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lettherebedragons · 6 years ago

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An abbreviated list of things that went down on the East Coast

I’m alive! And I have retrieved my laptop from the bowels of Apple! And here at last is the list I promised weeks ago.

I think the only necessary background is that I went to Washington DC this summer for an academic research project, with the plan that I would then meet my father in New York just to have fun exploring the city. The trip was about three weeks in total.

Day 3: My father is hit by a car.

He’s not dead, but he is stuck in Mexico with a Very Broken Leg.

Day 4: I discover that my housemate is a Nazi apologist when she utters the immortal line “My only problem with the Holocaust is that it went beyond the borders of Germany.”

She and I are not on speaking terms for the rest of the program. I face widespread criticism for refusing to make nice with her.

A week later: My Lyft driver attempts to make a U-turn into a nonexistent lane, resulting in a totalled car and a concussed driver. I’m fine, and the police+condescending EMT clear me to leave quickly, but my driver is a young black man, legally at fault for the incident, and has no phone. I decide to stay with him until the police have left and I see that he has a way of getting home safely. It takes about three hours.

The next week: I arrive in New York, stepping out into the city for the first time as I’m on the phone with the Lyft insurance people. It has been concluded that my father will not be able to join me, on account of the Very Broken Leg, but my brother has decided he’ll come instead, three days from now.

I love my brother, but he refuses to go into museums and it takes him an hour and a half of walking around before he can pick a restaurant. I resolve these three days alone will be my time for myself after a horrible trip to DC, and before an emotionally taxing time in New York.

Then my AirBnB host decides to treat me to a half hour lecture on conspiracy theories’ Greatest Hits™ all of which he wholly believes

Because he is a 6′3′’ bodybuilder whose apartment I am staying in, I do my best to just nod politely and not argue as he tells me that aliens created the earth for us, the moon landing never happened, 47 levels of clearance above the US President, etc. Tumblr did not make this easier.

BECAUSE DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS, TUMBLR, TO NOT LAUGH AT A MAN SERIOUSLY TALKING ABOUT THE ILLUMINATI, AFTER YOU ALL TURNED IT INTO A MEME, YOU FUCKS

IT FELT LIKE I WAS WATCHING A DUDE SERIOUSLY LECTURING ABOUT THE PAN-GALACTIC EMPIRE RULED BY RICK ASTLEY AND NYAN CAT, AND I HAD TO KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE

Anyway, when he started begging me not to vaccinate my future children, I turned in for the night.

Well, sort of.

At 1am, I had to call the police because he was attacking his girlfriend.

By the time the police got there, the glass and blood had been cleaned up and she was denying everything right there with him, so nothing could be done. I slept in the neighbor’s apartment for the rest of the night.

I reunited with my brother in a new AirBnB that lacked air conditioning or privacy, but was blessedly short on abusive gorillamen who believe sharks exist to keep us away from the underwater alien bases.

July 27th is my only clear date around all this, because this is the day my laptop informed me that it needed repair and I discovered the warranty would end before I made it home. This was resolved by giving up my laptop with instructions for it to be shipped home, and marked the end of my posting on Tumblr until now.

The Last Day in New York: A man in Central Park decided that my objection to his grandson repeatedly hitting a living turtle with a metal pole was meddling rudeness, and responded by coming up to my brother to inform him that if I didn’t mind my own business, I would “have trouble making it out of this neighborhood.”

Thus endeth the vacation.

(Not because he killed me, I just flew home the next day.)

So. I hope this partial list does its job, both in explaining my absence and causing a sort of entertained horror amongst those who read it. The equation is definitely tragedy plus quantity equals comedy, right?

There’s still plenty I’ve skipped over, which I’ll probably go into more detail about in later posts, including how various events resolved or didn’t, and stuff that just wouldn’t fit within a bullet-point list. And actually, if anything here in particular stands out as something you want to know more about, let me know and I’ll get to elaborating on that one sooner.

#please send me hugs #and seriously I love telling stories #ask me to elaborate and I will #the trip from hell

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sixbillionstars · 6 years ago

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Before Game of Thrones and the newest Star Wars films, flights to Iceland only left from Denver, Washington DC, Baltimore, or New York. When I learned that the voyage embarks from Port of Hamburg, I figured I’d be flying into Berlin. And after years of watching closely for new United States destinations between the two main Icelandic airlines, this made my heart sing knowing full well St. Louis had recently become a Wow Air destination with cheap flights to many European cities, and of course... stopovers in Iceland on the way.

