Cheaters will never win!

[Nathan Gesner]

Left beautiful Wyoming and headed to California to see some family for Christmas. Reserved an AirBnB about 60 days in advance. It had around six 5-star reviews. Host wasn't responding to calls when we got to town. It's in a newer development that had an office so I stopped and asked for help. She immediately apologized and said my host was evicted for operating a vacation rental when they are expressly forbidden. I managed to find a replacement (more expensive and not as nice) but my family had to spend a couple more hours in the car while I searched. I've seen a lot of posts over the years about sub-leasing without owner knowledge, renting in violation of zoning laws or HOA rules, etc. I'm here to tell you it won't work. You may make some mad money for a while but cheaters are eventually caught or their life falls apart because they've cheated in other areas of life.

[Kevin Lefeuvre]

@Nathan Gesner I am very sorry to read this. This is a real problem with Airbnb. It's not just because they didn't own the property. There are also inexperienced owners who don't communicate properly. Or the dishonest ones. 

I just had a lovely family from Australia with 4 kids discovering California for the first time who were denied from their booking due to "water damage" , they were told. ON THE CHECK IN DAY !!! The guests who were really nice people didn't seem to believe the story since the host has not been communicative in the few days before checkin. I was really glad to help and they finally enjoyed their vacations and left happy and grateful.

On Airbnb (and not VRBO) there is a huge number of "turning" listings: those who emerge and disappear within 6-12 months for all sort of reasons: 1) Could not comply with regulations (like in your example), 2) Realized STR is not for them and they can't run the business 3) Property was not clean or desirable so no success renting or a bunch of other reasons.

The #1 reason for this is that Airbnb boosts new listings in the first few months. This strategy puts new listings in front of those from well established ones. As a result, a new property with a minimum of 2 nights and some tricks by a dishonest host will get easily half a dozen 5* reviews within a month. 

The #2 reason is that hosting on airbnb is free. The "barrier to entrance" for the STR market is too low. Anyone can list there for free. When I started 4 years ago, and was not sure if I would like it, I posted only on Airbnb. VRBO posting came only 6 months later because I had to pay to list.

My advice to guests: 

•  Check for at least 30 reviews on airbnb for a listing before booking. 
•  Click on the host profile and make sure they either have other successful properties, or if just one, they have been doing this for years. 
•  Use VRBO if you can, higher quality of hosts, higher quality of guests.

As Airbnb is preparing their IPO, they'll publish their prospectus soon. I am curious to see some of their analytics. I would not be surprised to see more than 50% of hosts being either occasional or new hosts.