Airbnb dominated by professional landlords
Look, we have a couple problems: low interest rates, large variance in productivity &#x2F; earnings, really shitty hotels because they&#x27;re operating on old-world assumptions.<p>One under appreciated thing about apps like Uber and AirBnb is the star rating system. I know I&#x27;m a five star tenant. I know I never shit in the sink. I know I never leave a bunch of condoms or cigar butts all over the balcony or hotel room. But the hotel doesn&#x27;t know that. They need to steam clean the sheets and install super-fat-person-proof toilets. And elevators for the disabled. And a hotel room with a stove and usable fridge? Hah! Only two times have I had that and one was in a room that cost $10k a week (don&#x27;t ask, I was the +1).<p>Then it comes to AirBnb and global housing stock. Someone like me who is currently in Kiev in an AirBnb is always going to be able to out-spend a local. The key is to align incentives. I literally would not have come to Kiev if they&#x27;d banned AirBnb. I would have gone back to Lithuania (love Vilnius) or to Turkey or Estonia. With the drive to pull in tourist money going on worldwide why should cities ban AirBnb (or Uber for that matter)?<p>&quot;Because it&#x27;s driving up rents!&quot;<p>Ok, so let&#x27;s solve <i>that</i> problem. I have no issue with cities imposing a 30% tax on AirBnbs and using the income to build up the housing stock for locals. They should do this, it makes perfect sense.<p>&quot;Because AirBnbers are loud and disruptive!&quot;<p>Make hosts responsible for noise complaint fines and pretty quick loud tenants are going to get bad ratings.<p>&quot;Because I want community, not a bunch of transient AirBnbers that don&#x27;t even speak the local language!&quot;<p>If it is getting really, really bad, (say 20% or higher of housing stock in a community) maybe scale up the taxes to combat this. But let&#x27;s not miss the positives either. I&#x27;ve met a number of cool people both hosting them in my place just before traveling or by interacting with them in areas I never would have been in had I been staying in a hotel.<p>Don&#x27;t throw out the baby with the bath water and all that.