Airbnb red flag?

[HappyParty]

I am planning to meet a guy in a few weeks in NYC, but unfortunately neither of us can host. Turns out that Airbnbs are a lot cheaper than hotels in the area, so I booked one. The renter of the space asked for some basic information about the trip, and I told him I was coming to NYC alone to visit a friend. He responded by requesting that I confirm that I will be the only person staying "in total." I told him that my friend and I had made plans for him to come over and for us to "make dinner together." He said that would be fine.

 

I don't know, but something about his follow-up question raises a red flag for me. I think the reason he was asking is because his building has a 10 PM quiet-hours policy, and he doesn't want tenants making noise and drawing attention to themselves (he told me to tell anyone who asks that I am a friend who is staying at his place while he is away for the weekend). The question does seem a little strange/intrusive regardless, but it is his house, his rules.

 

Should I be at all concerned, or am I overreacting?

[rvwnsd]

Airbnb rentals are illegal in many places. His apartment building might have a no-sublet clause and if it does an Airbnb could get him kicked out.

[HappyParty]

Airbnb rentals are illegal in many places. His apartment building might have a no-sublet clause and if it does an Airbnb could get him kicked out.

So you think his question has more to do with his fears of being kicked out for having an Airbnb, and that I'm reading too much into it?

[P Gren]

I am planning to meet a guy in a few weeks in NYC, but unfortunately neither of us can host. Turns out that Airbnbs are a lot cheaper than hotels in the area, so I booked one. The renter of the space asked for some basic information about the trip, and I told him I was coming to NYC alone to visit a friend. He responded by requesting that I confirm that I will be the only person staying "in total." I told him that my friend and I had made plans for him to come over and for us to "make dinner together." He said that would be fine.

 

I don't know, but something about his follow-up question raises a red flag for me. I think the reason he was asking is because his building has a 10 PM quiet-hours policy, and he doesn't want tenants making noise and drawing attention to themselves (he told me to tell anyone who asks that I am a friend who is staying at his place while he is away for the weekend). The question does seem a little strange/intrusive regardless, but it is his house, his rules.

 

Should I be at all concerned, or am I overreacting?

Often Airbnbs charge a little more for an extra person as well.

[rvwnsd]

So you think his question has more to do with his fears of being kicked out for having an Airbnb, and that I'm reading too much into it?

Whoops - didn't post the complete thought.

 

Yes, I think his question has to do with his violating a rule and the "quiet time" that is observed after 10:00 PM.

 

I had a downstairs neighbor who was Airbnb-ing his condo. The CCRs stated that he could have no more than one tenant per month and our miniature Conrad Hilton had a freakin' revolving door going on down there. He finally started doing longer-term vacation rentals, which the HOA approved.

[Guest]

@HappyParty , it’s likely as @rvwnsd says. My guess is that there wasn’t a picture of the outside of the building or common spaces in the ad...just probably some very non-descript ones of the interior without an address. In NYC, landlords frown on Airbnb for a number of legitimate reasons; noise control, overcrowding, profiting from rent controlled units, safety regs, etc. My guess is that, as long as you follow the rules and stay quiet, it’s the renter at risk more than you.

[maninsoma]

I am sure he is just concerned about noise from renters creating problems for neighbors and, thus, problems for him.

 

I had an upstairs neighbor evicted several years ago because the inconsiderate slobs thought nothing of renting their small 1-bedroom apartment to groups of 4 young people at a time who would make a ton of noise until it was time to go out to a bar and then make a ton of noise again right after the bars closed. In other words, I had about 3-4 hours of quiet per night most nights. At first I just thought someone new had moved in upstairs who was inconsiderate, but it didn't take me long to realize that every time I went upstairs to complain about the noise a different person answered the door. The final proof came when one of their renters was outside my apartment in the hallway with her suitcase and her stuff strewn all over, with my supposed neighbor standing over her telling her. Guess she overstayed her booking so the "master tenant" made her pack her suitcase in the hallway. I decided to open my door to ask what was going on and my supposed neighbor said the woman was a friend who had just been visiting. I told her that I was aware that she had been having a lot of "visitors" and it was quite disruptive to other tenants in the building.

