Two faces airbnb

I have hosted Airbnb tenants in San Francisco for about nine months. Last January, I watched an interview Katie Couric (Katie Couric) borrowed from Brian Chesky, a 34-year-old CEO of Airbnb, who owns a multi-billion dollar fortune. And it was then that I realized that something did not converge.

Kurik asked Brian about how the company checks home owners for compliance with safety standards and fire safety. To this, he replied: “We want to maintain high standards,” and assured that hundreds of his employees deal exclusively with security and that “the owners confirm their identity by opening access to their profiles on social networks, as well as providing scans of identity documents or confirming certain personal details. "
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In order to test this Airbnb system, I have registered as a host. I took a few photos of my house, inside and out, and uploaded them to the Airbnb website. And after 15 minutes my account came to life, and the apartment was available for rent. No you verification of personal data, ID or questions. There was not even any contact with a living person from their team specializing in trust and security. Nothing.

I could calmly use pictures of my neighbor's house or even pictures taken from the Better Homes and Gardens website. An hour later I received the first request from the guest. Within a couple of months, I had collected a dozen reservation requests that would have earned me at least $ 4,000 in short-term rental income. And this is the prerequisite of a really profitable business.

Yes, it was very true to note Coldwell Banker Commercial (a large real estate company), in which it was noted that a property owner can increase his net annual income more than doubled by renting an apartment to Airbnb tourists rather than to local residents.

I was impressed and shocked at how simple it all was with Airbnb.

When Curik asked Chesky about fire safety, instead of describing the inspection procedures carried out by his company, he replied that Airbnb, a giant valued at $ 25 billion, offers free smoke and carbon monoxide sensors to homeowners. When Kurik tried to develop this topic further, he began to talk about their system of "independent management."

“We want to make sure that the codes and instructions are modernized,” he said. "Many of the current laws are those of the 20th century, and sometimes even the 19th century, and we are in the 21st century."

I decided to catch Chesky on his word and take advantage of his offer of the “gold standard”, that is, to get a free smoke and carbon monoxide sensor for my Airbnb-house. I requested it through the Airbnb website, and the answer I received by email to my request was very brief: I was directed to a special Airbnb website. But on that page, instead of offering a free sensor, I was offered a free Security Map, saying that I can use it to “make a list of emergency numbers, routes, and other resources” for my guests.

Apparently, the proposal for the provision of free smoke detectors expired in the eye. But the representatives of Airbnb did not mention this - as did Chesky himself in his interview.

Probably the biggest tragedy of what is happening is that, in essence, the idea of ​​Airbnb is great. The company has intelligently used modern technology in order to open a global market that allows tourists to find homeowners who are short of money and are not averse to earning money on short-term rental housing. After talking with some "ordinary people" who have offers on Airbnb, I am sure that the service has helped many make ends meet.

But pursuing such a policy of non-interference and a liberal attitude towards professional landlords and greedy property owners and agents with many apartments, Airbnb has become its own worst enemy. As the number of victims accumulates, the company undermines its own ideal of trust, because Airbnb can easily help cities solve the problems caused by its activities as follows:

• If desired, Airbnb could track off violators with one click of the mouse and “evict” from the site — simply remove the offers of professional landlords or real estate managers who own several houses or apartments that arrange unique tourist hotels. The company has all the data, and Airbnb knows perfectly well who these people are.
• Establishing cooperation with cities such as San Francisco, Santa Monica and Portland that require hosts to register with local agencies and unregistered landlords of the service have been removed from the site.
• Enter the payment of the same taxes that hotels pay in all 34 thousand cities in which the service offers its services.
• Stop refusing to provide data that cities need for regulation and taxation (including the number of nights and fees set by each host).

Yes, the idea of ​​Airbnb turned the global tourism industry upside down, but in the company's hometown, San Francisco, residents marched on the warpath with a hospitable giant.

Despite the remarkable history of service that began in the living room of Brian Chesky, Airbnb is no longer just a platform for “ordinary people” who offer their homes for a short term. Instead, it turned into a huge loophole for professionals, which allows them to circumvent those old city laws that had previously defended the local housing stock from short-term tourist rentals. A fast-growing company and its politically powerful investors are not interested in killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.