Sstrr tips

It’s not very often that I receive pitches that read a short-term rental operator’s portfolio grew 40% in the first half of the year. And so when I learned that limehome added over 1,000 properties to its portfolio this year alone, my eyebrow raised itself. 

What do you do when you’re a short-term rental operator during peak travel season in a busy market with regulatory restrictions?

While reporting on the short-term rental saturation story last week, I got into some data-digging to find out which markets saw the largest increase in available listings. I was specifically interested in available bookable listings, rather than listings or occupancy, because the former is a factor in market saturation, which impacts home prices.

The ‘Airbnbust’ debacle, which saw one short-term rental data vendor showing plunging host revenue way deeper than its peers, went viral.  However, it does call for some introspection and interrogation (on my part) to understand the data I get from different vendors that often is a bedrock for any story. 

San Bernardino County in California is conducting a comprehensive study to evaluate the impact of how short-term rentals affects housing availability in the county. 

The City of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina earlier this week gave its initial approval to a multi-family housing development plan. The proposal entails the annexation and rezoning of approximately 18 acres of land. Presently, the site is designated for commercial projects, but the proposed zoning change would permit a mix of commercial and residential development —  this would include construction of more than 380 housing units, with a portion of them anticipated to be utilized for short-term rentals.

A New York state court judge dismissed an Airbnb lawsuit against New York City, ruling the city had a right to require host registration and licenses, and that it was reasonable to require that Airbnb — and other platforms — verify that listings have licenses, or face penalties.

Luxury vacation homes and villas subscription service Inspirato and Capital One are working on a commercial deal and strategic partnership, and once that has been negotiated, then Capital One Ventures would provide Inspirato with a $25 million convertible note, the companies announced Tuesday.

We’ve been talking a lot about the intersection of real estate and short-term rentals and today we continue to do so with another related topic: 1031 exchanges.

German vacation rental marketplace HomeToGo recorded profits on an adjusted basis for the first time in a second quarter, and the company claims that it got there by improving its marketing spend, growing its subscriptions business for partners, and attracting repeat business.

Hungary’s short-term rental hosts who offer their properties on Amsterdam-based Booking.com haven’t been paid for several months, leaving some having to decide whether they’ll need to shutter their businesses, according to published reports.

Staying in hostels has always been something of a social thing given that you might end up staying with six or seven strangers in a bunk-filled room, and many properties have live entertainment and community events. But Dublin-based Hostelworld has integrated its own social network into its business to such a degree that is materially helping its financials.

Vrbo reversed its longstanding guest-refund policy for the wildfires in Maui – for the first time, guests would be entitled to full refunds. But that won’t be the case with Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hilary, which this week ripped through Baja California, Mexico, and then turned to Southern California and elsewhere in the U.S. Southwest.

Few issues are as divisive among short-term rental hosts, property managers, online travel agencies and guests as refund policies following hurricanes, wildfires, and pandemics. The issue will only get more heated as the earth does likewise.

Regulators have been going after short-term rentals. Now homeowners are fighting back.

Let’s face it: New York is hardly the first city to impose regulations on short-term rentals. Today is the official deadline for hosts to register their listings.

Airbnb has partnered with Sentral Wynwood in Miami, allowing apartment tenants to rent out their units for up to 75 days. When tenants choose to list their apartments, Airbnb will handle pricing, security, access for guests, and cleaning.

New York City’s Office of Special Enforcement has approved only 257 out of 3,250 short-term rental host registrations before the September 5 enforcement deadline. Around 25% of the host applications submitted so far, or 808 applications, have been reviewed. 

Yesterday we wrote about Airbnb’s sweet deals with developers in Florida – where the company is partnering with developers to allow apartment tenants to rent out their units for up to 75 days per year. Airbnb would handle pricing, security, access for guests, and cleaning.

Phoenix, Arizona is having a YIMBY moment. 

Welcome back, it’s a brand new day to talk about junk fees — as discussed on TikTok. A viral video posted by a comedian scoffs at short-term rentals and sometimes-exorbitant “host fees.”