Does Brian Chesky have any idea what he's talking about...

Question

Here's the link to the full tweet: https://twitter.com/bchesky/st...

Do y'all think STRs will really turn into a new form of housing? As the father of 4 little kids...I think we need remote schooling that works, in addition to remote work, before this can happen for "regular people."

Any of you guys transitioning to the MTR market?

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

I am doing this with one of my places in Vegas  its fully furnished and we remodeled it for ourselves so its not over the top but very nice. And I have been able to get double or more of the monthly rent with a 3 month minimum.. first tenant actually  stayed just over a year.  I am on my second one again at more than double Monthly rent plus a whopper security deposit will see how long she stays.  I think one Mention on Maui for Brandon thats much more difficult than Vegas  for many reasons.  So will see how it all goes I mean I bought it to live in 6 months out of the year and did that for 2 years.  So it was never a money play..  but kind of liking it now.. And thinking maybe on to something.  Even if you have a vacancy of a few months with double the rent or more and VERY well qualified professionals renting it I kind of like it.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

No - Chesky is wishful thinking. a) Most people are not nomadic in nature b) It takes a lot of money to travel and stay at Vacation Rentals (the cost of the rental, food, auto and gas, etc.)

For most people, STR trips will continue to be a nice little getaway alternative to traditional hotels....although I believe their usage will grow a good bit anyway. People are still discovering the STR alternative and more people are traveling near home and in the US also as we have discussed before.....

Don Konipol · Answer

@Alex S.

I think the REAL trend here is a subset of persons who DON’T want to be tied to a fixed term lease.  What they’re really looking for is month to month rentals that they can terminate anytime.  Since this product only tends to be available for lower end housing, they’re using STR platforms to fill the gap.  I had a similar situation where a prospective tenant, well qualified, was always on the lookout for new work options, and didn’t want to be tied to any area for any length of time.  I offered to lease the property month to month at a rate 25% higher than a 12 month lease, and have his security deposit forfeited if he left prior to 3 months, and 50% forfeited if he left month 4-6.  Ended up he stayed 8 months, and both of us were satisfied with the deal.

Samuel Young · Answer

I don't think it will ever be adopted on a mass scale for people in your situation with an established life (Spouse, Kids, Family obligations, etc.). But just look at how much Van Life has blown up among people who are freelancers/working remote! An AirBnB is a much more easily accessible way of getting into a nomadic lifestyle than spending 10s or thousands on a van... All in all I think we will see a large move in this direction among recent college grads and people who have never really settled down.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

You bet his goals and the hosts/guests goals do not dovetail at all. He is in business for one reason only - to make as much money as possible. Period. His business practices, from what I've experienced as a host and guest (and heard from others) are all about him.

Although you gotta give him credit for taking a good idea and making it better. VRBO preceded AIR by 13 years, but were never a really cool niche idea like AIR became.....

Alex S. · Answer

We know that some communities are nomadic at their core.  I was in southern Oman and saw Bedouin families literally wandering through the desert (or so it seemed to my western eye).  They had their entire family and extended family with them.  That said, I've never heard of a nomadic person without a base of operations.  The closest thing would be young unmarried people, but the problem with being young is that you don't have any money.

Brandon Turner recently posted on his instagram that his latest business "monthinMaui.com" wasn't as successful as he hoped and people didn't want to or couldn't go to Maui for a month.

My prediction: we continue to see a shift in travel and preference for STRs over hotels, especially for family gatherings and vacations.  However, there is no permanent shift to MTR as a lifestyle and the pandemic was a brief blip on the radar for that behavior.

Carolyn Fuller · Answer

I think Brian Chesky's ideas service his goals. He sees an uptick in month long rentals and wants to capture that market but hosts should be aware that his goals and host goals do not necessarily dovetail.

I've been renting on the academic MTR market for years but not through Airbnb. For MTR academic rentals, I use much cheaper platforms.

For one of my rentals, I have been doing STR between longer academic rentals. During these between academic rentals, I have always offered a discount for month long stays. But I've learned to be very careful when I set the monthly discount to avoid setting the price to less than I would normally make on the MTR market. Airbnb is constantly attempting to push our rates down. I've seen month long stays on Airbnb in Cambridge for prices way lower than the host would get on the LTR market, never mind the MTR market! It is crazy. For twice as much work, you get paid significantly less and Airbnb is taking a significant slice of the pie from both you and your guest!

Joshua Strickland · Answer

He will be bullish for obvious reasons. I think he has a point, but many workplaces are already starting to adopt more office time again. Productivity suffers without collaboration inside a workplace. We’ll see if the “meta verse” changes that.

He is hosting a town hall of sorts this morning at 8am pacific time. I’m interested in what he has to say.

Carolyn Fuller · Answer

I live in a prime university town, so it is a very niche market. I use SabbaticalHomes (sabbaticalhomes.com) and MIT's & Harvard's off-campus & sabbatical listing platforms.

There are non-academic platforms out there but I've never had any luck with them. Since my units are perfectly located for the academic and not as perfectly located for others, I've never been able to find non-academic tenants willing to pay top dollar for the location.

For one of my units, I'm strict about begin and end dates (Sep - Dec, Jan - May, Jun - Aug) and I rarely have even a day vacancy. For the other unit, I'm flexible. It is this flexible unit that I list on Airbnb between academic tenants. I usually make more on Airbnb but it is not rare to actually make less. I do it because I enjoy being a host. Otherwise, sticking with the academic market is much easier and just as profitable.

Alex S. · Answer

Agree with you @Michael Baum.  We have a ways to go before virtual learning becomes a positive step forward...if ever.  People need people to be happy and engaged.