Airbnb Plans to File Confidentially for IPO in August
wsj.com
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The first two accommodations were huge let downs in terms of cleanliness, despite both advertising Enhanced Clean. The first trip was booked for a month, but we got sick of ants, mice and lack of action after about a week and left early. The second was so incredibly filthy that we left the morning after checking in. While Airbnb corrected the issues by letting us get out early, this was incredibly disruptive to our plans and not representative of what was promised.
The worst part came later, after our mutual reviews for that second place became public. My review and scores got removed with no notice, so that host continues to advertise as Superhost with Enhanced Clean and decent enough, if few, reviews. On the other hand, he posted a nasty review of me full of spin, which remains there to this day. My response to it contained a link to a gallery with evidence, and Airbnb removed that as well. My questions to support remain unanswered.
This turned into something of a rant, but the main takeaway is that I have entirely lost trust in the review system. Not only does is skew towards high marks, but critical reviews can be removed at a moment's notice with no recourse. That does not reflect well on the company, IMO and there are clearly hosts that have learned to play the system. Too bad.
That is the unspoken rule in a two sided marketplace where one party is given preferential treatment (hosts in Airbnb, restaurants in delivery businesses and so on).
Like you, I too have lost faith in Airbnb reviews. Previously, I would have recommended staying at Airbnb when traveling with extended family but no longer.
so much for trust. Why not completely remove reviews and manually inspect each property with some regularity? Might as well do that since they're completely fake.
Sure, there'll be less properties but the quality will go up so much which translates into higher retention and $.
Late last year I wrote a detail review of a place I stayed at that was poorly maintained. I made the review very detailed, even providing picture evidence of the dirty microwave and clogged air conditioners to prove that the place did not deserve all the 5-stars it was getting.
After I posted it, I realised that no one will ever read it, because all the paragraphs I wrote were merged into one huge wall of text. In particular, the numbered list of issues I wrote was merged into a mess.
All the links to pictures were also stripped out from my review without warning. If links are not allowed, shouldn't it have brought up an error when I tried to post the review? I don't understand why they would allow my review to go through, but then censor it later.
I then got really mad when I tried to rewrite my review into something shorter, but couldn't, because Airbnb does not allow you to edit reviews if the host has already reviewed you. Since all the host had to say was "Great guest", his review was up first, and so my unreadable review was permanent.
So, at least in my view it's good that you posted that review.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/15/airbnb-ups-its-debt-by-1bn...
Not to mention how the company is getting hammered by the coronavirus, in addition to having to face the reality of having used shady tactics to prop up positive reviews over the years.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-ho...
This sounds like they're trying to cash out while they still can with the expectation of it going further south over time.
Anecdata: Reason I ask is that we did a trip a few weeks ago and for us, hotels were out of the question. Never used Airbnb before but did this time to get smaller places to ourselves.
As I was looking it was tough to get everything lined up as many places were booked up. Some really great looking places were practically booked up for the next several months. Wasn't sure if this was the norm or if many others are doing the same.
Same for VRBO, which is also doing very well.
Reviews are usually ranked chronologically, but in some cases there may be sorted by predicted relevancy ranking based on review length and language.
I've personally experienced problems with reviews before where negative reviews never showed up, and have stopped using AirBnB as a result. I also know this is an extremely well-known problem, and if you aren't aware of it it's because you haven't looked for it (a few minutes on Google is all it takes).
Despite providing a police report to Airbnb and getting a full refund, the listing was never taken down, the Superhost status was still there, and somehow the review she left was deleted.
I think it's pretty shameful and wish she went to the media about it.
My review is buried on the page. It wasn't on top when I wrote it, and the stars weren't displayed, just the text.
I deleted my AirBnB account.
How? I'm trying to delete my Airbnb account since months (as part of my regular declouding routine).
First, to my surprise, it was only 'deactivated', despite a wording that suggested otherwise, as far as I remember. Then I followed a tutorial on the Internet that said that I need to contact support through a somewhat hidden web form to actually delete my account. .. but to access this form I need to be logged in, which was impossible for me after my account deactivation.
To reactivate my account I need to talk to support, but, surprise, that's not accessible without being logged in.
In the beginning of July I wrote to the email they link in their site imprint. Two weeks later someone told my that my request was forwarded to someone else who will contact me soon. ... and that's the last thing I got.