I won’t go much into how long I had anticipated this experience, however I will say it was a painful wait. First it was celebrities one by one slowly making their way as it grew appealing to more and more travelers suddenly during my freshman year of college and onward. Then it was friends who happened to have stopovers, who could afford it before me, or who were nearer to new departure cities before me... In those ways it was thrilling to feel inches and inches closer all these years. I even had a whole trip planned once to visit Iceland by myself to celebrate the New Year and hang out a week before and after. For a plethora of important reasons I had to cancel that trip, which to this day I still stand behind. So sadly, the most suitable and affordable window of time I had to work with to be in Iceland this time around was twenty hours, since it was a stopover, but a solid twenty hours we spent. An old friend used to joke all the time, “what if you go and absolutely hate it?” which was a possibility I have weighed heavily, even after countless hours over the years reading entire wikipedia pages of tiny, unpronounceable coastal villages with their black sands and fjords, delving into Vimeo videos of Icelandic scenery, and my favorite, the man in a lopapeysa sweater teaching you how to knit. I knew damn well I’d have to come back after such a short time even if it did turn out not so ideal. But after a seven year wait, I am happy to announce that it truly was everything I could have hoped for and even so much more. Maybe because I already knew where to look, or at least where I wanted to look, or maybe it really was calling me all this time.

I was taught a German expression today "Knapp daneben ist auch vorbei” which means, “coming close is the same as missing it.” It’s been circling my mind like an echo of congratulations from the void for just finally being able to do the damn thing.

It is now late into Thursday, our second day in Berlin. Yesterday was spent locating our Airbnb, experiencing jetlag, showering, etc... completely pretty much rebirthing ourselves after twenty hours with none of the checked luggage I truly thought the Keflavik airport would let me access during that amount of time.

I can’t exit this post though without telling a couple of the stories from those hours (and some pictures!) It was by far the most eventful twenty hours of my life...

As soon as we landed, it was time to grab the rental car. I picked out a lovely whatever the car was. At first the reservation said manual shift, which was exciting because I learned to drive on a manual but also I knew the Icelandic roads would be more vulnerable to drivers so I wasn’t sure how revisiting a skill like that there would go. Luckily we ended up with an automatic somehow anyway. Since the Wow air flights are so cheap, they get off by charging passengers for every other thing including meals, so I had not eaten since Missouri by this point (mainly because I wanted to sleep). I felt weak and tired at the rental counter so I asked my friend Alicia to get me something at the cafe nearby. She came back with the first food we were to behold: a caprese panini, but instead of panini bread, it was the body of Christ or something. I apologize to anyone that offends--I mean it in the sense that it was cracker bread meant specifically for religious purposes and not to feed a malnourished traveler. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted good, however the depth of my ketosis and the richness of the pesto was too much. Literally as I stood at the counter facing my first ever Icelandic stranger and transaction, I felt the sudden urge to vomit and ran to the nearest trashcan while Alicia had to sign everything for me in a VERY crowded airport. I don’t think any of us knew how to react honestly, though the woman at the counter was very sweet and brought us bottled waters after seeing my pale sweaty face, despite not totally knowing how to ask if I was okay in English.

Getting to Þingvellir was not an issue, however the drive there involved more of the previous situation sadly. While the girls caught up on sleep, I found our way out of Keflavik onto the highway and quickly back off of it after having tried a couple more bites of the Jesus panini. The first time around I wasn’t entirely sure if it was that was what made me ill or just all of the conditions at once. This time I knew it was that. There was nowhere to even pull over as all of the road space in Iceland is very carefully planned, with roundabouts every few blocks and signs placed not too often or too scarcely. So I stopped in the middle of the road out of sheer desperation -- one of the few very crucial things I had JUST been told you’re not supposed to do with an Icelandic car. I had already begun out the window as I drove simply because my mind was already racing for options. What is the best way here - puking on myself and cleaning that up? No - my luggage I thought I could have today is on its way to Germany. Puking solely into the car? Hell to the no - I don’t care if I bought the insurance, we have the whole route ahead of us and back. Okay well in the time it took to ask myself those questions, all of the above happened anyway. Everywhere. Alicia and Morgan immediately woke up of course and without judgment scrambled into their things for a new shirt and pants for me, helped me clean the car, et cetera, alllllll while locals were angrily and confusedly passing me on this tiny exit I had chosen under the impression it was low-trafficked. Did I mention I chose not to wear underwear on this day of all days? Yes. In my first hour in Iceland I was forced to change BUTT NAKED pretty much on the side of the highway. Needless to say, we threw the Jesus panini away as if it was the one ring to rule them all.

