Agree with your friend. Best bit of advice I got when starting up renting out on airbnb was never count the money till it’s in the bank. A Christmas guest cancelled a week stay with two days notice……ouch. I did get a rebooking but at a much lower cost.
Interesting to here your friends cancel Willy nilly without caring about the financial loss that might be incurred by them and the host. My cancellation is free up to five days in advance then the guest loses everything. I go out my way to try and avoid any financial losses to my guests by letting them change their dates or if I get another booking on their cancelled dates partially refunding their money. I may change my attitude now.
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My friends are edge cases when it comes to airbnb use and travel in general. As nomads we likely travel significantly differently than the vast majority of your guests so I probably wouldn’t judge everyone by us or what we tend to do. When you have literally no schedule and no reason to go anywhere, changing on a whim is much more likely than someone who has limited vacation that has to be used on certain dates.
My feeling is as a HO. They are two separate things. Airbnb was a great idea but now in many cities like Edinborough it has had a disastrous effect on local housing in both the buying and long term rented sector. Whereas THS seems to me beneficial to the owner , the animals and the sitter.
One of the few really win win situations!
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Yeah, Airbnb has done that in many cities. It’s awful. I HATE using them but there is no really viable alternative at this point.
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@tombell13 , what exactly has negatively affected the local housing market? Is it because people do not want to buy near AirBnb homes and the neighbors do not like living near them with strangers coming and going at any hour of the day?
@CreatureCuddler , is this because they have gotten expensive? I have stayed in seven or eight AirBnbs – they are convenient but, for me, are typically not as comfortable as a hotel room.
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For the local market impact, landlords can generally (non covid times) make more money from renting out on airbnb than they can by renting long-term. So, many apartments in popular city centers are being bulk rented by management companies and used as airbnbs. This means either less housing for locals or more expensive housing for locals. Which means many locals are having to leave the areas they’ve always lived. Look at Venice. It’s basically just a giant island hotel/airbnb now. Very few locals can afford to live in the city any more and airbnb has a lot to do with that.
I choose airbnbs because I tend to stay places long term so a hotel just isn’t viable. I need a kitchen, separate living area, etc. But yes, they’ve also gotten expensive, especially during covid.
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Thats about it in a nutshell. It has had a devastating affect on normal people’s lives. My own view s that second hone owners in the UK should pay 2-3x the usual local taxes …. Even that may not be enough …. The original idea of airbnb was wonderful but it has morphed sadly. THS otoh is good all round
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I once stayed in an Airbnb for a couple of nights where I did also look after the cat 
.
That was the added attraction?
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That is your opinion.
Mine is I employ three people to help run my Airbnb. The families who come there are adding to the economy of a seaside town even in the dead of winter. Our guests contribute to our towns economy. And best of all, they have fun on our three mile beach.
At least my home is not sitting empty. It is our one and only home so no second homes here. If I took on a long term rent it would defeat the whole purpose of having it. It’s our bolt hole when things go wrong.
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I think the difference is small town vs large touristy city where now locals can no longer afford to live, if they can even find an apartment. In cities where housing is already in a shortage situation, having a large quantity of the nicest housing tied up only for tourists definitely has a negative impact on the local population. And private home that you’re renting when not using it vs management company with 50 apartments under their control that they only use for airbnb are very different. You’re using airbnb as it was designed to be used.
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@CreatureCuddler & @tombell13 - I am not sure which country you are from but in the UK I think the opposite is true. The small seaside towns are the places suffering most as the prices of housing is really expensive but there are only low paid jobs in the area hence whenever a house comes for sale it is bought by someone from a more affluent area either to use as an Airbnb or to use as a second, holiday home.
When used as an Airbnb at least the community benefits. The Airbnbs have guests all year and those guests are spending money all year.
The major problem is holiday homes. Rich people buy these then use them for a few weeks each year only. Areas that have a lot of holiday homes turn into ghost towns during the winter months - the impact that has on communities is devastating!
Big cities are more resilient, tending to have historically always had large numbers of rental properties and young transient communities. The job opportunities are greater and pay is far higher in these areas. It os true that this increases rents for those wanting to live in the very heart of big cities but this has to be balanced out against the vast amount of revenue that the tourists using Airbnb properties bring to the area.
I think what you are doing is great … and is exactly what airbnb was as it originally started. I have used airbnb and early on we as a family were staying in Edinburgh in a spare room. This was great for us and helped the woman who owned it afford her mortgage. So then , and with you it seems to be a win win .
I still use airbnb … but now I try to avoid the type of lock up airbnb which are owned by companies. Of course I can understand someone buying a second property and using airbnb to pay the mortgage down. I am not blaming those people …but the affect is to shut out the young from starter homes in certain cities … and in some areas such as Cornwall make even renting pretty well impossible.
I did not intend to blame airbnb itself. My only point was that THS seems to benefit animals, sitters and houseowners without the same potential negative consequences.
There are of course benefits to airbnb as well
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Lot of truth here … in what everyone says …. as they say it’s complicated! My main point was not against Abnb but how THS seems to benefit many with remarkably few down sides. There must be some but
1/ Great for my dog ….
2/ Great for house to be lived in
3/ Great ( I hope ) for sitter
Reminds me a little of attempts at having local “ currencies” which are traded and people trade other things than money. They were a nice idea but have not worked out so well. THS on the other hand seems to be really going from strength to strength
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I agree, I have been an Airbnb host for many years and use it as a guests regularly. I love the platform but can see the positives and also the negatives .
I am relatively new to THS, I also love this platform and , as yet can only see positives!
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And smaller touristy cities/towns, like Bend, Oregon. I have friends there who are leaving. Their retail and journalism incomes are no longer sufficient to cover basic housing. Teachers, firefighters, retail workers, hospitality workers…without them, what kind of a town will there be?
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It’s location specific. Sure there are places that benefit. But there are many that don’t. There’s a reason why many cities are banning or strictly limiting airbnb now. The negative impact on the locals ability to live normal and cost effective lives was becoming too much.
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