I'm in a similar situation, except it's closer for 4 years for me. My experience is completely different to yours, the options on booking.com/agoda/expedia/trip are usually garbage compared to what I can get on Airbnb. I do book for a month at a time, anything shorter I do just book a hotel though. My experience is in Africa and in Asia, no experience in the US and I only used it in Europe back in 2014 or so.

> Case in point, I am in a Vietnamese city right now. I looked airbnb and the places I see average $500-700/month.

I was in Da Nang for a month at the start of 2024, paid $450 for a month, it was much better than any hotel I saw for a similar price. The owner lived downstairs and invited me to drink with him a lot.

> Instead, I did a short walk around the coworking space I rented at and found a comparable place for $200/month. Big Plus: I got to see the place BEFORE placing the non-refundable one month rent. The place is literally across the coworking space (just have to cross the street).

Yeah, you can get cheaper places, but I always worry that if something goes wrong the owner won't care or they could try and scam me. You also need to book a short-term stay first, then go looking around, you need to move all your stuff a second time, I just can't be bothered.

I don't know, for me personally, the value that Airbnb provide for the cut they take seems worth it. I've had a few problems with Airbnb, and their support has always helped me out. I think people are _really_ assholes to them or something, because every time the person on the phone thanks me for being so understanding or whatever, even though I don't think I am.