Þingvellir was breathtaking. Every little plant, moss, lichen, dewdrop was so quietly and calmly welcoming. The wall of boxy-looking rocks you may have seen in Games of Thrones was to the left of this photo, with its waterfalls and all. It was confusing finding the dive spot where our snorkel tour was, but once we arrived all of our sorrows were gone. First we met Luis, a cheery Mexican from Cancun, then Manuel the French man who helped us into our dry suits, and then Juan from Madrid was our guide through the crevice of the opening between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

The moment I entered the water my heartbeat changed for good, not just because of the chilling 2*C temperature, but because it was then I realized I was really, really there. Until that moment, it was all a dream. Simply putting my mask down to see what was below... I still cannot find the words. Our suits were designed to keep us warm, so the crystal clear stream swept us and this rad Australian couple in our group gently along the divide as if it were a lazy river. Silfra is the only spot on Earth where one can touch two plates at once, and I cannot emphasize enough that the land itself gives you that vibe alone, whether you do the tours or not. For as long as I live I don’t think I could forget how it felt to lay completely still on top of the water looking down, like just another little seagull feather or algae, feeling one with the whole damn country.

Finally.

After a pit stop at a petrol station for edible food and something to make the car smell better, we rerouted from planning a drive all the way to Vik (3.5 hrs there and back) to just spending the time comfortably in Reykjavik where we could get back to the airport by 3am, when the rental was due, and for our flight at 6am.

Downtown was as quaint and beautiful as I had imagined, though of course a completely different layout than what I originally pictured. This happened in New Mexico too when I moved there after a year of picturing the places where my friends’ stories from their phone calls were playing out. We found a cute bar to meet locals in called the Smokin’ Puffin, which turned out to have just opened three weeks prior. Made many friends, including Moe the bartender/plant geneticist from Iran, and Joanne, a bubbly expat from the UK.

Hallgrimskirkja and the walk to it however was the crowning jewel of the evening, with apartment windows all open, most of them displaying cute decorations and cats and succulents of all colors and sizes peering out.

I knew it was a rather large church, I suppose I was not prepared for just how large. Walking past the infamous Leifur Eriksson statue to approach the entrance with its tiered architecture and powerfully rhetorical lighting, I lost my breath again. It was a bittersweet goodbye, though I am nearly grateful we did not stay overnight so I couldn’t get too attached to Iceland’s physical presence.

Was honestly just taking a photo of this sweet cat, and realized its owner was behind him drawing. I almost cried.

Moe’s specialty cocktail: coffee martini :)

Me in my very attractive after-puke outfit with this handsome Iranian plant geneticist bartender who was really sweet to me anyway.

#iceland

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airbnbfestivals · 6 years ago

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How to become a successful Short term rental hosts? Here is my understanding.

1. Importance of a clean propertyGuests who travel will want to stay in a clean and tidy room after a long journey, so that the guests will feel that the host is welcoming. A clean house will help the host achieve a higher rating, thus, more reservations! In general, the cleaning of bedrooms, toilets, and kitchens is the utmost concern to guests.Zoey, a host from Washington DC, said this: "Because cleaning is the most valued by the guests, we clean it every time, making the house look as clean and orderly as before. Even if there are instances where I don’t have time to clean, I will find a cleaning company to help me clean, then add cleaning costs to the listing fee. When communicating with the cleaning company, I only explain what needs cleaning, they will wash the sheets, vacuum the carpet, clean the bathroom, replace the towels, etc.. The establishment of the cleaning process is critical and made clear which areas need to be cleaned.2. Get in touch with guestsThe first time you travel to a country and use Airbnb for the first time, you may ask the host a lot of questions, such as how to checkin, etc. In addition to improving the listing information, it is also a golden rule to quickly accept reservations and answer questions.After accepting the reservation, confirm the approximate check-in time, tell the guests the address of the house and the direction to the house. This allows guests to plan the travel route in advance, especially beneficial to those who travel from other countries, as they may have limited cellular service in the US.There may be various problems during the check-in process and you should respond to them as soon as possible. When guests travel alone, they may encounter various small problems, such as not finding the air conditioner remote, etc. A quick reply from the host will make her feel very secure and enhance the guests’ experience.3. Describe the propertyGuests can feel the sincere reception of the homeowners, and a successful host needs to think on guests' side. Before the guests checkin, the host needs to do a good job on providing accurate listing information so that guest candetermine if the house met their expectations. Guests will rate the accuracy of the property description after check-out.Superhost Peter strongly recommends that you honestly describe your listing, don't overpromising: "Because I rented a room in my house, shared the kitchen living room and toilet. I will write this out in the listing, so the guests will not be surprised.” And the owner of an apartment in the bustling downtown also said: “I will mention my house in the city center, so the benefit is convenience, however just as importantly, there will be noise. So I will have to let my guest aware of this situation."4. Helping travelers create beautiful memories.The “foodie” host in San Francisco’s South Bay said: “Whenever the tenant asks me for a restaurant recommendation, I am more than happy to provide recommendations. When I was staying in the Airbnb house in Seattle, I found that the host would provide local specialties/souvenirs at home. I think this is a great idea: many local friends often sell some handmade products or local products, so I will offer some of their products in my house."5. Discover your motivation as a HostMaybe you think the purpose to do short-term rent is to increase income, and many host friends say that hosting guests from all countries is also why they continue to provide short-term rental services. The highlight is feeling of the real "home". The house itself carries the host's own story, such as his or her child's awards, collection of art work, travel souvenirs, etc., so much so that these become the carrier of the host's personality.In the process of communication with the tenant, after a simple interaction, you may find common interests and become good friends. Get $20 off your first AirBnB stay.

