Airbnb: Protecting their customers Case Analysis
Executive Summary
This case presents the business analysis of Airbnb. Airbnb is an online marketplace where home owners and would-be bed-and-breakfast owners can turn vacant rooms into nightly rentals, transforming any house into a possible hotel. With the online interfacing, potential guests can log on and search for available rooms. Airbnb was founded in 2007 and quickly grew to a $1 billion company by July 2011. The company created an online reservation system that included a reputation system to build trust and reliability between hosts and guests. The main issue in
Airbnb’s company came with their online reputation system. This allowed for both hosts and guests to view reviews
…show more content…
This would provide hosts additional information to weigh when deciding whether to accept or reject a renter.
However this brings up privacy and security issues. The company would have to implement policies for protecting the privacy of their users.
3. Make It Easier to Reject Renters: When a renter sends a request to a host to use their home, the host has 24 hours to either accept or deny their request. If the host either denies their request or does not respond within the 24 hour window, the lower the host will appear in the search results. This was meant to encourage hosts to only post rooms that they were serious about renting but in turn penalized cautious hosts for declining a request when they may have felt uncomfortable. Making it easier for a host to reject a renter would better protect the host.
4. Vary Prices Based on Ratings: Airbnb had always used a flat rate for all guests staying in a specific host’s room, but could potentially charge more or less based on the renters rating and reviews. For example a poorly reviewed and ‘riskier’ renter would be charged more than a well reviewed and ‘safier’ renter. This would give hosts an incentive to accept more renters but adds in a safety risk.
5. Provide Insurance for Hosts: Airbnb could provide a variation on renters insurance that would cover damages or incidents caused by unreliable hosts or reckless guests. They could model this insurance policy off of eBay’s insurance policy. This option would
AirBnB gives platform for people to offer and rent their homes, apartments or rooms to strangers.
Some economists would argue the above mentioned examples of why rent control is harmful to
But, saying “no” effectively shuts down the conversation. When a tenant comes to you with a special request, it is critical to make sure you understand what he wants or needs from you before you respond. Ask for more information. You might be surprised that to learn that allowing the resident to explain why he has the need or what he is trying to accomplish will take far less time than listening to the demands and complaints that an immediate “no” elicits.
of rent will not increase as quickly as inflation. While the moral side of rent
standings and are more difficult to enforce. Before signing a rental agreement always conduct a preliminary walk-through in the actual premises you intend to rent, so as to identify any problems that should be fixed before you rent. Verbal promises made by the landlord to fix the
But on the other side, if you are renting, unless you damage the property, you don’t have to pay for fixing repairs.
The owners who do offer the “rent-to-own” option are not only allowing the tenants time to come to a more stable financial state, but are making money themselves. If the
| * Offers flexibility for people to decide where they want to live * Landlords are responsible for most of the maintenance of the property
Before we can promote rent-to-own concept, we must understand this occasion. The rent-to-own opportunity provides everyone with a chance to rent a completely furnished home and pay a fee every month. The home does not necessarily belong to the renters. The people renting the home actually have a feeling of being a first time house owner or being a house owner for the second time. Renters could also pre-own the merchandise as well by paying it off with payments. Most of the time people must work it out with the home owners. At any time of this agreement, the renters could actually break this lease,
As a home owner, you are responsible for pretty much everything; not just a payment at the first of the month. Many new homeowners are shocked to know that there are other things that will cost associated with owning a home such as yard maintenance, malfunctions with heating and air conditioning, and other expenses that are necessary for the upkeep of the home. This is one way that home ownership can offer hands on experience for a renter that will prepare them for the “real thing”.
• “We believe the new rent is very reasonable and below the market value”; and
In the article “How Airbnb Short-Term Rentals Exacerbate Los Angeles’s Affordable Housing Crisis”, Dayne Lee argues, “unions and hotels complain that Airbnb unfairly competes with skirting public health regulations, and undercutting unionized hotel workers by connecting its hosts with independently contracted cleaners.”
Some individuals may believe that buying a home is part of the American dream and that renting an apartment does not compare, yet satisfied renters would disagree. Even though owning a home provides a sense of security while allowing modifications without permission, renting is preferred more often over buying because the expense of updating, monthly payments combined with utilities, and paying insurance on a home comes with a high price tag. A homeowner does have several luxuries such as forming lasting friendships with their neighbors, making landscaping changes to their yard, painting and designing their home. While that remains true, renting an apartment comes with several different options and
The point A pre-employment phase maintenance screen and the "risky" individuals to refuse to rent.
Those who rent from private landlords do not only tend to, on average, pay almost double the rent of a person living within social housing but also are twice as likely to live in a residence the Government would class as a “non-decent home”, a residence in disrepair and one that does not meet health and safety standards (Jonathan Owen, 2014). The undisputable growth of private renting sector is not limited to England but is also noticeable in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In wales the private rental sector represents 14% of total housing, the private rental sector in Scotland has doubled over the last ten years as more than three hundred thousand properties have been sold and in Northern Ireland private landlords own more properties than councils and housing associations combined according to national figures provided in 214 (Jonathan Owen, 2014).