While Airbnb just recorded its most lucrative quarter in the company’s 14-year history, its property owners are freaking out over rapidly declining occupancy rates, and plummeting profits. This post on an Airbnb super hosts page is making the rounds and is just a snapshot of the panic many Airbnb owners are feeling as their money-making rental homes are sitting unoccupied.
Airbnb’s growing profits indicate that this problem does not stem from a declining trend in travel, but rather an oversaturation of the short-term rental market, and an overall declining customer satisfaction level.
Gave up on #airbnb as I was tired of not being able to get the total price without drilling into each listing to compare the "services" fee or sort the listing by "total cost".
— DeepValue (@ValueDig) October 16, 2022
The term “passive income” has become a buzzword for financial gurus, and the profit margins many Airbnb locations were reaping became enviable for those with money lying around to blow on a few houses. The result is more bookable locations than people willing to book them.
AirBnB owners are generally people who expect to do almost no work and become extremely wealthy.
— Ryan (@RyanLawrence_2) October 17, 2022
There is a market adjustment that is long overdue. Lower prices and better service are the solution. this is how all other businesses work
I loved the concept of AirBnB when it was "rent out your house when you're away" or "rent out your summer home in off-season".
— Erica Gregor (@heavygweit) October 17, 2022
Not when it became a business for people and thousands of homes meant for inhabitants of that city were taken off of the rental market.
Many travelers are also raising concerns over a stark decline in customer service from hosts, citing outlandish service fees unthinkable in more traditional hotels. In short, it has become clear that many Airbnb hosts care far more about making money than they do giving people a satisfying experience.
Over $100/night in fees. Just not a reasonable proposition. Wtf is a “service fee” anyway. If you’re doing short duration than a week, the per night fees are just undoable. Cleaning should just be an expense of renting the place. pic.twitter.com/hSeIopMZFG
— Josh Howard (@JoshhowardOR) October 16, 2022
- and then charge me 30% extra for housekeeping
— Jack Burton (@tunedloop) October 16, 2022
Gone are the days of the Airbnb side hustle. This is the main hustle for many hosts, and the scale to which some have over-extended themselves is farcical. It’s understandable then, that not everyone feels bad for the over-ambition of some wealthy multi-property owners trying to profit off the rest of us. They made their Airbnb beds. Now they’ll have to lie in them.
Lol wait until all these over leveraged Airbnb slumlords can’t pay their mortgages on their 5-10 properties… tick tock
— Tyler Oswald (@MalachiMoney310) October 16, 2022
“My third home that I don’t live in but use as an Airbnb that simultaneously disrupts the housing and rental markets and increases homelessness is just sitting empty instead of being a source of income for me, waaaah” lol lmao
— e (@_bahhumbug) October 17, 2022
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