Would you live next to an Airbnb?

Airbnb

I had some clients tell me the other day that they would not like to live next to an Airbnb. That makes sense. By definition the guests will be short-term and transient and transient neighbours don’t care nearly as much about properties as their owners.

Then, there was this story out of Quebec about the ruling allowing the apartment owner to change the locks on a tenant who essentially was renting out his rental 100% of the time. It took two years to win that ruling through the courts. That is just not right.

But the comments at the bottom of the story reveal just how misunderstood the Airbnb concept really is.

Two things about Airbnb

First of all, people believe that this is part of an underground economy and that the hosts do not pay taxes on their Airbnb income.

Well they should. Airbnb certainly has the software to send you a statement of income at the end of the year. The CRA can easily track Airbnb address and cross check them agains ownership and rental data. The CRA already does this with rental properties and catches lots of unlicensed landlords with unreported rental income.

Secondly, commenters claim that there will be a loud, drunken party at the Airbnb every night.

Really? Is that what people do at hotels, motels and guesthouses?

The thing I most like about Airbnb (and Uber for that matter) is that the the guests and the hosts (drivers) rate each other. I love the open transparency of the platforms. Sure, some bad apples may slip though from time to time, but those are the exceptions to the rule not the rule itself.

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