Comment by t1o5 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by t1o5 | Hacker News Reader

They are a menace to the common man who lives at rental apartments. The rental prices of apartments have gone very high due to AirBnB. The entire building is being rented out in AirBnB by the owner making it impossible to rent for the common man.

Someone should keep a check on this service. For ex: Allow only single home owners to rent, else this is going to be a huge problem.

The rental that I took was owned by a real estate agency even though the profile showed the foto of a family. I didn't realize that until I thought I will meet with the sweet family, so I called the phone number and it was picked up by receptionist and said there is no family !

So I asked AirBnB about this rental portrayed as a family owned rental, but was really a real estate agency, their reply was "Its legal" and I should have read the fine print before renting.

Or even better, zoning should factor in the average Airbnb rental rates. Allow more rental units to be available in a zoned area where airbnb operates (it'll bring down rent / airbnb prices)

I disagree that your proposal is better.

For instance, "zoning should factor in the average Airbnb rental rates". I am not sure what you mean by this, but presumably the average rates are fluctuating all the time, which means "fluctuation" in the zoning as well. Plus the properties would be properly treated as commercial sites and subject to appropriate taxes.

agree with you on taxing.

What I meant was, zoning should ensure that Airbnb will not be a sustainable option for home owners. If there's 10x Airbnb listings for 1x Airbnb guests visiting the area, how long can the remaining 9x sustain empty houses?

If the management (or other owners if it's a condominium entity) finds this problematic, they could always institute a rule prohibiting short-term rentals.

Otherwise AirBnB usually drives up prices in highly desirable locations, and for someone renting on the cheap it's a canary in the coal mine - the rental rates in highly desirable locations will go up anyways.

Complain to customer service if the listing is misleading.

"Menace" is a strong word, suggesting the threat of violence. Further, it sounds like your location is popular. What's a better way for our society to decide who can stay there other than setting a price?

Not everyone in this world is from Anglosphere. So please excuse if the word "menace" is not apt. On another note, Dennis The Menace should be R rated I guess.

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