this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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Airbnb is adding cleaning fees to a new 'total price' of bookings in search results after people complained listings were misleading::Airbnb's CEO said that he's heard guests "loud and clear" that pricing on the platform isn't transparent and "checkout tasks are a pain."

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[–] stonedonkey@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

It's gotten to the point where I wonder if the hotel industry is astroturfing posts about Airbnb's.

For families they're a great option instead of being in a single room and being able to prep meals and save on eating out.

I don't like what they've done to the housing market however and should be taxed heavily.

[–] Jearom@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Definitely a good fit for families, being able to stay in a house has allowed us to do things we couldn’t have otherwise. We just got back from a trip that would have taken at least 3 hotel rooms (me, the wife, 3 kids, and my parents), and we paid less than the price of 2 rooms for a gorgeous 4BR beach house with 5 beds. We priced it out and it would have cost the same for 2 hotel rooms, which would have meant no grandparents, and my wife and I sleeping in separate rooms, and at least one kid on a couch.

So, yeah, new use cases enabled that weren’t possible before. That’s cool!

As for taxes, Airbnbs are taxed same as hotels here (15%), and the property owner also pays $10k/yr in property tax on top of that (per public records), so I’m not sure what else would make sense there. In some markets (esp cities) I get the concern about rent impacts, but this isn’t the kind of place that is ever going to be a long term rental. It seems like a parallel market to me, but I’m open to learning otherwise.

[–] SeeJayEmm@lemmy.procrastinati.org 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

but this isn’t the kind of place that is ever going to be a long term rental.

No, it's just a house, most likely in a residential district, that could have been someone's home if it wasn't bought by a corporation and turned into a short-term rental property. There-by reducing available home inventory and contributing to the ongoing housing crisis.

[–] Jearom@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not being argumentative, but according to public records this place is privately owned by a person (or family) who bought it in 1997 (not a corp or LLC). It was listed for rent 2 years ago at $3900 before being taken down a month later.

That’s why I see it as a parallel market. I have a hard time seeing how folks being hurt by crazy rent prices are affected by this home being on Airbnb, any more than (say) a shortage of Ferraris would affect the price of minivans.

That's entirely fair. I was making broad assumptions about ownership.

But it's all intertwined. That home's $3900/mo rent price 2 years ago is still indicative of the problem. Pre-covid that home would have been more affordable. The families that could have afforded it are pushed either to smaller homes or into rentals. Due to inflation across the board everyone's getting pushed down into smaller or otherwise less expensive housing, of which there is limited supply.

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