Short Term rentals are a $100 billion market that have reshaped global tourism, accelerated a nationwide housing crisis, and created fortunes for early adopters. But now, customers, the government, the public, and the host themselves are turning their back on a concept that started out as a fun alternative to stuffy hotel chains, but became everything wrong with modern real estate. The (Overdue) Collapse Of Short Term Rentals All right, the party’s over for Airbnb renters. The company said yesterday that its temporary ban on parties and other large, noisy events is now permanent. I’ve put all my savings into my unit. I’m following all the rules, paying all he taxes, buying the business license. Ultimately, our goal is to get more housing back in the housing market for people to be able to rent. I just uncovered a massive amount of debt that Airbnb hasn’t paid. On the books, they’re hiding tens of millions, hundreds of millions, possibly even a billion dollars plus of debt that they have not paid. So we are looking around and are saying, what can we do right away that makes more homes available? The short term rental market took off when Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia tried to rent out a spare room with an air mattress to attendees of a conference because they realized all the hotel rooms had been booked out. They called their service Air Bed and Breakfast, which was later shortened to the short stay app that you know and love or hate today. Airbnb is now worth more than hotel chains like Hilton and Wyndham combined. The company is by far the largest short term rental company and it has achieved excellent penetration into markets around the world where other similar peer to peer or network market apps like Uber, Door Dash, Lyft and even Amazon have failed to take share away from local competition. It was a good idea. Customers loved it for giving them a cheaper alternative to outdated hotels and hosts like the opportunity to earn extra income on a spare bedroom or even an entire separate property. But the four parties that make the short term rental market work, the customers, the hosts, the public and the platforms are all now dealing with four unique problems that are threatening to undo this market and take out a lot of other real estate investments with it. The first problem lies with the people who it’s hardest to feel sorry for, the hosts. Airbnb and other short term rental platforms provided a unique opportunity for people to profit off real estate in a totally new way. Having a roommate existed long before Airbnb, but the platform let homeowners offer their spare rooms to travelers who could pay up to triple what a long term roommate would pay since budget was the reason that they were looking for a roommate instead of a place of their own. The extra income was nice, but the added flexibility of a short term roommate was the biggest appeal to most people. If you had an extra bedroom to rent out in your apartment ,you could find along term room mate ,but then you run the risk that they are the type of person who … Read more