Accidentally? Man these writers will suck any corporate dick.
How Airbnb accidentally screwed the US housing market and made $100 billion
Submitted 6 months ago by Dragxito@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
tsonfeir@lemm.ee 6 months ago
catloaf@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Yeah, real hard-hitting journalism here from… arktrek.shop?
juli@lemmy.world 5 months ago
The guy seems to rehashing news (probably with AI) and posting it on his ad filled blog for clicks. Check his profile.
cyd@lemmy.world 6 months ago
US policymakers screwed themselves with crappy urban planning, leading to insufficient housing supply and bad transit options. Blaming AirBnB for high housing prices is like setting up a chain of dominos, and criticizing a guy who comes by and knocks it over. If it wasn’t him, it would have been someone else, or the wind.
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 6 months ago
This is happening worldwide. It has very little to do with urban planning and more with lax homeownership restrictions that allows the wealthy and corporations to scoop up housing supply for profit.
cyd@lemmy.world 6 months ago
“The wealthy and corporations” have choices of how to invest their money. If housing supply is sufficiently elastic to meet demand, they’ll find somewhere else other than housing to put their money. Ain’t nobody trying to corner the Chinese real estate market in 2024, for instance.
There are a few places where land shortages genuinely constrain housing supply, like Singapore and Hong Kong. But the US has tons of land; things are simply not well optimized.
That, plus high interest rates, which is due to fiscal/monetary mismanagement.
cybersin@lemm.ee 6 months ago
It’s both.
An example of bad urban planning is low density urban sprawl, which requires lots of resources for few housing units.
Less housing, price go up. High build cost, price go up.
cybersin@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Blaming AirBnB for high housing prices is like setting up a chain of dominos, and criticizing a guy who comes by and knocks it over.
Yeah, and that’s exactly what they chose to do. They contributed to the reasons John Public can’t afford housing, and were rewarded massively for it.
If it wasn’t him, it would have been someone else, or the wind.
Yeah, anyone can rob a bank with poor security, but we should still punish the guy who actually robs the bank.
Fedizen@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Air BnB effectively pitted average renters and homeowners against the luxury hotel market. From a supply/demand standpoint its basically moving something like 10% of the rental market to the hotel market.
What this does is it means luxury long term rentals slot out the next lower tier of housing at higher pricing it slides down the economic ladder until a percent of people at the bottom is simply outbid for the reduced normal rental housing stock.
Its not airbnb’s fault the market shifted but it is a problem with the market as a result of blending the luxury hotel market with residential housing.
TK420@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Updoot for wind because Mother Nature doesn’t give a fuck :)
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
“accidentally” 🤦♂️
It was - and is - entirely fucking intentional.
kashifshah@lemmy.sdf.org 6 months ago
Big tech - move fast, break things, disrupt, and destroy
WhyDoYouPersist@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Like kudzu
kashifshah@lemmy.sdf.org 6 months ago
or feral swine
grue@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Southerner here. FYI, kudzu is nowhere near as bad as this short-term rental shit. It doesn’t actually engulf entire forests; it just looks like it does because it covers the edges of them and that’s mostly the part that people see.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Mostly profit though.
kashifshah@lemmy.sdf.org 6 months ago
Forgot the opportunity cost.
Chozo@fedia.io 6 months ago
The only thing they've ever done on accident was make their logo look like a ballsack.
kratoz29@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Can’t unseen it now, thanks.
Dragxito@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Lol
Snapz@lemmy.world 6 months ago
This is a stupid light take, starting with the flowery version of their early 2010-ish “good intentions”.
Their “guarantee” insurance was notoriously difficult to actually access if needed. This was typical enshitification from the start, they just had to do a bit more early to gain public trust, until they reached critical mass and then flipped the switch.
The drug dealer gives you the first baggie for free, not because they are good dudes that care about you saving money…
demonsword@lemmy.world 6 months ago
The drug dealer gives you the first baggie for free
We should kill this urban legend, this simply doesn’t happen in the real world
yokonzo@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Can confirm this happened to me a few times, especially with dope, you don’t know what you’re talking about
Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Sure it does. Or at least it happened all the time when I was in college.
frostysauce@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I actually was talking to a neighbor at my apartments 20 some-odd years ago. We got to talking about coke and he asked if I’d ever smoked it before.
“No…” So I followed him across the hall to his apartment and took a hit. “Whoa, this is fucking great! …Wait, when you smoke it isn’t it crack?”
