Re: AirBnB in Cohos?
From: Patricia Lautner (lautnerpjpcohousing.org)
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 11:13:06 -0700 (PDT)
I live in JPCohousing and we occasionally rent our daughter's room to
AirBNB travelers while she is at college. At least two other members also
host AirBNB guests.  We have some community rules in place that members
have agreed to follow:

1) We have a centralized calendar where we 'register' guests who may be
staying - so that other community members can see.
2) Guests are not allowed in the common house or even allowed to hang out
in the outdoor common areas without the host escort.  This is true of all
guests, not just AirBNB guests.
3) If the host will be out of town, there needs to be someone else in the
community who agrees to take on the full responsibilities of the host.

Some members of the community wanted an outright ban on AirBNB guests but
others (like myself) would not allow the community to make policies that
concern what happens in our own homes (i.e. who we chose to invite into our
homes.) The main concern seemed to be that community members felt
uncomfortable when there were 'strangers' hanging around the common areas
un-escorted.  The rules that are now in place seem to have addressed this
major concern.

As an aside but related - we have a common value of mixed
income/affordability as part of our values list.  For at least 1 of our
members (who is retired and on a fixed income), AirBNB provides
supplemental income - that is needed to make ends meet.  Our community has
been willing to do the hard work to find a solution to concerns (as opposed
to imposing an outright ban) because we are very interested in addressing
the needs of our mixed income population.

Patti

www.communitas.com
JPCohousing in Boston

On Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 1:23 PM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] 
sharonvillines.com>
wrote:

>
>
> > On Apr 21, 2015, at 12:51 PM, Eris Weaver <eris [at] erisweaver.info> wrote:
> >
> > Some felt there is a
> > qualititative difference between using something like AirBnB  to rent a
> room
> > while you are home versus renting your whole home while you are gone.
>
> I would add that renting to a person you know, is also very different than
> to a stranger. We have had several people have their friends stay in their
> unit when they are gone--sometimes money changes hands and sometimes it
> doesn't. We are in DC so it is a treat to visit without very high hotel
> bills, and we are 2 blocks from the Metro. But the friends are very much
> like their friends who live here. We barely notice them, except when they
> join meals or evening festivities in the piazza or on the green.
>
> We have one household that takes an extended trip for 4-6 weeks every
> summer. They are members of the group that exchanges houses
> internationally, Servas? That group has a history with its members and they
> tend to be very similar and responsible, and familiar with fitting in to
> new situations. These visitors sometimes make friends here and people visit
> them in return. Being here for a month, they do mix more.
>
> But AirBnB is a whole different kettle of fish. I have a friend who is a
> member of a B&B network in NYC that manages renting rooms and his rule is
> that no one can stay more than 2 nights the first time they visit, before
> he commits to a week. And he interviews them before hand. I don't know if
> AirBnB works that way.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>
>
>

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.