Confessions of an Airbnb Host
I know a few essentially unemployed, all-but-officially-moved-in-with-their-boyfriend/girlfriend folks who make their pizza and liquor money by renting out their apartment on Airbnb. Most acknowledge that it's legally sketchy--and probably violating their lease--but generally avoid putting the blame for the city's rising rents on themselves.
Fortunately, The Billfold got a hold of someone more blunt:
Logan: You said you’re not breaking any laws, but you don’t want me to use your real name.
Anon: Ehhhhhhh, yeah, probably not. Just because of the landlords getting wind. I’d like to keep as low a profile as possible. You know, AirBnB is the biggest thing in SF driving up housing prices. People are taking 2 bedrooms off the market renting them out to foreigners or travelers instead of having a full time resident in there. So there are fewer places to live. They say getting an apt in SF now is harder than getting a job. It’s SO competitive to find a place worth living in. People aren’t moving
Logan: That makes sense, but what are you basing it on?
Anon: It’s just a fact. Everyone talks about it. Here, look at this: “‘Many landlords decided they would be able to make more money by renting (their properties) as tourist space,’ said Ted Gullicksen, president of the San Francisco Tenants’ Union, which promotes renters’ rights. ‘We’re seeing a big loss of rental housing stock, which we’re already losing through other means. This is added pressure.’” That’s from The San Francisco Chronicle.
Logan: Well then, you’re contributing to that problem.
Anon: I guess, but I’m okay with it. It’s making it a wealthier city. Richer people mean more taxes, mean better resources. So what’s so wrong with building up a strong economy in SF? So artists can’t live downtown? What’s so wrong with that? There are places I’ll never be able to afford either, but I’m not complaining. I don’t get why this is such a big deal.
I'm not completely sure about the whole "richer people means more taxes" bit, especially considering the Mayor went out of his way in attempting to block taxing Airbnb hosts (all because a major campaign donor happened to invest in the company), but yeah, fuck artists! And Big Bird too!
Comments
A housing shortage? How about Build More Housing?
more overpriced condos? give us some details on your master plan.
Ideally we would build housing of all types: ownership, rentals, subsidized. People from all over the world want to live here and the supply shortages reduce our city's potential. But unfortunately, EVERY proposed development inspires anger, fear, or some other stultifying emotion from one group or another.
Yes, more overpriced condos please. Because otherwise, the yuppies wiling to pay for overpriced condos are bidding against you and me for the reasonably priced rentals. Of which, you may have noticed, there presently are none.
And as long as I'm dreaming: run BART 24/7 so that living in the east bay isn't a death sentence for anyone who wants a social life.
Okay... where are you going to put these new houses, underground? Or are you willing to level the entire city to "save" it?
There are quite a number of underutilized lots in the Mission (South Van Ness, for example), Dogpatch, Potrero, etc etc. Unfortunately everything is so mucked up, that it takes soooo many years to get anything even to the point where people can start opposing it.
But are there enough "underutilized lots" to make enough of a difference? Seems VERY unlikely.
You've also got to consider that transferring ownership of property = higher prices for the new tenants.
Unfortunately as long as people want to keep moving here, SF is always going to be space constrained and more expensive, especially in the established areas. Expansion of our housing stock is better than doing nothing or having newcomers fight over the few scraps that are left. (BTW, there also a lot of empty land on the southeast side of the city.)
Parking lot behind old Sears Building on Chavez. St. anthony's parking lot. bank of America parking lot on Mission Street. Safeway parking lot on Mission St. and San Jose Avenue. Parking lot next to Salvation Army store. Surface level parking lots or housing near BART?
Build more housing? That's crazy talk, man. We have to preserve the historic vacant storefronts, parking lots and gas stations of the Mission, or the enemy (roughly defined as anyone who has moved here more than a year after whoever's talking) will win! If we all pull together and block anything with even a whiff of new construction, we can nip this little economic upturn in the bud, and return SF to its glory days of being a sleepy navy town where nothing ever changes.
