endanger security of their neighbors don’t get sympathy from me.

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I like how it’s presented as a human story, with one family trying to supplement its income.
More often, it’s big business, even foreign big business, who is scooping up the former rental properties, causing skyrocketing rents and homelessness.
Sometimes, a bubble needs to burst.

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I’m looking for a house to rent, and have had difficulty so far - maybe now more houses will go on the regular rent market. They get a lot less money per day from regular rents, but the money is steady.

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“I used to be an Airbnb mogul like you, but then I took a pandemic to my bank account.”

I never have sympathy for landlords, or anyone who owns property they don’t live on or work from. They may see it as making shrewd investments, I see it as adding to the misery of humankind.

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It’s funny how, in a number of cities that had housing shortages and where Airbnb were claiming they had nothing to do with it, there’s mysteriously been a sudden leap in the number of available apartments to rent since shortly after the pandemic started… So strange and inexplicable!

Yeah, entities that own multiple buildings run as Airbnb hotels has become increasingly common.

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it’s almost as if there’s nothing to be learned from the 2008 financial crisis…

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I don’t get this. Defaulting? Have they not read the fucking news?

YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY YOUR RENT YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY YOUR MORTGAGE IF COVID19 BROKE YOUR INCOME.

Stop beating yourselves up. Capitalism is different now. There are no boogiemen coming to get you. YOU CANNOT BE EVICTED. Don’t believe a word your mortgage service says. If you aren’t getting paid, DON’T PAY. Don’t let creditors threaten you. Notify them only. A letter will suffice! You don’t even have to call. Landlord breathing down your neck, tell that fucking scumbag to READ THE FUCKING NEWS. If he’s not getting paid, he also DOES NOT HAVE TO PAY. Just hoard your cash, stay healthy and wait it out.




yelling because it’s important. I agree these folks in this specific story should rent them out to families, not tourists, and at cost.

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