Any guest whom Airbnb agrees to re-home based on the conditions of their original unit should be allowed to leave a review for that unit.
Spent on 8 Airbnb rental trips. All ok. Then one crazy host without feedback left a false review claiming property damage in a room I never used and that I “used escorts” when I stayed with my family. I had no time to reply and was unable on multiple appeals to get the false review removed from Airbnb.
To this day I’m not sure what was in her mind but I think she got into trouble with her neighbour for hosting on Airbnb and then lied on my feedback out of malice/being emotionally disturbed.
The problem wasn’t this odd event - the problem is a completely stopped using Airbnb because this one false reviewed ruined my reputation even though it had been perfect until then.
Airbnb being unable to handle lies / fabrications even from hosts with next to no feedback compared to a reputable guest - me - result in a broken system.
Really disappointed this was never resolved. It could happen to you when you least expect it - be warned.
No, it couldn't. Last time I used an AirBnb was 2017 in Japan and I will never, ever do so again.
Even if two of three places were OK, what came to light about the company as essentially a societal parasite would (and did) stop me of giving them any more business.
But in addition to, in my opinion, bad karma there are very practical reasons to just book a hotel room and not having to put up with a laundry list of crap.
What I mostly resent is having to tiptoe around other guests or neighbors, who are quite rightfully annoyed about an illegal hotel in their shared building.
Then there's the fact that you don't really have an idea into what you actually get. It can be fine, or it can be a pretty crummy place.
Hotels usually also don't hide surveillance equipment, or even if it's specified in a listing I don't want any fucking cameras pointed into my direction in the privacy of a room for which I paid.
There are no additional cleaning charges tacked to your stay. The advertised room rate is what I pay for (save for that insane "resort fee" you only find in America and which is borderline fraud to begin with).
Not only is it extremely convenient to pick up your key at a well staffed reception. The staff can also function as an on-location trouble shooter if something goes wrong.
And that the prices are so good is ancient history at best. In areas with high demand Airbnb prices are usually not cheaper than hotels. Especially when you factor in the hassle and the cleaning fees.
Finally, I can book exactly what I want in the price range I want and know pretty precisely what to expect. If I want to splurge I'll chose the LeMeridien in town, if money is more of a concern I go to the local Ibis.
But you know what? I know that both of them provide a really good bed. Something I never really enjoyed in an Airbnb.
So no, I really don't have to reckon with bad reviews destroying my travel plans.
1. Work from home becomes work from anywhere: The WFH trend is here to stay and will grow. If you have an option why not stay anywhere in world and work vs. close by home? I expect we will see a big % of WFH markets be global travelers. Proving this thesis would be Airbnb can show on S1 the % of guest who book outside their home location and for stays more then 2 weeks (to account that it is not simply vacation time).
2. Stays gravitating to Tier 2 or lower vs. Tier 1: People will not want to fly or be close to other folks so you will see travel go to Tier 2 or lower cities. This helps Airbnb in two ways.. less competition as these cities won't have as much hotels...second allows them to increase their breadth of revenue based across many more cities then being dependant on just Tier 1 which have risk (regulation, disaster, etc.). Show this on S1 by % of travel that is now on Tier 2 and lower markets and how this has grown as a proportion of your overall revenue base.
3. Safety: Simple it's getting close to accepted that the #1 way of covid transmission is via airborne. Based on this you as a traveler should want to minimize as much unnecessary humans interaction as possible thus hotels suck with all the traffic that is there. You may argue that hotels have policy that are more strict on cleaning but this doesn't mean much when the way to catch covid is via airseol.
4. Inventory: With the economy still in shambles they will get more host who will monetize their living assets more and thus provide more inventory.
I could go on and on but thats my thesis.
They are being devastated by COVID which could linger for a while.
Their biggest risk is regulatory and taxation. Many AirBnBs are illegal, and what will really grind government to act are the potential lost revenues.
I think they will do just fine, it's a matter of valuation.
Catch a taxi to the other address and report it to Airbnb along with a request for cab refund (Airbnb just ignored the request). Host just started listing in a different address afterwards.
Who knew you could just 'start running cabs'.
Even city hall says 'no' ... they just keep going.
It's really bizarre.
Irrespective of whether or now we should allow AirBnB and Uber it's crazy that civic institutions seem to have no control.
