Airbnb experiences bad/good I booked my first "entire house"

>>1161423
Only used once, but will again. Got a chilling apartment in Brussels, just off Grand Place, picked the keys up of the Cafe down stairs. Was dirt cheap too.

Used it for pretty much holiday in the past 3-4 years. Ive stayed in London, Paris, Melbourne, Tokyo, LA and a few other places. Accommodation has always beenclean and in better location and far cheaper than any equivalent hotel or serviced apts. Only booked with accommodation that had at least a few reviews.

Only time it didnt turn out great was when i houseshared. The hosts were a couple of asshats. Will always book whole place now.

>>1161447
*pretty much every

Stayed in several houses in different countries, some a hotel room some a spare room in someones house.

Never had a bad experience, all the hosts are exceptionally nice and so much cheaper than an other options, I recommend it to everyone I can

To me whole place experience has always been good and alot of comfort for the price

I'm whole place host, been doing this for almost two years now. I've had only one guest experience (pruvate room) and it was great.

I found VRBO / Homeaway a good alternative to AirBnB, which tends to have premium pricing in certain locations ie NYC.

>>1161423
I've used air bnb for my entire European trip.... i met all of my hosts as they met me to give me keys except in Italy when the owners next door neighbour met me. They dont hang around for long, just to show you where everything is :)

they usually leave you some food and a nice note.

we had no washing facilities which was a pain ( even tho they were advertised as containing a washing machine)

I've used it once in Rome and my partner has used it a few times, would definitely recommend. Stayed in a house 45 mins outside Rome for £30 per night. Got the whole house; converted barn with mezzanine bed, second bedroom, two bathrooms, courtyard, grapes in the garden etc. Absolutely perfect.

>>1161423
I've used it 15-20 times.

I have ALWAYS gotten entire apartment.

In every single one, I have had to meet the owner beforehand to get the keys. They usually give a quick tour of the house, and give some friendly tips.

>>1162390
I even live in the house next door so guests who need something from me just have to ring my bell

>>1161423
I host in 2 countries and use it almost every day of the year (I travel 10 months of the year and almost entirely stay in Airbnbs night after night)

It is amazing. I've been in at least 50 different properties over the last 2 years and have no yet had a single (notable) bad experience.

Process varies per host but communication is usually pretty good if they're a good Airbnb host so you should find out pretty quickly.

Usually host meets you with keys but I've had keys delivered in lots of weird and wonderful ways!

>>1161423
>and I just want to know if I meet with the host or what happens
Damn, youre really fucking stupid for having to ask that here.

Had a couple bad experiences in Asia.

Like chinese trying to screw me over and force me to pay for utilities and air conditioning off Airbnb, which isn't allowed and is supposed to be included in the price on the site.

Other places were dirty and had cockroach infestations or fleas.

Used it last time I was in Spain (Granada to be exact). 4 bedroom split level apartment in a building that had a central open air shaft so you could look down & see neighbours windows/ac units. Stayed with a group of fellow Ausfags & returned home in the wee hours pissed as newts (heavily intoxicated), someone realised the sound of fucking was not coming from the tv or someone's laptop, the neighbours 2 floors below were going at it hard & their decision to leave the "shaft" window open magnified the sounds of their lovemaking. We started hooting & hollering and making grunting/sex noise and cheering them on - appalling behaviour I admit - which resulted in some angry Spanish being shouted at us, which only spurred us on further. It wasn't until a wine bottle came hurting out of the darkness below & shattered next to one of our windows that we retreated, someone shouted "lo siento" I think. Never heard anything bad from the owner. Besides that it was an uneventful stay.

Stayed at a airbnb with my girlfriend.. ended up in a threesome with the dude that rented out the place...

Airbnb is good though, just dont get drunk with the host

used it in a nice beach house in long island. ended up doing a photoshoot on the property. the lady kept calling and harassing us, threatening a law suit for months after

>>1162830
>photoshoot

porno.

>>1161423
Probs not gonna use hotels again unless I have to.

Ive only used it twice but both times have been great. I think its rare to run into a bad host

>>1162818
Cuck't

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Hitting Bavaria next week for the end of Oktoberfest, staying in Dietramszell (miles away) in an airbnb house, so wish me luck.

>>1162830

kek. threatening you for what

>>1162818

was getting cuck'd part of your plan?

>>1161423

when i think about using airbnb i always get the feeling that the host could sneak in and kill me when i'm asleep, have secret cameras to record me have sex, or the bed could be dirty

that's why i would rather pay a little extra for a hotel...i'm also scared of using uber for similar reasons

>>1164754
What, like hotel staff couldn't do that? Don't be absurd.