 

The landlord was quite interested to find out from my identifying their listing that he was charging them $1,500/month rent and they were taking in more than $3,000/month. Within a couple of months, they were gone and a new actual tenant moved in.

 

I'm not entirely anti-VRBO/airbnb and when I visit LA I typically look for an apartment because I can get something nicer than a hotel for less money. But I would never create a nuisance like most of the renters of the place above me did, and the "hosts" usually are very clear in their listings about limiting the number of guests, a ban on having parties, etc.

[BaronArtz]

Hotels in NYC are indeed expensive. There is an app called 'recharge' that lets you book hotel rooms by the minute. Prices are $1-2 per minute and the hotels, although not luxury, are OK. Think 'Hilton Garden Inn'. Works like a charm. And totally legal.

 

https://www.recharge.co/

[HappyParty]

Thank you all very much for your thoughts and comments, really appreciate it!

[cany10011]

I think I’m old fashioned. I’ve never air b&b’d though many friends have. I know some neighbors who do it and make a lot of money doing so, but i can’t imagine the idea of a stranger staying in my place with all my antiques and valuables. I was slow to adopt Uber as well.

[+ Gar1eth]

Just for some info-and while I haven't stayed in any of them for about 6 years now-I found these hotels perfectly nice and reasonably priced back then. I stayed in two or three of them over a two year period. I esp liked the one in Times Square.

 

https://www.applecorehotels.com/

 

Gman

[+ Axiom2001]

I've stayed in airbnb's in Berlin, Barcelona, Los Angeles, and within 3 weeks-- Rome. ...have had only positive experiences in each one. And in every one of them-- quiet prevailed, which I presume is a given.

 

In Pacific Grove, CA which is on the Monterey Peninsula-- some citizens want STR banned and have a ballot measure placed on the city's upcoming election in November. Shame on them!

[Sean Y]

We have a n0-sublet policy on our rental lease agreement and no overnight guest staying over 5 days without approval from landlord. In SF where there’s a super tight rent control in place and a strong protection for squatters’ rights, it’s really difficult to evict. A friend of ours had some friends from school crashed at his place for the summer while they were doing a summer internship. When the summer was over, they refused to move so my friend couldn’t do anything about it. He ended the lease and moved out but when the landlord came over to check on the place, they found the squatters and had to high attorneys to evict. My friend got sent the attorney’s fees and repair when the “friends” trashed the place.

[+ LIguy]

Am I wrong or do the renters on AirBNB add a cleaning fee to the nightly rental rate? I've seen this on Craigslist and other rental sites.

[+ SundayZip]

Am I wrong or do the renters on AirBNB add a cleaning fee to the nightly rental rate? I've seen this on Craigslist and other rental sites.

 

There's typically a service fee and a cleaning fee in addition to the nightly rate.

[+ FreshFluff]

Hotels in NYC are indeed expensive. There is an app called 'recharge' that lets you book hotel rooms by the minute.

 

From the NYT:

Recharge’s customers — more than 30,000 as of November — are mostly locals and include mothers who want a clean place to nurse their babies or pump their breast milk, people seeking a quiet space to take a phone call and those seeking a midday reprieve. “We’ve even had fathers who need to change their child’s diaper and would rather do it in a hotel room than in a coffee shop bathroom,” Mr. Bamfo said.

 

BaronArtz, I'm glad to hear your infant has been fed and changed.

Edited September 4, 2018 by FreshFluff

[samhexum]

Op-ed: Don’t make travel to NYC even less affordable — legalize short-term rentals

by Aimee Thrasher

 

I moved to New York City in 1980 and the biggest problem I encountered was the lack of affordable housing, even back then. Four years later, I was priced out of Manhattan and chose to move to Queens.

While I changed boroughs because of skyrocketing rent prices, I fell in love with my neighborhood. There is no area more diverse in the world than Queens. From the local restaurants to the unparalleled boutiques, each small business is unique and special in its own way. This is why in 1998 I made the decision to purchase a small mother/daughter house in Queens. It was my dream to be a homeowner and this house would be an investment in my family’s future.