If I was mayor and we decided 'no' on Uber I would be fining Uber millions and individual drivers a lot and ask regular cabs and cops to be on the lookout.
It's mind blowing how much tax revenue is being missed out on, and how much money is flying out of the country.
The real reason mayors don’t crack down on Ubers is that their constituents love them and any mayor that tried to outright ban them would become very unpopular very quickly. Welcome to living in a democracy.
Airbnbs are somewhat more tenuous politically because the people who use them are from out of town and don’t vote in local elections.
The US has always been partly "wild west", for better or worse.
What an extraordinary extrapolation.
City of Montreal has all sorts of rules against AirBnB and Uber and yet ... it still exists.
(You may have a point about montreal, could you post some links to the laws against uber and Abnb)
City Hall says 'no' and then they get a barrage of letters and emails demanding they don't hurt Uber or Airbnb as people love them. City Council doesn't want to have the deal with the fight, so they capitulate.
> If I was mayor and we decided 'no' on Uber I would be fining Uber millions and individual drivers a lot and ask regular cabs and cops to be on the lookout.
Are you prepared to deal with angry petitions and unhappy city councillors? Would you really be willing to put up the fight? Especially when there is virtually nobody in support of taxis and hotels?
That is not what is happening.
What is happening is that they don't have the tools, wherewithal or leverage to implement their own policies.
They are operationally incapable.
I think we discovered that around 2000 with Napster, Kazaa, etc.
And if they are legal, they tend to be a bit boring.
When I look at some cities, agencies rent out tons of flat commercially. In In Porto I found over 100+ flats managed by one agency, they were dominating the list.
airbnb is not so interesting anymore when the flats look all the same worldwide, you never see the actual owner and the person checking you in has no real connection with the apartment and can't help you with issues too much.
Well, if a business is allowing their employees to work from home due to COVID, they don't want them traveling off abroad and being classified as tax residents of various countries.
If people are moving to cheaper cities or locations in their own country, getting a long term Airbnb isn't very practical. Most will use whatever real estate listing website or service that is prevalent in their region.
source: I work(ed) for an international company and missions were somewhat commonplace, you get paid from your subsidiary unless you're there for longer than 3mo.
Some countries are also starting to offer long-stay remote work visas: https://www.traveller.com.au/countries-such-as-barbados-to-o...
You would need to stay somewhere 6+ months in a year to be classified as a tax resident so I don't see that being relevant to Airbnb.
1-3 month work from different places would be what I would be doing right now if my wife wasn't pregnant, but as someone who did it when the lockdown started (moved from inland to island for 2 weeks) the cut they take on that duration makes it worth searching local advertising sites. The bigger issue is that most rentals suck for work compared to a decent home office set-up
I invest almost exclusively in funds because owning even one individual stock highly-disproportionally overweights your portfolio into that stock.
I might have to make an exception for AirBnb.
There are reports of some touristic cities starting to cap Airbnb rentals, or just outright outlawing them. It's for good measure, Airbnbs in Barcelona, Lisboa and a number of other European cities have priced out the local population, investors buying 4-10 apartments on the same house to rent out as short-term rentals.
Airbnb created a pressure in the housing market that didn't exist before, for cities that already suffered with housing it really really sucks.
So it's the same as Uber: get into a regulatory grey area, capture the market and then fight over so regulations don't catch up with you. The whole business model of Airbnb was based on avoiding regulations, landlords have used this to prop up their short-term profits as it's much more profitable to rent out an Airbnb in Barcelona for 7-10 days per season-month than renting it out long-term monthly throughout the year.
The same applies to illegal taxis and housing, yes, they were problems before but you didn't have a centralised global network of rentals (many illegal) connecting to the market of people looking for accommodation. The scale is the problem here.
Ergo I can't disprove causation with my argument? I certainly concede that. For one thing it's a negative, not to mention the fact that you can't prove causation either. But then I don't concede it should be assumed true unless proven otherwise. Further, I can make arguments against it of course. And I made not one, but three: that it existed already, it was not a fringe activity (like, say, terrorism or child porn), and three that effects blamed on uber/airbnb can be explained by larger cultural changes. I think there's a bias in these arguments towards the experience of a certain group of people who actually travel the world and use apps to do so.