#How to become a successful Short term rental hosts? Here is my understanding.#vacation #family #pla

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nightmare-afton-cosplay · 6 years ago

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How to Make Big Bucks on Airbnb: Vacation Home Secrets From the Netflix Series ‘Stay Here’

Netflix

Don’t you wish your home looked so dreamy, you could make money on Airbnb if you rented it out? A new Netflix series, “Stay Here,” can show you the ropes.

On the series, designer Genevieve Gorder and real estate broker Peter Lorimer show homeowners how to prepare properties to make a killing on short-term rental sites such as Airbnb.com and VRBO.

Sure, you can put clean sheets on a sofa bed and make a modest side income letting travelers crash in your den. However, if you want to make a serious profit off your rental and have it booked every night by return visitors, you have to go the extra mile.

And the proof is in the bookings. For the first season of “Stay Here,” Gorder and Lorimer revamped a number of properties—including a houseboat in Seattle, a vineyard cottage in Paso Robles, CA, and even a former firehouse in Washington, DC.

Every property they touched has ended up booked solid clear into next year, with rental income that has “doubled, tripled, even quadrupled,” says Lorimer. “It’s surpassed even what we estimated on the show.”

So whether you’re hoping to drum up more business for your own short-term rental or just want your home to look like it could, check out this advice from Lorimer and Gorder to get more of a vacation hideaway vibe in your own home.

‘The bed is the throne of the house’

Bright white bed linens with a colorful throw in the renovated Seattle houseboat featured on “Stay Here”

Netflix

“No matter how beautiful everything else is, if they can’t sleep well, guests have a bad experience, give you negative reviews, and will never return,” Gorder says. “So make the bed clean, white, and high quality. Invest in great sheets!”

But isn’t white almost impossible to keep clean?

“It’s actually the most forgiving of colors,” contends Lorimer. “If it’s high-quality, you can bleach it again and again. And it doesn’t fade in the sun or the washing machine, like most other colors do.”

The hosts suggest using a cozy throw on the bed for color and texture.

Create a unique welcome basket

This Seattle houseboat is fully booked for months in advance now that it’s been renovated by the professionals on “Stay Here.”

“Anticipate what your guests need before they know they need it,” suggests Lorimer. That means stocking the fridge with bottled water. Plus your guests will swoon if you provide a goody basket filled with local delicacies, beyond “just granola bars and salty snacks.”

Gorder suggests spending as much as “10% of the price of a one-night stay” on the goody basket, and to make sure the contents are directly connected to the area.

For example, the goody basket for the Seattle houseboat contains smoked salmon and locally grown apples; the guesthouse in Brooklyn comes filled with brilliantly colored bagels from a nearby shop.

Pick a ‘theme experience’

Renovated vineyard cottage in Paso Robles, CA

Netflix

Guests will pay extra for “theme experiences” corresponding with the location.

For instance, since the property in Paso Robles was located on a vineyard, Gorder and Lorimer helped the owners put together a vineyard tour/farming experience that include tending grape vines and riding on a tractor. And in Austin, TX, they put a brand-new, fabulous barbecue in the backyard and came up with a professional griller who could come over to help renters use it.

Purge personal items

Similar to staging a home to sell, you should remove all personal items—e.g., photographs and mementos—from the premises.

As Gorder points out, “Wouldn’t you find it creepy if you checked into a hotel and there were family photos hanging around? Remember that it’s not about you anymore. It’s about style, geography, and comfort.”

She advises replacing personal items with accessories unique to your geographical location—a jar of shells if it’s a beach house, or colorfully painted oars if you’re near a body of water.

Never take the listing photos yourself

It’s easy to see that this interior shot of the Washington, DC, firehouse was taken by a professional.

Netflix

Once you have your property decorated and ready to list, Lorimer says, “It’s absolutely essential to hire a professional real estate photographer to best present your property in all its glory.

“You should get a return on that investment within the first month,” he says.

Create a social media footprint for your property

The first step is to “decide on a simple, descriptive, and memorable hashtag,” Lorimer says.

