Airbnb celebrated 10 years, what has changed since then?

In the summer of 2008, Airbnb was born to provide accommodation for those who settled for an “Air Bed and Breakfast” offered by a local resident. Ten years later, and more than 5 million “hosts” in 81,000 cities, the giant of the collaborative economy has raked in $2.7 billion to date.

While many may assume that there are only little mom-and-pop operations, the platform has been proving that more pros are joining the game each day. Which explains the number by the National Multifamily Housing Council that estimates about 65% of Airbnb bookings were in multifamily buildings, units in condos, apartments and even smaller hotels.

Landlords and property management companies did not always welcome the home-sharing concept, both used to make money with long-term rentals, however, allowing short-term rental has been proving to enable them to make, or even save, cash as before.

Also to be considered, many long-term renters have rented out their unities without the property manager approval, about 43% of property managers had this occurring to them according to NMHC. It just seems fair that landlords and property managers want their stake on it.

Following a trend

In Miami, a new development called YOTELPAD Miami’s takes a proactive strategy to the inevitable renter-turns-landlord problem. The hotel/condo community is the first in town to allow short-term rentals without restrictions.

“We’ve heard many stories of residential buildings having to deal with owners who are trying to skirt local legislation by renting out their units on a short-term basis,” said David Arditi, founding principal of Aria Development Group, the developer of YOTELPAD Miami. “They are typically not allowed to do so given condominium association and zoning restrictions. We thought, why not do something that addresses this head on and gives people the option to do what they are asking for?”

The strategy has showing to be a significant market point to sell units in the building because it offers potential buyers the opportunity of an added revenue and more versatility in their residences.

“We believe the short-term rental option was something the market was seeking but was not being addressed adequately,” commented Arditi. “The profile of buyers in the Miami market is largely non-local. Whether they are absentee owners or investors, there’s a strong desire to have the ability to rent units on a short-term basis. It creates maximum flexibility for the owners. People can use their apartment every day if they want or can rent it out 365 times a year, and everything in between.”

The rendering above is a conceptual representation of the pool area of YOTELPAD Miami

The most popular cities

The startup founded by three friends has created a new way of doing sightseeing and getting to know cities from all over the world, from New York to Paris or London, places where hotel rooms are either hard to find or have prices that are not affordable for all wallets.

Moreover, it is precisely London that leads the top of the most famous cities on Airbnb with an average daily rate of $ 184, followed by Paris and New York, with average daily rates of $ 118 and $ 186 respectively, according to Statistician.