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>>1164754
>Scared of uber drivers before taxi drivers

>>1161423
Used Airbnb in Canada, Puerto Rico and Western Europe and had nothing but good experiences. I only stayed at very well reviewed spots besides one which had no reviews but still turned out to be amazing.
Saved thousands on hotels and had the best locations ever. My only advice is if you're summer traveling check to make sure the spots are air-conditioned if you are going somewhere where it is widely available. Unconditioned apartment in Paris in the middle of a heat wave was a fucking nightmare.

I used Airbnb twice in Japan, once in Kyoto and once in Osaka. Both were fine experiences. Never met the host in Kyoto but the place was pretty big and clean. Osaka was much smaller but still clean and comfy as fuck.

Would recommend but would also remind you that this was in Japan where you're not likely to get screwed over/robbed.

>>1164754
sure they can, so can the maids, the portiers, the owners, and anyone else part of a hotel staff.

>>1164891

at least i can sue the hotel in that case

erin andrews got 100 mil out of it

Holy shit I just looked at Tokyo and there are all these $20-30~ rooms, and a lot of them are well-reviewed private rooms too. This is just too cheap, isn't there some catch?

Used it in Japan, Taiwan and Korea.
Japan was a small apartment in a quiet residential area with the host repeating five times in the booking confirmation to be quiet, not to ask people when getting lost how to get to the apartment all that shit. Stay was pretty nice but the description was a bit misleading. Yes, it's only one stop away from the central station but the train only runs every 25 minutes so it was not that convenient after all.

Korea I stayed in a super nice place in the middle of Hongdae. Really nice host, never met him though as the door was one of those PIN number operated locks.

Taiwan I stayed in a big ass apartment in a high rise and the host gave me a tour of the area as well, the other stays were some B&Bs and hostels, all booked through Airbnb though so no real different from using booking.com or similar sites when it comes to staying at those kinds of places.

Just look at the reviews and all, you should be fine.
Though Airbnb reviews are ass licking galore.

>>1165078
you can't make a single noise

>>1165080

>I stayed in a room that asked me to be quiet
>every airbnb place in Japan must be like this

Nope. And besides, what's wrong with having to be quiet? Do you really feel that much of a need to make noise?

>>1165091
literally every place is like this because japs are autists

>>1165080
>>1165091
>>1165093
From what i've heard its because neighbours are likely to make noise complaints if its too loud, probably because its loud noises not in japanese freaks them out or something.

I've booked a stay in Tokyo for a week in a fwe months, an apartment to myself and the host looks like they just leave guests alone for a week which is what I want.

I've stayed in Airbnb's before, one in Osaka which was great and another one in Tokyo(not the same one as above) said it had 6 beds when it just had two super shitty sofabeds and a futon, the towels clearly weren't washed/the apartment probably wasn't clean since they were still soaking wet when we got in the apartment.

Still, it was a fair bit cheaper than booking a hotel and the location was pretty good.

Do most AirBnb hosts live in the apartments they rent out? Or is it just a property they own just to rent out?

being to 6 different countries over a period of 1 month and 3 weeks (seperate trips) , also going on another trip 2 countries 1 month. All air bnb never had any issues. Just make sure the airbnb host has a lot of reviews and they're all positive.

>>1165093
Yes, I too am deeply offended when I travel to a foreign land and the people there behave differently from the culture in my home country. Why can't they be more like us? It would certainly make travel easier if we did not have to deal with everything being different all the time!

>>1165091
>>1165093
>>1165253
it's not because japs are autists, it's because their walls are thinner wtf do you think they're afraid of loud noises?
they are pretty anal though, I remember one I browsed through had a "no masturbation" rule

>>1165258
depends on the location and season, but i'd guess about 50/50, or maybe 70/30 in favor of professionals

>>1161423
How does it work and how much is it?

I'm back packing around South America soon, will it be a safe cheap option?

>>1164977
fair point you have there

Me and my friends booked a big apartment in the middle of Riga and the middle of Krakow. Both were pretty damn good.

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>>1164741

Landlords perspective here.

I like AirBnB, but it does have some drawbacks. They aren't the best company to work with, and I've had to get lawyers involved to handle a few of the more egregious incidents. Not that that's unusual. I evict a few people every month on my normal units, often for what I find to be really stupid reasons. Sometimes you need to release the hounds to get things done.

I just wish AirBnB would be a bit more cooperative when dealing with clear cut cases. I'm not talking about someone dropping something heavy and cracking a floor title. Shit happens to the best of us at times. I'm talking about people driving rental cars through the garage doors, or breaking into the tool shed, taking the diesel, and setting the dock on fire at my lakefront unit. AirBnB caters to vacation goers and tourists. As such, I have a lot of alcohol related incidents.

