Last week, I was honored to attend the Tutu Chic Fashion Show and Luncheon for the Texas Ballet Theater, which was beyond awesome. During lunch, a friend asked me if I knew about a home in her University Park neighborhood that was being leased out for short terms, like a week or two at a time. Oh, I said, like with Airbnb? She had no idea what Airbnb is. I informed. Not sure if the UP homeowner was working with Airbnb or another on-line online community marketplace, as they are called, but the home clearly has a lot of short term renters coming and going.
Airbnd connects people looking to rent their homes with people who are looking for accommodations. Airbnb users include hosts and travelers: hosts list and rent out their unused spaces, sometimes a room in their home, a back guest house, or even the whole house. Travelers search for and book accommodations in 192 countries worldwide. It’s staying in a private home like a hotel or bed and breakfast, which is actually how the company first started — serving breakfast with the room. Recall this was done ALL OVER DALLAS during Superbowl XLV — the M Mansion in The North Dallas Forty reportedly rented for $280,000 for five days.
Airbnd started in San Francisco thanks to the real estate market. Literally, two guys who could not pay their rent, came up with the idea of letting people pay to sleep in their apartment on air mattresses. It worked. They not only paid their rent but started a $10 billion dollar company. (more…)