Richer people do mean more tax revenue dummy. Sales tax revenue. The creatives, and big bird (presumably) work in the service sector, which provides them casual work schedules so they can be creative more than those of us with square jobs. When those bar tartine tabs go up, so do their wages. I have friends who make their rent in a 25-hour week working at foodie restaurants. In this era of America, living in a city likely involves gathering an income from people with more money than you.
The air bnb thing is pretty serious, and seriously controversial, and there are countless instances where it may be 'just' and 'unjust' but i don't think it's a bad thing for couples to occasionally rent out their own apartments, maybe they're not ready to live with one another, don't you think? There's also lots of instances where air bnb ers are renting rooms that would otherwise simply not be on the market at all, like an office in a 2br apartment that is not needed for anything else but would be too small or in violation of the lease to rent out full time.
Sadly, to live in SF and not be wealthy or work for google or some shit means reconciling yourself to the fact that your departure will likely be due to being priced out of the city. This is our future.
The best we can hope for is another massive quake to scare people off.
so a girl down the hall from me works for air bnb & rents her shit out ALL THE TIME! i'm often woken up by the sound of luggage wheels rolling past my door, & a little worried that one of these random renters will get bold & fuck up our building or something stupid. but she's a nice girl. she has something at stake with her job & apartment involved, & she seems to only rent to congenial females. but i won't hesitate to rat her out if one of these renters gets out of line.
& kevmo, your on FIRE with the controversial topics. keep it up!
Remember if you rent someone your place for over 30 days they are under rent control and you can't kick them out.
I'm not sure there's even a 30 day threshold. If they refused to move out, you'd be seriously fucked.
And even if there was a 30 day requirement, even if they were only supposed to stay a weekend, you'd have to serve them a notice to quit and after that successfully prosecute an unlawful detainer in court and enforce it with police. And if the guest goes to the Tenants Union, then you're really off to the races; as I'm sure they are chomping at the bit to go after airbnb hosts for illegally taking so much stock off the market.
Expensive and lengthy process. And if you aren't the owner of the flat; good luck with doing that quietly.
Someone could make a lot of money, shaking down hosts that are obvious renters themselves & running fulltime airbnb flats. Refuse to move without payment of "relocation money"; which in the San Francisco Rent Ordinance is pegged at $5,000. God it would be so easy and, if you choose only the most egregious hosts, only slightly kharma-negative.
Meatwad: Room for rent?
Master Shake: Look Meatwad, sometimes you have to rent a room instead of work.
Meatwad: But who's room is gonna be rented is my question.
Master Shake: Your room.
Meatwad: No kidding.
Master Shake: It's just until this ear infection clears up, then I'll be able to go back to work again.
Meatwad: Yeah well, I don't see no ears.
Master Shake: Well you're not about to have a mouth and I mean it! I'll rip it off!
There's no question this is illegal and landlords are already evicting tenants for renting on AirBnB, so when this guy/ girl loses his/ her apartment I'm going to feel absolutely no sympathy.
It would be great if someone, such as the SFTU, put together a simple step-by-step guide on approaching your landlord if you suspect someone in your building is renting out their unit via airbnb.
Lame
There is an AirBnB spot somewhere around 17/18th x Van Ness. Throughout the spring/summer I've seen moderately sized groups of tourists (usually European) roaming that area at night (8pm+), maps in hand, wearing sandals, carrying nice cameras, with children. That is the Crackhead Corridor/Hooker Highway of 15th x Van Ness to 18th x Van Ness by the Church, far off from the normal grazing area of the tourists.
It is only a matter of time before some enterprising young individual identifies an AirBnB pad, and starts hitting the guests up like an infinitely refilling ATM. Europeans would be the best, and they aren't going to stick around to testify in the trial.
You should always take what Ted Gullicksen says with a grain of salt. The sky has been falling around his head for as long as I can remember.
Okay -
I agree that it's legally dubious to hold a lease that you *don't* live at and rent it out on AirBnb. Renting spare bedrooms in this manner also qualifies.
However, I really don't see what's wrong with renting out your own place when you're on vacation. How does that hurt anyone? Leases and the law should be updated to reflect this. It's just a nice way to make SF more affordable for everyone.
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