It\u2019s been nearly ten years since the launch of AirBnB, and five years since it arrived in Australia.<\/p>\n
Much like Uber before it, the home-sharing platform\u2019s grand promise to democratise the hotel and holiday rental market has brought with it a lot of problems – especially for hosts\u2019 neighbours, bodies corporate, real estate agents, and of course onsite managers.<\/p>\n
We decided to explore onsite managers\u2019 sentiment around AirBnB, so we reached out to our members and asked them to share their thoughts and concerns.<\/p>\n
This article is the first in the series. To kick things off, we looked at the pro-AirBnB side: those who have found themselves accepting – or embracing – the sharing economy.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>Some background<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>The case for AirBnB varies as much as onsite managers\u2019 letting pools.<\/p>\n They may operate in residential complexes, mixed-use properties or dedicated short-term accommodation. And they may be in a tourism hotspot (e.g. inner-city or other high-demand destinations) or somewhere with a mainly residential profile.<\/p>\n Adding to the mix, it\u2019s sometimes the owner who pushes for AirBnB, but it\u2019s sometimes the manager, or it\u2019s a mutual decision.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no one-size-fits-all definition, but for the purposes of this article, we\u2019ll focus on the common factors influencing onsite managers to use AirBnB.<\/p>\n With the above disclaimer in mind, let\u2019s look at what our respondents told us.<\/p>\n The bottom line<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s no delicate way to say it, so let\u2019s be frank: this whole thing is mostly about money.<\/p>\n Consider for a moment that there are twice as many AirBnB listings in Bondi and Kirribilli than normal rental listings. This isn\u2019t homesharing any more than Uber is carpooling.<\/p>\n Managers live under the constant threat of losing tenants off their rental roll, and this means they have to innovate if they want to stay above water.<\/p>\n AirBnB is a readily available revenue stream, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with managers acknowledging that. Property investing and management are, after all, profit-based endeavours.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s explore how exactly AirBnB helps managers\u2019 bottom line.<\/p>\n It\u2019s what owners want<\/strong><\/p>\n Owner churn is a common thread in almost all the responses we received.<\/p>\n Jonathan, who manages a large residential complex in the Newstead area in Brisbane\u2019s inner east, wrote, \u201cThe risk of losing business makes us hustle to find a way to keep it. In my situation AirBnB was the answer, and it worked out well.\u201d<\/p>\n Another manager (let\u2019s call her \u201cBeth) who runs a mixed pool (short term, with some rental) near the Brisbane CBD said she had already lost a number of owners, who moved to dedicated AirBnB-only agents.<\/p>\n In her own words, she \u201chates the idea of AirBnB\u201d, but recognises that she needs to get any booking she can if she wants her pool to deliver a return.<\/p>\n A third respondent, from Port Douglas, told us that they do AirBnB because unit owners wanted to get on the bandwagon, so they had little choice but to comply \u2013 or lose the account.<\/p>\n But beyond the feeling of having to do AirBnB to placate owners, there is a silver lining in that it seems to end up bringing more guests in.<\/p>\n It fills vacancies<\/strong><\/p>\n Beth uses AirBnB on a needs basis as a supplementary source of revenue, and it appears to work for her.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a trial, I have placed three listings up for units in my short-term pool. I have made $8662 from 21 bookings across 69 nights, averaging $125 per night. But as soon as I have about 10 rooms left, I close the listings and also block out peak periods in the future in advance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Similarly, Jonathan told us he started using AirBnB in December 2016 when he had a furnished unit vacant (an all-too-common situation these days, thanks to Brisbane\u2019s oversupply of inner-city units).<\/p>\n The unit was hard to rent as the owner was not willing to meet the market, and the fact that it was furnished was also limiting its appeal.<\/p>\n Although not a fan of AirBnB, Jonathan suggested it to the owner, who agreed as he was highly leveraged and relying on the income to cover his debts. The revenue covered the expenses of the unit (council levies, rates, utilities) with a little left over for the owner. But it wasn\u2019t all plain sailing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe management of this was a killer. Dealing with keys, letting guests in, guests being locked out and cleaning the unit after guests vacated really added to my workload,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not enjoy using it as a platform to rent units as it was more work than I am used to, running a permanent management rights business. But it helped me keep the business.\u201d<\/p>\n Another manager, this time in Maroochydore, painted a positive picture, referring to frequent bookings, generally clean, tidy and friendly guests, and immediate payment. She also found AirBnB\u2019s daily pricing tips helped her better understand and meet the market.