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.
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.
It was only just recently that the flood of “Airbnbust” articles seemed to abate a little. I can never tell if Airbnb is going great, or it’s terrible.
For my own part, I’m happy for this update. Despite the complaints, Airbnb is usually a great option for families with little kids, where the alternative is usually “book multiple hotel rooms, and split the parents between them.” Price transparency is good, and I won’t book a place that has a task list for me.
If you want to know what the moon blowing up would be like, give Seveneves by Neal Stephenson a read. It’s the last book that got me to stay up all night reading. First two thirds are a solid 9/10.