Do not go with the plain and obvious, like #1BRRentalNearSantaBarbara, he says. “Pick something more fun and descriptive, like #ArtistHideawayInOjai.

“Then use that hashtag on the property’s own Twitter account, Instagram account, Facebook page, and website,” he advises.

Be sure to post some gorgeous photos as well, he says, and “encourage guests to post photos of themselves in your place using your hashtag. It’s free advertising!”

Keep your short-term rental clean, clean, clean

This bedroom is located in what used to be an old firehouse, which is now a spotless vacation rental.

Netflix

“There is no such thing as too clean,” notes Lorimer. One mucky dish or soiled towel can result in a bad review, and “that’s extremely difficult to overcome.”

“Clean is the first impression you want to leave when they step in the door,” agrees Gorder. “If it looks bad, or smells bad, you’ve lost them.”

Find all episodes from the first season of “Stay Here” on Netflix.

youtube

The post How to Make Big Bucks on Airbnb: Vacation Home Secrets From the Netflix Series ‘Stay Here’ appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/how-to-make-money-on-airbnb-stay-here/

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ericfruits · 6 years ago

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Politics is becoming a minefield for the travel and hospitality business

TRAVELLERS come in all different stripes. So it is generally not wise for the chief executive of a major airline to say something like this about a controversial presidential stance: “This policy and its impact on thousands of children is in deep conflict with [our] mission and we want no part of it." But that was Oscar Munoz of United Airlines on President Donald Trump’s now-reversed policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. He is not the only airline boss to have attacked the policy. American Airlines issued a statement condemning the move as “not at all aligned” with its values. They, along with Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines, asked the government not to use their flights to transport children away from their parents. America’s other major airlines, Delta, also said that the family separations “do not align with Delta’s core values”.

The loud and explicit condemnation of the values of a serving president is unusual behaviour for an airline executive in America. Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration swiftly hit back, with a Department of Homeland Security spokesman writing that “these airlines clearly do not understand our immigration laws.” Yet the row over the family-separation policy is not the first time that airlines have joined in attacks on Mr Trump and his supporters. Earlier this year, Delta and United cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA), a pro-gun lobby group, after a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Delta and JetBlue, a low-cost carrier, have also been vocal in attacking tariffs proposed by Mr Trump’s administration on C-Series airliners made by Bombardier of Canada.

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And airlines are not the only type of firm in the travel and hospitality business to have picked a fight with the White House. Later in June the owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Virginia asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mr Trump’s press secretary, to leave at the request of her staff, who did not like his policies. The president hit back on Twitter:

The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!

The growing number of these incidents suggests these are unusual times for public relations in the travel and hospitality business. One travel company after another has seen a greater advantage in speaking out against unpopular administration actions than in being seen by customers or employees as complicit. The biggest backlash came after Mr Trump signed his first ban on travellers to the United States from a group of majority-Muslim countries. Amid a taxi-driver boycott of New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, Uber, a ride-hailing app, made the mistake of dropping its surge pricing, leading hundreds of thousands of users to see the move as abetting Mr Trump’s travel ban and delete the Uber app from their phones. Meanwhile, companies like Lyft, a rival app to Uber, and Airbnb, a home-sharing platform, have shored up their cosmopolitan customer bases with publicity stunts and advertisements in solidarity with opponents of Mr Trump’s contentious policies.

But taking such a line does not always lead to greater popularity. After the incident involving Ms Sanders went viral on social media, an unrelated restaurant in Washington, DC with the same name was egged and its owner sent death threats by supporters of Mr Trump. Pro-gun activists have started a boycott against Delta and United for cutting links with the NRA (though there is little sign yet that has hurt the financial health of either firm). Although travellers tend to be a cosmopolitan bunch, whether it is best for a company to support or oppose Mr Trump’s policies depends on the demographics of its clientele. What is certain is that airlines, hotels and restaurants alike will find it more difficult to keep everyone happy in the future.

#IFTTT #Feedly

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savetopnow · 7 years ago

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2018-03-30 00 TECH now

TECH

Ars Techica

Uber settles with family of woman killed by self-driving car, avoids lawsuit

No Man’s Sky coming to Xbox One later this year

SpaceX has a busy weekend ahead of it

A Cruise self-driving car got a traffic ticket—GM says it did nothing wrong

Uber told Arizona governor’s office about AV testing months before public knew

Buzzfeed Tech

Facebook Must Decide Whether It Will Refurbish Its Facade Or Rebuild Its Service

Julian Assange Just Got His Internet Privileges Revoked

A Friendly Reminder That Instagram Uses All Your Facebook Data

Apple Wants Its New $329 iPad To Lure Students Away From Chromebooks

Google's Waymo Just Unveiled An Electric, Completely Self-Driving Jaguar

CNet

Dating app Bumble sues Match Group for $400 million - CNET

Airbnb will share guest information with Chinese authorities - CNET

Honda chops the CR-V's top for April Fools' Day - Roadshow

Get an Ecovacs Deebot Mini 2 robot vacuum for $99 - CNET

VW explains why it brought a pickup truck concept to New York - Roadshow

Clean Technica

Texas Blue Cloud 148 Megawatt Wind Farm Reaches Financial Close, Begins Construction