Curious, do you live in a city that's affected by this? I live in Edinburgh, and it's a massive problem here, almost entirely due to AirBnb. It's widely reported on pretty much every news source in the UK that the cause of this issue is Airbnb's (and other short term holiday lets), in a massive number of cases operating illegally (last number I saw was that <100 of the 7000+ lets in the 100sq miles of Edinburgh were legally registered)
Lots of places in Lisbon list their AL number, indicating they are registered places for renting out.
Locals have been priced out of Lisbon for a long time, but seems like restricting airbnbs has not limited it too much.
(Know a few friends that would bunch up together in a house for July/August as 'entrepreneurs' would offer them 1-2K for their house for those two months to manage it and rent it themselves in AirBnB and other platforms)
I think it will take a lot longer than that for people's behaviors to change back though.
I have met quite a few digital nomads, who do just that.
Airbnb has a lot of pressure to IPO. In 2018, The Information described how employees & investors were frustrated that their equity was still tied up, a decade after the company founded [1]. At the time, Airbnb said they planned to IPO in 2019 or 2020.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21016724
[1] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/airbnb-promises-more...
If an IPOd company went immediately bankrupt or otherwise laid off all employees (and presumably ceased operating) the new shareholders would be suing (for securities fraud, it not being clear how at risk the company was, or they wouldn't have invested, etc.) and regulators would probably have serious questions for the bank(s) auditing/DDing/valuing prior to listing.
(IANAL/anything relevant, take your salt, etc.)
It's doing very well - versus what? It's profitable? It's not bleeding huge amounts of cash? Its sales are higher than this time last year? Please provide some potent information to defend the premise.
Airbnb had to fire 1/4 of its staff. It's doing very well versus having to fire 3/4 of its staff?
Essentially fully recovered, if not growing - can you provide supporting information that shows that Airbnb sales have fully recovered? That's a gigantic claim.
Besides that, is there good reason to believe any recent sales bump post lockdown isn't temporary? People bursting out of lockdown and desperate to get-away for a brief spell before school starts and Summer ends, and prior to the Covid deathwave that is inbound this Fall & Winter (which will prompt further lockdowns, short of a miracle vaccine being distributed everywhere before January or February).
It's not so much "had to fire 1/4 of its staff" as "fired 1/4 of its staff preemptively because by the time you actually have to fire 1/4 of your staff, it's too late". As a bonus, if it turns out the cuts weren't necessary, they look really good going into the IPO because their biggest cost (labor) dropped by a lot.
A quick Google search shows multiple articles with more data points as well:
- Similarweb traffic: VRBO traffic is above February traffic levels https://www.similarweb.com/website/vrbo.com/
- Airbnb traffic shows a V shaped recovery https://www.similarweb.com/website/airbnb.com/#overview
- VRBO drives Expedia group recovery https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2020/07/07/expedia-g...
- Airbnb shows unexpected growth https://fortune.com/2020/06/30/airbnbceo-brian-chesky-bookin...
- May article showing early signs of V-shaped recovery https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/airbnb-booking-data...
- "Airbnb saw more nights booked for U.S. listings between May 17 and June 3 than the same period in 2019, and a similar boost in domestic travel globally." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-12/airbnb-re...
Regarding layoffs:
Business tanked right after COVID began, and people were laid off because of that, but business recovered unexpectedly in the summer.
Whether this is a temporary recovery:
This is anyone's guess, and it may very well be temporary, but take a look at Airbnbs and VRBOs in less dense getaway destinations near urban centers. You will find a lot of them are fully booked through September and October.
I, too, had a few issues with AirBnB in the past, of course. But I also used AirBnB as a guest maybe 100 times; and I hosted on AirBnB for several years. I kind of hate to admit it, but I am happy that AirBnB exists, despite it's not perfect by any means.
What I hope is that AirBnB will be able to transform itself into a better company, and that many people will benefit from its existence (not just owning the stock; I mean actually using the service).
What would I do if I had absolute power over the company's strategy?
1) Fix the review system. It's a problem somewhat similar to Covid-19, in terms of "flattening the curve": you want to pursue wrong reviews, false reviews, etc so aggressively that people eventually realize they will get caught most of the time, and will essentially stop doing it. Perhaps create a "protocol" to check in, where the guest can film entering the property for a few minutes, and even leave the video to be reviewed by other future guests. And so on.