If you ever start doing AirBnB, know exactly what your region's tenant rights are. It's worth having a private security company on call, just to physically throw squatters out. I haven't had to deal with that recently, but letting someone drag things out to the point where they have tenancy can easily cost you thousands.

AirBnB is a great way to travel and experience things beyond staying in carbon copy cloned hotel chains, and the associated pools that smell like urine, mold problems, and random filth in the dimly lit hotel rooms of equivalent prices. Plus, you can redeem points/miles from several major credit cards.

>>1164754
I'd be more worried about petty theft, or random breakins at a hotel. Like uber, and other 'contractor' style companies, they heavily focus on customer support, often at the expense of the providers. Some minimum wage maid at a Hilton stealing your phone isn't going to give you any recourse. They'll just blow you off, or offer you some worthless coupons. AirBnB will delist you and/or fine the host if you have any evidence.

>>1166263
I can't even imagine that airbnb is remotely profitable for serious landlords. You're looking at, what, a 20 year return on a residential property, MAYBE? the entire time, it could be burnt to the groundby a bad tenant.

sounds like its a way for people with underwater mortgages to try and hang on, tbqhm8

but I dunno man, I just know shit in general. I'm no landlord

>>1166264
It's location location location. Most properties are terrible dedicated AirBnB units. They function in a similar fashion to hotels. Hotels make all of their operating costs on a few specific days of the year. Maybe a local college graduates that day. Maybe there's a regional sports game. Maybe there's a local festival. Anything outside of those days is profit.

AirBnB is similar. They sit idle most of the time, but during the peaks they are booked nearly continuously.

For example, I have a nice little house on a lake in a quiet area that is still easily accessible and next to a major tourist hotspot. Nobody is going to rent it for what I want. It's too remote, and too small to store your shit in. But it is an absolute dream spot for a quiet vacation in the woods of New England. The picturesque getaway spot. I can rent it out for absurd prices during peak season.

So, I have a nice little house that I can lend to family, or use myself in the off season that I prefer, and it generates a small but solid profit on top of paying for the mortgage, maintenance, and associated taxes.

>>1165574
you pay the host, they approve, then you contact each other to decide when to give keys, and agree upon a time to check out.

>>1166264
oh no it can be very profitable. my mummy has a waterside property in the center of the capital of my country, it maybe costs 1400$/month in payments and fees, and easily gets hired for 240$/night

>>1166308
what country do you live in?

where I live, these sorts of operations get triple taxed. you get taxed on windfall profits on property, you get taxed on rental income lumped into your regular income bracket, which pushes up your bracket, and there's a 3% yearly property tax on the total value of hte property.

shit can be nearly impossible to turn a profit on

>>1166313
sweden.
a couple of years ago airbnb decided to get clean and pay taxes so we decided it wasn't really worth it, only hired it a couple of times since then. Taxes were maybe 30%, but maybe they'd increase if you rented it a lot

Namefagging since this board doesn't have IDs. I'm

>>1166263
>>1166266

>>1166313
There's lots of places that you can't AirBnB without crazy taxes. I just avoid them. Have a few towns where NIMBYs have made it illegal. Not my problem if they want to piss on their own tourism.

AirBnBs make up a tiny, tiny sliver of my units. They are a lot more work, but the cash flow can be substantial if you find a good one.

>>1166264
>You're looking at, what, a 20 year return on a residential property, MAYBE? the entire time, it could be burnt to the groundby a bad tenant.

I somehow didn't catch this line before. These are things insurance is for, and some degree of tenant screening. AirBnB has a decent insurance policy, but it can get complicated when they are in a pissing contest with my umbrella insurance that my business has. Worst case, they are just a cost of doing business. The prices should reflect the chance of that happening.

As for the ROI, real estate is a long game, and it's one where you get to take advantage of leverage. Say you buy a house for 100,000 cash in hand. You can put 20,000 in a downpayment, and mortgage the other 80,000. Rent it for 1000 a month. After all expenses, including maintenance, taxes, the mortgage, etc, you have 150 a month. That's 1800 a year in pure cashflow, or 9% cash on cash value. That doesn't include appreciation potential, or the principal that you pay off. Plus you just pulled 80% of your 100 grand back and can move onto another project.

Yeah a property might take 25 years to pay off it's mortgage, but as long as you cash flow, you don't care. So what if the housing market tanks and my house is worth 40% of what I paid for it? As long as I'm cashflowing, I don't care. The amount I put into the property is peanuts compared to what I get out of it, and mortgaging it makes the percentage of the yearly payout higher. That's good debt.

I'll stop posting about general real estate practices for now though.

>>1166327
>tenant screening
airbnb is actually facing down a lawsuit from the justice department for screening tenants based on "racism" kek

>what if the market tanks
>cashflow big MONEY
uh, the problem is that real estate can go from being an asset to a liability, which would be the case in terms of a market crash. the downside potential is huge, and there's a reason investors dump the hard asset, then trade for CDO's early, so they can't be accused of pumping their assets, and then eventually they dump the cdos too.