When I neared retirement in 2015, I realized that I could not live off of my social security and pension. So I fixed up the first floor apartment of my home and listed it on Airbnb as a short-term rental.

My introduction to the platform was through traveling with my family. One hotel room with two beds was inadequate for our needs and yet we could not afford two rooms. Airbnb offered comfortable, home-like accommodations that could fit our entire family at a fraction of the price. Yes, we would be without some amenities, but what mattered was that we were able to take a trip together as a family.

As a host, I’ve become very passionate about hospitality and giving my guests the best possible experience, like I had gotten years ago with my family. I am proud to share my home with New York’s visitors and show new people around the borough. My guests come from around the world to spend their money in New York. They shop in our grocery stores, eat in our restaurants, go to our shops and use our transit system.

Our local government should be celebrating short-term renters, not trying to keep them out, but new legislation threatens to do just that. An ambiguous and arbitrary bill that’s currently being considered by the City Council would limit the number of guests to two people, when visits to my home typically consist of families made up of three or four people. Airbnb was a way for families to travel affordably and this bill would make our city even less accessible to lower income visitors. Do they regulate hotels to that number of guests? The answer is likely no.

These regulations would strike a significant blow to tourism outside of Manhattan and the traditional tourism districts. Just when people have started to book travel to New York City again, we risk locking them out.

For me personally, these rules would be devastating. While Airbnb might be supplemental income for some, it is my ONLY source of income. If I lose my ability to rent on Airbnb, I won’t be able to pay my mortgage and I will lose my home. I am 72 years old and I don’t have anywhere else to go. Airbnb is the only reason I am able to stay in my home.

I know I am not the only older New Yorker who relies on short-term renters to stay in their home. Were our local government to concentrate more on assisting those of us on fixed incomes and less on unnecessary regulation, maybe this wouldn’t be the case. Judging by current events, they would rather work towards helping the hotel industry than our city’s most vulnerable.

If the New York City Council cares about our city’s seniors, homeowners or the local economy, then they will stop this bill from becoming the law. There is still time to do what is right for real New Yorkers.

[+ Lucky]

This is a controversial topic in the desert. Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage are working to completely ban short term rentals. Peaceful residential neighborhoods are being turned into hotels.

[rvwnsd]

On 10/9/2021 at 7:45 AM, Lucky said:

This is a controversial topic in the desert. Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage are working to completely ban short term rentals. Peaceful residential neighborhoods are being turned into hotels.

Plus, unlike hotels, the neighborhoods don't have a security force or on-site management to monitor the comings and goings of guests who can act when behavior gets out of hand. That responsibility falls on neighborhood owner-occupants who get to deal with the "guests." 

On the other hand, broad-brush bans hurt owner-occupants who want to rent out a room/part of their home /a guest house on a short-term basis. 

[jeezifonly]

In cities like PS there is a lot of the get off my lawn ethos 

“I am superior to the tourists, was here first, and I don’t like people who stay up after 9, listen to music I don’t know, and make cooking smells in their kitchens I don’t recognize, so no vrbo in my Complex Phase 2” 

“I will take a hit or two off a passing joint when I go to kick them out, just to be gracious”

[EastCoastBtm]

This is an under-served market.  There needs to be more rentals, just made for two people. 

 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Key West went through this as well, but many years back when the Airbnb trend was just starting.

They banned anything less than 30 days without having a short-term, transient lodging license.  That particular license is anywhere from $50-65k.  

It's kept a lot of would-be party neighborhoods in Old Town more quiet and owner/local oriented.

[+ nycman]

1 hour ago, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

Key West went through this as well, but many years back when the Airbnb trend was just starting.

They banned anything less than 30 days without having a short-term, transient lodging license.

Now, if they could just fix the catastrophe that the cruise ship industry has caused……

[Deadlift1]

Aimee Thrasher needs to sell her place in queens and move to south Jersey or Pa.  She will be able to pay cash for her place plus have extra for a next egg.  

[rvwnsd]

1 hour ago, EastCoastBtm said:

This is an under-served market.  There needs to be more rentals, just made for two people. 

 

The conversion of entire apartment buildings to airBnB rentals has exacerbated the existing housing shortage. That's another issue these laws intend to address.