2) There are two categories of hosts: the ones that simply do it for business (they buy multiple properties in a city and rent it out 100% of the time), the ones that do it to mingle with guests (a-la couchsurfing). Make it easy to distinguish between the two, and possibly offer a slightly different web experience for guests.
3) Training: help hosts (and maybe guests) learn what's important and essential to provide a great experience; a "udemy" of sort, for AirBnB hosts. And maybe a little for guests too. You become a certified "guest", I give you a discount.
Perhaps the above would mitigate some of the issues that AirBnB had in the past.
Just my 0.02.
The amount of inconvenience AirBNB causes is huge, if you are living near a hotel it's obvious but these hidden hotels are just horrible. Sure, they a cost effective for the visitor.
I wish there would be stricter rules for AirBNBs and yes I have been that bad neighbour which reported the landlord that this was happening. As it wasn't allowed in the standard tenancy agreement. As the nuisance was just too high, excessive noise, rude behaviour, wild parties, police involvement.
I doubt anyone believes airbnb is going to flop anytime soon.
regulators are getting more serious - just look at Uber and Lyft in California. could easily see the same thing happen to STRs.
I've heard some optimism about the end of 2021, maybe 2nd half of 2021 for rich countries, but not January.
Even if they have to IPO, declare Chapter 11 in 2020, and reform for 2021 there's still a valuable company in my mind because the product is revolutionary.
Before COVID killed travel I would always favor renting a AirBNB for over a hotel. It was marginally cheaper and offered a better experience usually (in my experience).
That is a meaningless question. What matters is value vs price and the IPO price isn't known yet.
Unfortunately a virus doesn't care about people's plans.
Says who?
If there is no vaccine, there is no chance any of such activities going to happen without consequences.
Uber has Lyft, Airbnb has ... vrbo??? no major competitors?
Try searching for certain amenities that you might need when traveling with younger kids, or trying pinpointing exact locations, and you won't be able to.
There are certainly reasons they use regions rather than addresses, that I do not dispute.
- I want to see prices listed as total price, not price before fees which add 30%-50% on top of the listed price
- I want to select properties where there is no one else on the property grounds. Airbnb allows people to claim "Separate property" for somebody's basement suite where you're sure to encounter the host/other residents
- I want the pool/hot tub checkboxes to be limited to private pool or hot tub, and to not include results where the property has some membership to a shared pool in a HOA or whatever
- I want the ability to search for keywords, such as "backyard" or "creek"
- I want to be able to exclude certain hosts from results. In some cities the same host runs multiple properties and they all have bad reviews. I want to hide their properties.
- I want to be able to easily flag or report listings that are abusing the search terms - claiming a living room as a bedroom, for example
- I want to be able to search for properties by driving distance from a location
- I want to see prices listed as total price, not price before fees which add 30%-50% on top of the listed price
* The total price display is something that is being experimented on at the moment and will likely launch to everyone soon. If you manage to get assigned into the experiment you can actually see this live now.
- I want to select properties where there is no one else on the property grounds. Airbnb allows people to claim "Separate property" for somebody's basement suite where you're sure to encounter the host/other residents
* Agreed this would be useful. Basically a privacy level designation instead of just binary Entire home vs not, although I can see this getting tricky with the diverse ranges of properties people list. For example, where would you put a condo on this scale?
- I want the pool/hot tub checkboxes to be limited to private pool or hot tub, and to not include results where the property has some membership to a shared pool in a HOA or whatever
* Also agreed this would be useful. Typically the listing describes this, but having a search filter would be helpful. On the host side, there are already designations for private vs shared amenities so it should be possible.
- I want the ability to search for keywords, such as "backyard" or "creek"
* This is an interesting idea. You see this on car selling websites and it's definitely useful. One challenge would be handling of multiple languages and the diverse ways people would describe the same attributes even within the same language, but agreed if implemented properly, it could be a super useful feature. Airbnb used to have a free text search engine and it didn't work well so it's been scrapped for now.
- I want to be able to exclude certain hosts from results. In some cities the same host runs multiple properties and they all have bad reviews. I want to hide their properties.
* Would a review rating filter basically accomplish this? Agreed this would be useful.
- I want to be able to easily flag or report listings that are abusing the search terms - claiming a living room as a bedroom, for example
* You can do this by going to the listing and clicking on "Report this listing" link under the book button.