I dunno man, call me skeptical.

>>1166332
Crashes are an opportunity for those with the knowledge to exploit them. Owning rentals is radically different than passively investing in CDOs, particularly resliced and repackaged ones. I've weathered several crashes now. Properly managed, you tighten your margins and maybe fold on a few less ideal properties.

-----------------------------

Curious what people specifically look for in AirBnB units.

>>1166345
I was just saying that the CDO's create the opportunity for the initial owners of the property to resell the property, and have that property change hands ad infinitum without tanking the price of the properties because somehow the CDO provides "better market information," than the length of ownership of the property itself. it's just a mechanism by which properties can be dumped in an efficient manner without triggering lawsuits

without central planning I have severe doubts the real estate market would have recovered in a way that costs were recouped

the whole "the principal can fall by half and rents can fall by half, but it's still a good investnment" argument doesn't really fly with me

>>1166358
I never said anything about rents falling. They usually don't fall significantly until well after the crash because foreclosures increase demand for rentals. Proper screening lets you sift for those that just fell on rough times for a while from those that are reckless enough to not be able to afford rent. Bit more labor intensive, but it works.

And, for what it's worth, it is possible for rents to fall dramatically and still turn a profit. A unit that has been appreciating for a long time, or was simply a really good buy, isn't going to collapse under a market hit unless it's a cataclysmic one. Most of my units can survive moderate hits and still turn a profit. As long as I can keep vacancies low, I can take some pretty substantial hits for several years before I have to really start worrying.

>>1166345
you mean what tenants look for? location, wi-fi cleanlyness and comfort in that order. location is of course 500x more important than all else

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So do you even get breakfast from these places? If not, what a rip off!

My family has a house in the Philippines near Manila that's basically being completely unused. I was thinking of renting it out through Airbnb. Would the location be in demand enough to go through with it? How many tenants could I expect every month? I live in the United States but we have family living in that area that can help us take care of basic maintenance and things. Before I look more in depth into it, I'm just wondering if it would be profitable enough to even consider it.

>>1161423
Only used once in Berlin long before they started the government cracking down on flats after passing a new law they can't use Airbnb to rent out apartments.

It wasn't a good experience because the actual owner who placed the ad wasn't there and so she had her boyfriend do the work. He didn't speak much English and he got mad at me for having smelly clothes even though the hostel I was at in Berlin didn't have a washer and a dryer. He was tolerant of me going out at night and coming back late. because it's Berlin. Also there was this weird rule that I couldn't download anything with the WLAN I was connected to due to a weird law or rule placed by the apartment and if I did download, it would have been a 1300 euro fine (can any German confirm this law, because this seems extreme for downloading stuff).

I would rather shell out extra money and stay at a hostel the next time I am in Berlin unless I personally know someone living in the city, because I am never using Airbnb again. I got a less-than-stellar review by the host and just deleted my Airbnb and never gone onto the website again.

>>1166666

>>1166660
>>>/t/696828

>>1161423
how legit is that "NO PARTIES" rule enforced?

i'm not talking a college-tier party either. just inviting a couple girls over having some drinks, some music, etc. not overly disturbing loud music but nothing lame either?

will i get in trouble? sued? fined?

>>1166853
Depends on a ton of factors.

Is your host staying at the house? Does the city/town have noise ordinances? Does the host know how many people will be over?

There's countless stupid things that could go wrong. For example, you could be staying at a property that has a septic tank instead of being on sewer. Too many people could overload the system and cause damages that will cost upwards of 30 grand to repair. It's not likely, particularly for a short stay where you aren't massively overloading the house, but it's possible.

The host might not be operating completely legally either, which means they could get heavily fined by the city if you attract attention. Realistically speaking, this isn't your problem to deal with, but it can certainly be a hassle for you if you are dealing with someone who is a particularly petulant child.

>>1166660
I believe that law is only for illegal torrenting from fileshare sites like Utorrent or PirateBay. If you download anything from an official site like Google Play or iTunes, then you will be fine

>>1166862
Not to mention private trackers. It might be illegal, but getting caught is exceedingly rare, even in Germany.

I have dipshits trying to torrent stuff in units with complimentary internet access, not just AirBnB. It's really easy to detect most torrenting with even low end enterprise routing equipment, and I just have them automatically throttled to dialup speeds for 24 hours. If they're smart enough to get around the automated filters, they probably wont generate angry letters from copyright companies.

>>1166853
Really depends. If you don't destroy anything and don't disturb the neighbors they won't know or care anyway. But if they find out you will be thrown out and probably banned from airbnb.