<\/p>\n It offers managers some control<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking of the market, it\u2019s clear that consumer demands are changing. The demand for AirBnB-style rentals is there, and it\u2019s up to managers to address it.<\/p>\n In the minds of our managers, the only way to stay on top of what\u2019s happening in their letting pools is to be part of it, whether they like it or not.<\/p>\n For example, if owners to decide to start letting their units on AirBnB, there\u2019s nothing an onsite manager can really do about it \u2013 and rightfully so. There\u2019s no existing law in Australia that can stop them<\/a>, but managers may find some success in adding special clauses in new leases to disallow subletting via AirBnB without owners\u2019 consent.<\/p>\n As the representatives of owners and working arm of bodies corporate, managers are uniquely placed to oversee what\u2019s happening in their complexes, and to ensure by-laws are adhered to.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just another platform, so why not?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Brisbane manager Beth thinks that AirBnB is just another tool in an onsite manager\u2019s advertising toolbox \u2013 and a more affordable one at that.<\/p>\n In her view, other third-party booking engines can charge upwards of 15% commission, while competing with the very accommodation providers they promote. This leaves managers in a tough spot, as they\u2019re forced to accept whatever they can get from the big travel sites.<\/p>\n The logic is sound; if you\u2019re already doing short-term rentals through a different platform, it makes sense to add another string to your bow.<\/p>\n The bad press is overstated<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>On the surface, AirBnB guests have a less-than-rosy reputation with onsite managers, but this appears to be confined to the mainly residential locations with high owner-occupier numbers; short-term properties don\u2019t tend to notice the difference.<\/p>\n For example, Jonathan, who we mentioned earlier, told us that the majority guests of were considerate, although there were a few parties, which drew the attention of the body corporate.<\/p>\n However a manager on the Gold Coast\u2019s glitter strip wrote, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s an issue as they don\u2019t cause any problems. I feel they just want a bed and a roof over their head.\u201d<\/p>\n Beth in Brisbane said that all her AirBnB clients have been great, except one \u2013 and she noted that she also gets very few cancellations.<\/p>\n Managers use AirBnB themselves<\/strong><\/p>\n Onsite managers travel too \u2013 and many of our respondents noted that they enjoy using the service as guests.<\/p>\n The AirBnB sales pitch seems to ring true; the personal touch, local knowledge, user-friendly website and homely service are very much real, although as increasing numbers of complete-property listings grows, this image may well decline.<\/p>\n The fact that onsite managers, who you\u2019d imagine would be the last people to endorse AirBnB, are in fact using the service themselves, speaks volumes.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s the future<\/strong><\/p>\n It might sound like a clich\u00e9, but it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n AirBnB and other platform-based booking engines are here to stay. This writer doesn\u2019t necessarily agree with the way that AirBnB, Uber and their ilk seem to operate by steamrolling into markets with little concern for existing legislation, but that\u2019s not the point of the article.<\/p>\n The economy is only going to get more digitised and on-demand, and short of lobbying local governments (as suggested here<\/a>) and asking them to foot the bill for enforcement and regulation, perhaps the best option is to take the path of least resistance: if you can’t beat them, join them.<\/p>\n Laws may eventually catch up (the NSW government\u2019s Options Paper<\/a> is one example of them at least trying), but that\u2019s what the taxi industry tried, and… well, we all know how that turned out.<\/p>\n Author\u2019s Note: Before commenting below, please note that this piece purposely only looked at the positives of AirBnB, as reported by the managers who wanted to share their thoughts with us. The next article will look at the other side of the argument.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been nearly ten years since the launch of AirBnB, and five years since it arrived in Australia. Much like Uber before it, the home-sharing platform\u2019s grand promise to democratise the hotel and holiday rental market has brought with it a lot of problems – especially for hosts\u2019 neighbours, bodies corporate, real estate agents, and of course onsite managers. We decided to explore onsite managers\u2019 sentiment around AirBnB, so we reached out to our members and asked them to share their thoughts and concerns. This article is the first in the series. To kick things off, we looked at the pro-AirBnB side: those who haveRead More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","post","publish","author-refreshweb","post-612","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-body-corporate","category-landlords-tenants-renting-and-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":614,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions\/614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}