- I want to be able to search for properties by driving distance from a location
* Stayed tuned on this one!
Regarding the "separate property" problem, I agree it is a bit tough to tackle however there's one way to distinguish it: does the property have a separate, legal address? A basement suite or a guest house does not, a condo or apartment in a 4-plex does. Airbnb could require hosts to provide those details in order to be counted under the "have the whole place to yourself" category.
Another way I was thinking you could do it is to add a higher level of grouping to the property type menu (the one that has "townhouse", "cabin" etc.) And clarify which of those types should be considered standalone and which are more guesthousey. Those categories currently feel super arbitrary, so they could use more structure regardless.
Ive had as many horror stories as everyone else but there is a way to get consistently good results on airbnb:
Always assume the worst. If the whole apartment looks beautiful but there are no bathroom pics, assume the bathroom is a dungeon.
If you see clothes in a closet or personal belongings, assume the whole place is cluttered with someone else's mess.
If they don't show the bedsheets, assume they are disgusting.
You get the point.
The places that care about having a good experience show all of these things in detail because they know they are doing better than the rest and it's a selling point. If the place is not painfully documented in pictures, just assume they are hiding the bad parts.
in short they definitely need capital given how uncertain the travel market remains.
If Airbnb has handed 10 year expiring stock options to core employees, then they're right at the cusp of expiring this year.
I would guess it doesn't affect anyone who opted for an 83B early on, but for those who held onto them without exercising them on the pennies might be very unhappy without a 2020 IPO.
It feels like a different era now, but this was discussed in detail in late 2019 [1].
The discontent has been exacerbated because Airbnb, which has been valued at $31 billion, doled out two tranches of employee equity that are set to start expiring in November 2020 and in mid-2021; those shares will become worthless if the company is not trading publicly by then, they said.
[1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/technology/airbnb-employe...
An IPO seems like a pretty big hammer for that particular nail.
I'd say you nailed it on the head. Because aside from this, it's pretty terrible timing for an industry that's been killed by the virus and won't rebound until it's long over.
That just makes no sense given record unemployment and virus still very much prevalent! Travel and tourism are still significantly below average across the globe.
Re: VRBO... this quote "One of Airbnb's biggest competitors is Vrbo, owned by Expedia Group. The company doesn't break out Vrbo's individual results, but noted it returned to bookings growth in June." I believe is plainly misleading. I'd suggest that the "growth in June" is simply compared to the 80-90% decline from the spring's total lockdown, and likely only a 10-20% increase from that bottom.
The Airbnb report celebrating 1M bookings worldwide is still significantly below the norm (i.e. probably around 10% - tho I can't find clear stats) especially for the summer - so it hasn't "fully recovered" by a long shot.
Here's some additional datapoints:
- Similarweb traffic: VRBO traffic is above February traffic levels https://www.similarweb.com/website/vrbo.com/
- Airbnb traffic shows a V shaped recovery https://www.similarweb.com/website/airbnb.com/#overview
- VRBO drives Expedia group recovery https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2020/07/07/expedia-g...
- Airbnb shows unexpected growth https://fortune.com/2020/06/30/airbnbceo-brian-chesky-bookin...
- May article showing early signs of V-shaped recovery https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/airbnb-booking-data...
- "Airbnb saw more nights booked for U.S. listings between May 17 and June 3 than the same period in 2019, and a similar boost in domestic travel globally." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-12/airbnb-re...
once airbnb IPOs they could do either of the following:
* Cashless (exercise and sell to cover: sell enough of your shares to cover the purchase price and applicable fees and taxes.
* Cashless (exercise and sell): sell it all
- replying to myself since there's a max threading depth on HN?
You could probably find a buyer yourself and work directly with lawyers to make it happen at a much lower flat rate instead of commission if you have many millions worth.
There seems to be a few variables associated with loss of reply button... looks like it returned. Maybe minimum and maximum time limits, max thread depth, other person is Re-editing...
Generally, it's not extremely difficult to obtain liquidity if you are reasonably paper-rich.
I am a nomad an I basically take short term 1-3 month rentals. Airbnb did a lot to make my current lifestyle possible. Hotels are way too expensive even with monthly rates. Sure I'm paying more than locals would pay but I get to have a preview of the apartment among many, instant book and not have to deal with deposits.