Harvard Board Member Kat Taylor Calls For Fossil Fuel Divestment

BYD Sending 1000 Electric Taxis To Thailand, Will Open Battery Recycling Plant In China

If A Model 3 Was Produced In The Forest, Would Anyone Know?

Uber Reduced LiDAR Array In Self-Driving Cars From 7 Units To 1 In 2016, Creating Pedestrian Blindspots

Hacker News

Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

Snap is laying off 100 employees mostly in advertising and sales

Fullstack Academy (YC S12) is hiring for 8+ roles. Change tech education

Nintendo Switch is not USB-C compliant; breaking third party accessories

Mars One Is a “Money Grab” Where Everyone Loses

Mashable

Here's what the March For Our Lives in D.C. looked like from space

March For Our Lives crowd estimates trump Trump's inauguration

March For Our Lives got an extra boost from an army of celebrities

March For Our Lives protestors borrow a page from the 'Three Billboards' playbook

Emma Gonzalez's March For Our Lives speech will go down in history

Motherboard

Music for the Underworld

Use This Map to See How Dead You'll Be If a Nuke Hits Your City

Rhode Island Backs Off Ridiculous Plan to Block Porn, Charge $20 to Bypass Filters

ACLU: To Protect Democracy, Cities Should Build Their Own ISPs

Amazon Is Burying Sexy Books, Sending Erotic Novel Authors to the 'No-Rank Dungeon'

New York Times Technology

Dropbox Shares Leap in I.P.O., and Silicon Valley Smiles

Executive Who Sold Self-Driving Truck Start-Up to Uber Departs

Trump Attacks Amazon, Saying It Does Not Pay Enough Taxes

Tech Fix: Want to Purge Your Social Media Timelines? Can You Spare a Few Hours?

Op-Ed Contributor: Facebook Isn’t Just Violating Our Privacy

Recode

Snap is laying off around 100 more people, this time in sales

Recode Daily: Tim Cook talks Facebook, data privacy, domestic manufacturing and tech in education

Why every Hollywood movie is a superhero movie

Bumble is suing Match Group for $400 million in damages for stealing trade secrets

Facebook is cutting third-party data providers out of ad targeting to clean up its act

Reddit Technology

Facebook Could Be Fined Millions for Violating Consent Deal

Boeing reportedly hit by Wannacry ransomware

Facebook Funds Campaign to Block a California Data-Privacy Measure

Facebook increases lobbying presence on Capitol Hill before Zuckerberg testimony - The company listed 12 policy-related job openings based in Washington DC as it faces scrutiny over its privacy policies

Facebook will no longer allow third-party data for targeting ads

Reuters Technology

France to spend 1.5 billion euros on artificial intelligence by 2022

Reuters poll: Are Americans taking steps to protect their data after Facebook scandal?

Dating app Bumble sues rival Match Group

Malaysian central bank says foiled attempted cyber-heist

UK information commissioner welcomes Facebook move to cut ties to data brokers

Slashdot

Update Drupal ASAP: Over a Million Sites Can Be Easily Hacked by Any Visitor

China, in Search of Water, is Building a Rain-Making Network Three Times the Size of Spain

Facebook Will No Longer Allow Third-Party Data For Targeting Ads

Consumer Genetic Tests May Have a Lot of False Positives

Galaxy Without Any Dark Matter Baffles Astronomers

TechCrunch

France wants to become an artificial intelligence hub

Snap goes through second round of layoffs this month

GoPro’s new entry-level Hero camera is $199 and lacks 4K

Chemi Peres of Pitango VC joins us at TechCrunch Tel Aviv, June 7

As UK fires-up private space industry, Space Camp Accelerator launches

The Next Web

Introducing Hard Fork: a new cryptocurrency and blockchain blog by TNW

TNW is launching Hard Fork: A blog all about blockchain and cryptocurrency

Microsoft Project can change your management game — learn how for under $20

West Virginia to use blockchain to let military personnel vote remotely

Telegram is down for many users – go talk cryptocurrency somewhere else

The Verge

Microsoft’s Windows chief departs as the company pushes further towards AI and the cloud