“Yeah, it’s awesome isn’t it!? You know, if you want more I can probably find some…”
So, yup. I got my first hit of crack for free. I never thought that happened in real life before, either, and I’ve never had or heard of it happening since. Additionally, about six months later I stopped smoking crack.
Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It also never happened to me.
Or maybe it has happened to me a dozen times but I’d shout, “No way man! Drugs are for losers!” And hand him a DARE pamphlet and then I gained a reputation.
snownyte@kbin.social 6 months ago
Accidentally?
Vakbrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
Same when NASA accidentally land on the moon
Phegan@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I don’t think it was accidental
Crack0n7uesday@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I can’t believe people trust others enough to rent their house out like a hotel. I’ve already seen so many problems from this I can’t believe it’s still legal. My neighbor moved and they turned it into an AirBnB, some kids threw a party and left some trash out that poisoned my other neighbors dog. There’s a lawsuit, but the dog is still fucking dead.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
I don’t know if I’ve ever been in an airbnb that’s actually somebody’s house. It seems like they’re mostly “investment properties” that people rent out. I’m sure that’s great for housing. \s
erwan@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
It started this way tho, people renting a room or a couch in their home. Pretty quickly it became either full units or rooms in a share appartement with other AirBnB guests.
Aermis@lemmy.world 6 months ago
What does some kids leaving trash out have to do with air bnb?
bane_killgrind@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
Yeah that’s why inviting strangers into your home unsupervised is stupid.
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Remember back before Airbnb when this was just a free thing called couch surfing?
Tryptaminev@lemm.ee 6 months ago
i mean couch surfing is guest and host being there and interacting with each other.
AirBnB is getting the flat for yourself for the time you rent it.
Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 6 months ago
A big part of Airbnb used to be spending time with a host. It has since turned into just landlord via app.
Tripp1976@lemmy.world 6 months ago
That’s exactly how airBnB started though. Then they moved to renting out the whole place and now we are where we are.
whoreticulture@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Uber was originally marketed as ride-sharing, too. Just an app to find people going the same way. Of course, I’m fairly sure that their current iterations was the plan all along as anyone with enough business sense to start those companies must have predicted that there would be people who take on Uber/AirBnB as a primary source of income. But sharing your hours or planning a shared trip is much more palatable than “Landlords but Worse”.
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
couchsurfing.com Still exists
But i can’t imagine as many people on there when they can just rent out for money
Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Not really. Couch surfing was only for a certain type of person.
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 6 months ago
why free when you can make money?
nucleative@lemmy.world 6 months ago
There are a few things humans (and thus a healthy society) require for survival. Water, food, shelter.
When we start to point unadulterated VC backed capitalism at those resources, I think we give up something in our society and culture that we don’t actually want to give away.
I travel a lot worldwide and have used Airbnb quite a few times. However I’m now on the side of “Airbnb is evil”.
A couple years ago had a horrific experience in a villa and Airbnb customer support didn’t give a rats ass. Fortunately, my bank did and my credit card chargeback for $4,000 was successful. While I was going through that experience I came across a multitude of communities of travelers who have had equally horrific, oftentimes more horrific experiences with Airbnb where they’ve failed to step in and assist in any way.
Random dudes who own houses are on average unqualified in the hospitality business and not incentivized by maintaining a brand reputation. There are so many issues caused by shitty Airbnb hosts that hotels - real hotels - just don’t suffer from.
So now we have this situation where a lot of spaces are allocated to hotel businesses, more space is allocated to residential housing, And any random dude who can qualify for a mortgage can take a house off the market, fill it for 10 or 15 days out of the month, and keep both a domicile unused for a resident and a hotel room empty.
This is one of the few areas where I think hotel regulations are smart.
PresidentCamacho@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Just had an Airbnb cancel on us in Japan 1 week before our trip… Won’t be doing that again after seeing how little Airbnb gave a shit
nucleative@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I’ve heard a lot of people having this problem. Airbnb is next to useless, even with their guarantee.
Prices goes up, other hotels are booked solid, there are fewer options and travelers are left in the cold.
A big brand would be less likely to risk their reputation over $50 or $100/night difference if there’s some new big event in the area
buzz86us@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Yeah, but on the same token you don’t want to give hotels the monopoly… There is so much price gouging if they know some big event is happening in town. Plus many areas have fuck all for hotel capacity. I do AirBNB because I don’t have $150 every time I want to go to a city. I wish we’d have capsule hotels
WindyRebel@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Are you implying that AirBNB hosts don’t do this price gouging as well?