How to track the spiraling Chinese space station as it falls from orbit

Uber settles with victim’s family after fatal self-driving car crash

Google is making big changes to improve battery life for Wear OS smartwatches

The battle of the basic wearables

WSJ Tech

Trump Rips Amazon Over Taxes, Impact on Other Businesses

Facebook Limiting Information Shared With Data Brokers

Uber's Head of Freight, Lior Ron, Leaves Company

China Auto Exec on Self-Driving Cars: 'You Can't Just Put Some Sensors on Top'

South Korean Insurer Denies Hacked Cryptocurrency Exchange's Claim

Wired

The Life Issue

‘The Sky Is Yours’ Combines Dragons and YouTube

The Uber Crash

The Universe Is Basically a Hippie’s Pipe Dream

Raise Your Glasses

#tech

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shorttermsage · 6 years ago

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Are you trying to find out if you can have an Airbnb property in the Washington DC, MD, or VA area? Being in the northern Virginia area can be a little overwhelming and confusing for people since there are so many different laws that you have to abide by. In this video, we'll be breaking down the major counties and some of the highlighted points so you can make an educated decision on where to invest your short term rental business in. It’s important to understand that if you are looking to purchase property or you want to list a spare room on Airbnb, that you are allowed to do so. DO NOT make the mistake of purchasing or moving having not realized the area you live in has certain short term rental rules that may prohibit or limit your ability to list. Please note. 1. Look up the county you are wanting to short term rent in’s regulations from the official county site before making any financial decisions. 2. Understand that counties can change their regulations to stricter or less strict…You have the power to vote! 3. Incorporated Towns and HOA’s can have their own regulations, so check with the governing body. _______________________________________________ Link to the blog article of all regulations for DC, MD, VA. http://bit.ly/2VwJAjh Short Term Rental Success Secrets group: http://bit.ly/2WRBwvc Looking for Airbnb cleaning services in the DC, MD, VA area? http://bit.ly/2EhCUjz Citizens 4 Str: http://bit.ly/2WThd0k by Julian Miyata

#airbnb #airbnb arbitrage #airbnb automated #airbnb business #airbnb host tips #airbnb hosting #airbn

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davidoespailla · 6 years ago

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Airbnb Bliss: Top 10 Cities Where Vacation Rentals Rake in the Most Cash

realtor.com

For more than a decade, short-term home rental websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO have helped everyday Americans squeeze some serious cash out of their homes—whether families renting out empty bedrooms or investors offering up multiple properties in prime tourist neighborhoods, leasable by the night. Easy-peasy! But those carefree good times may be coming to an end.

The motto of Silicon Valley may be to move fast and break things—but sooner or later the bureaucrats catch up. That’s the current reality for the short-term rental industry, now weathering an unprecedented storm of restrictive new regulations from city councils across the country.

Tensions between unregulated rentals and cities have been simmering for years, spurred by pissed-off neighbors and pushback from landlords and hotel operators. Now they’re boiling over.

This year Las Vegas and Washington, DC, will phase out full-home rentals on sites like Airbnb with no owner present, which make up more than 70% of their current markets. New Orleans enacted legislation in January that will push these units out of historic residential neighborhoods. And a number of smaller cities are anticipated to follow their lead.

So does this mean the days of big profits from Airbnb rentals are over? No! But during this time of change, Airbnb hosts need to do their homework. They need to know their local laws, including what’s coming down the pike; they need to ensure they’re investing their nest eggs in markets where demand and appreciation are likely to remain strong. That’s why the realtor.com® data team searched out the strongest—and most profitable—short-term rental markets right now.

The main rule in approaching the short-term rental market these days: Have a strong backup plan.

If Airbnb is in your plans, “do the math before purchasing a home. Look at how much you could get for a traditional, long-term rental if legislation comes into town and makes that necessary,” says Peter Lorimer, a real estate broker who stars on the Netflix series “Stay Here,” which helps folks spruce up the properties they list on Airbnb and HomeAway. “Make sure it isn’t a saturated [market]. Look at the daily rates of competitors, and see if you can match or beat them.”

For now, the short-term rental business is still going gangbusters: 97% growth in America’s 100 largest cities over the past three years. That’s more than 360,000 active rentals! Time will tell whether that number drops precipitately with the new restrictions—often enforced with steep fines that can surpass $10,000 a day.

To find the top places to own an Airbnb-type rental, we pulled data for those 100 largest cities. We used data from AirDNA, a real estate data company that collects data on more than 10 million Airbnb and HomeAway rentals. We looked at the following criteria* to create our ranking:

Average short-term rental daily rate, monthly revenue, and occupancy rate

Rental demand score for each market

Average Airbnb host rating

Three-year increase in short-term rentals

Per capita number of short-term rentals

Monthly average short-term rental income as a ratio of a monthly mortgage payment**

Median list price (the lower, the better)

One-year home appreciation

We had a few caveats: We filtered out markets like New York and Los Angeles, where monthly mortgage costs are higher than the typical short-term rental income earned—it has to be a good investment after all. Also, the daily rates are averages, which get skewed higher by luxury rentals.