Odd_so_Star_so_Odd@lemmy.world 6 months ago
What you describe is just another example of poor urban planning + untapped market of public transport.
power@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
I feel like the US is far down on the victims list. Look how they massacred my boy Spain
kameecoding@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Prague city center is basically just airbnb flats now
KrankyKong@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Same in Nashville. It’s a shame. I wish the government would regulate this more.
yopla@jlai.lu 6 months ago
Any somewhat touristic city that didn’t implement some drastic restrictions has been fucked. In those places you can make from 2 to 10 time as much with airbnb as you can with a normal tenant so it becomes the obvious choice for a property owners. the only way to fix supply is regulation.
ViscloReader@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Oopsie doopsie
Kbobabob@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Oopsie poopsie…
Because everything went to shit
dugmeup@lemmy.world 6 months ago
No. I can see this being unfairly interpreted.
Hotels were a nightmare, cabs were a nightmare. These companies indisputably changed the game in the favour of the consumer all around the world.
Where we are now having an issue is large swaths of housing taken over by companies and investors wanting a return. As long as housing and renting are attractive for investment ober and about housing and transitory renting, it will attract lots of money.
Supply must be improved to improve the housing market. This should be a continuous government function at least at the low and middle income level not just a private endeavour.
Density and public transport is the answer - not killing something that absolutely changed the game and took the hotel and cab market back to their customers begging for a chance.
horsey@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Agreed on cabs but hotels haven’t changed anything significantly and they’re looking much better than AirBnB at this point.
Plum@lemmy.world 6 months ago
They ripped out the carpets. It made everything better.
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Sure, but AirBnB and Uber didn’t improve the hotel and taxi markets, they just joined them. They each took advantage of a tech debt and then lowered the barriers for entry to the market. In doing so, they made a shit ton of money by carving out market share from the fucked up systems you described.
snooggums@midwest.social 6 months ago
Also by doing and end run around regulations by pretending to be people just renting their house when they are away or giving rides to people going in the same directions. That is why they have names like ‘ride share’ instead of ‘contracted cabbies who drive their own cars’.
iopq@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Seriously? Not sure about airbnb since I use booking, but Uber was so much better than cabs it wasn’t even close. They didn’t even make that much money. They lost money last quarter
Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world 6 months ago
What wasn’t a nightmare was bed and breakfasts. They also weren’t an excuse to keep property off the housing rental market at scale.
These companies aren’t saviours, they’re businesses who rode public tech optimism and common frustration at established industries in the same fields to stay ahead of regulation and have the public demand it. Surprise, they’re the same businesses.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Yes, bed and breakfasts rock, and I try to use them when I travel because the experience is way better.
gian@lemmy.grys.it 6 months ago
They also weren’t an excuse to keep property off the housing rental market at scale.
True. But given that houses were off the market even before, I don’t think it is exclusively their fault.
For example Milano historically always had about 30% of the available homes empty, and that even before Airbnb.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Yeah, I think the main issue is supply. Airbnb works because of a mix of supply and costs. There just aren’t many nice places to stay in resort areas, and the few that exist are extremely expensive (e.g. fancy hotels). Likewise, hotels are often more expensive and less convenient if you have a large group (e.g. my family likes to vacation together, and there’s like 20 of us).
The problem seems to be long term residents feeling the pain of increased housing costs. If you legislate against that, those tourists will still need to go somewhere, which means more hotels or more strain on transportation from the outlying areas to the tourist area. If mass transit is effective, that’s not a big issue, but far too often that’s not the case, so you’ll just end up with tons of traffic.
My proposal is to not ban it, but instead limit it to residents, so in order to do short-term rentals, you need to be physically present a majority of the year. Otherwise, you need to apply as a regular rental, which can be limited to certain areas near transit hubs to keep traffic under control. Then improve transit into the area so tourists who don’t fit in the city can easily get there.
kalpol@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Www.insideairbnb.com
Just gonna leave this here. Pick your favorite city.
Spotlight7573@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It also doesn’t help housing prices that the landlords are colluding to raise prices:
ftc.gov/…/price-fixing-algorithm-still-price-fixi…
It isn’t just Airbnb’s fault, it’s landlords wanting to maximize their return, no matter the method (short-term rentals or price fixing collusion).
AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Just a little fucksy wucksy :3
buzz86us@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Maybe they should ban whole home AirBNB… i only ever do rooms.
eran_morad@lemmy.world 6 months ago
“Accident” fkn lol
CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 6 months ago
‘Company that made bank deliberately flouting zoning, renting and subleting laws claims it was all an accident’
killjuden@lemmynsfw.com 6 months ago
MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world 6 months ago
They didn’t accidentally do shit. They ignored the consequences of their decisions for profit at the expense of everyone else. You don’t get to make $100 billion dollars and feign ignorance about how you got it and the damage you caused to obtain it.
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 6 months ago
I still think municipalities share a significant amount of blame here. They definitely could have at least limited vacation rental saturation, and didn’t do anything.
I live in a ski town, and have been to city hall meetings on this issue. The overwhelming amount of attendees at these are vacation homeowners or their representatives, and the prevailing attitude is, “fuck the locals, our profit is at stake here.” A number of owners have changed their primary residence to our town just to have more say that local long term renters. These meetings are held at 2pm, when locals are working. It’s about as fucked as it can get. And when we’ve had a sympathetic council person, they’re immediately recalled or replaced the following election cycle. It’s a shitshow.
During COVID, when the Airbnb boom really took off, we had a 25% resident attrition rate. That’s no typo; twenty five percent of our valley’s residents had to leave town because they were priced out (about 5000 in a population of 20,000) because either rents skyrocketed, or the owners of their homes sold out from beneath them. These days, much of our local labor force commutes at least an hour into town. It has gotten a little better, and some have been able to moved back, but the damage is done.
Even for prospective buyers, like my wife and I, prices are outrageous. Our current home, which is valued around $600k, would have been $200k pre COVID. And this is solely because of Airbnb assholes.
frickineh@lemmy.world 6 months ago
My office regulates airbnbs for the city and it’s very hard to do anything about it. None of the rental platforms will work with us - we’ve sent them about a million notices that they’re collecting the wrong tax amount and they don’t even bother to respond, and they just send a check every quarter but refuse to break it out by address/owner. They won’t provide any data on what addresses are being rented, either. Apparently some other cities have successfully sued airbnb, but for a small city with a correspondingly small budget, that’s an expense that’s hard to justify to taxpayers.
We have some owners that are great - they get licensed right away, get their inspections done, no problem. Then there are other people who have done things like dig out their crawlspace themselves and turn it into non-conforming bedrooms with no egress windows - no permits or inspections, of course, and an engineer basically said the entire thing was in danger of collapsing any minute. Or the person who had a buddy do a bunch of unlicensed electrical work that was so bad the city couldn’t even let the owner stay there until it was fixed. I honestly wouldn’t stay in an airbnb now, having seen what I’ve seen - people will absolutely put renters at risk to make a buck. And we can go after them but only if we know it’s happening.
I’d personally love it if rental platforms were forced to provide owner data to cities/states, and to tax the shit out of rentals that aren’t also owner-occupied, but I’m not in charge and the people with money have a vested interest in making sure that doesn’t happen. It sucks.
hedgehogging_the_bed@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Visiting my husband’s home town where this has happened and all his parent’s friends have moved into trailers because the houses where they raised their kids were bought for insane amounts but then they couldn’t afford a smaller house in the same town. Where we live now on the East Coast, we can no longer stay in our school district for less than half a million because doctors from larger urban areas keep buying the houses in our school district and we’re being forced 60+100 miles out from my hometown where we raised our young kids to even begin to afford housing.
PresidentCamacho@lemm.ee 6 months ago
The government just doesn’t work for the people anymore. It works for the donors that fund them.
GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
Don’t you? I can’t think of any instance of justice truly being served to billionaires, can you?
eran_morad@lemmy.world 6 months ago
SBF recently and Madoff before him.
Toes@ani.social 6 months ago
-The American Dream™
shrugs@lemmy.world 6 months ago
They are a company with zero morals and the goal to maximize profits. That’s what capitalism is for and were it’s good at.
The government needs to create rules and laws to make sure that this profit maximizing doesn’t happen on the back of ordinary people, but since corporate america is allowed to control the government through money, this doesn’t happen.
Capitalism is a tool, can we please start to use it like that again?!
MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 6 months ago
the problem is already in the word itself… capitalism
aka to capitalize on someone else’s problems misfortunes