OK? Let’s check out where you can still make bank off your Airbnb rental.

Most Profitable Places to Own an Airbnb Rental

Tony Frenzel

1. Scottsdale, AZ Scottsdale, AZ

iStock/BCFC

Median list price: $685,100 Average daily rate: $301 Occupancy rate: 81% Active rentals: 5,178

Why are rentals here so popular? Just outside of Phoenix, Scottsdale is a hotbed for American corporate elites looking for a weekend getaway full of mountain biking, golf, and hiking. And while cities across the country are creating tighter rules and outlawing Airbnb rentals altogether, Arizona has gone in the other direction—it signed a law in 2016 that prevents cities in the state from banning short-term rentals. That legal protection combined with vacation rental demand makes Scottsdale the perfect place for investors. (Scottsdale does limit short-term rentals to no more than six adult guests.)

Another reason for the Scottsdale Airbnb boom: 15 Major League Baseball teams, including the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, come to this town for spring training every year. These coaches, players, and their families often prefer renting an entire Scottsdale home on Airbnb versus being holed up in a hotel room for two months, says Sue Flucke, president of Phoenix Realtors®. And there are plenty of fans eager to rub shoulders with their favorite stars in a low-key setting.

Other well-off vacationers can stay in sprawling, five-bedroom homes with gyms and outdoor patios for $999 per night. Meanwhile, snowbirds of more modest means can opt for three-bedroom homes with private pools. The budget-minded can score a relative bargain here when prices drop in the summer.

2. Orlando, FL Orlando, FL

realtor.com

Median list price: $300,100 Average daily rate: $193 Occupancy rate: 86% Active rentals: 6,902

You already know all about Orlando’s main appeal for vacationers: theme parks, baby! But the Wild West era of short-term rentals has come to an end. New city ordinances went into effect in July requiring hosts to get licensed, pay a fee, and only rent out bedrooms in homes they live in. This means no out-of-state investors, and that’s a sea change for this tourist mecca. But it’s helping locals who just want to rent out a room or two.

Despite the regulations, folks can still make good money listing their extra bedrooms. And they don’t have to live in a fancy home to do so. A private room with a queen bed can go for $30 to $100 per night.

3. New Orleans, LA New Orleans, LA

iStock/Art Wager

Median list price: $350,100 Average daily rate: $230 Occupancy rate: 78% Active rentals: 8,962

Vacationers looking for the authentic NOLA experience have traditionally stayed in Airbnb rentals in prime historic neighborhoods. Over time that caused home values to soar as investors bought up available properties—and priced out many residents.

After much hand-wringing, a full ban on Airbnb rentals in the tourist-heavy Garden District and French Quarter areas went into effect in January, as did restrictions in certain residential neighborhoods. But rentals are still allowed in the Central Business District and other commercial sections.

Short-term rentals “inflated the market terribly,” says Will Hester, a Realtor. “The turnover rubbed the homeowners negatively. They liked knowing who their neighbors were and not seeing a new face everyday.”

While these law changes are sure to hurt many investors, they’re creating opportunities for others. And half of the units in the large, multifamily homes that New Orleans is known for can still be rented out, says Hester, who’s with Korman Gerrity Real Estate, in New Orleans.

But watch out for extra fees. This apartment, 2 miles from the French Quarter, is only $109 a night during Mardi Gras in 2020. But the owner is charging $80 for cleaning services. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

4. Miami, FL Miami, FL

realtor.com

Median list price: $440,100 Average daily rate: $204 Occupancy rate: 82% Active rentals: 10,024

The luxury, high-rise, oceanfront condos in Miami Beach are prime short-term rentals. But before becoming a host here, you’ll need to make sure you’re following the new regulations very carefully.

Last fall, the city banned vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods outside the core Miami Beach downtown communities. Fines for breaking these rules can top $20,000. It’s gotten so serious that city officials are kicking guests out of rentals they’ve already checked into. Airbnb has filed a lawsuit against the city for the changes.

But those who follow the letter of the law can make some real money renting out their rooms and homes. Condo rentals can easily top $200 a night. This two-bedroom condo is in a tower with a spa, fitness center, full-time concierge service, and redwood sauna. It’s listed for $345 per night.

5. Honolulu, HI Honolulu, HI

iStock/sorincolac

Median list price: $720,100 Average daily rate: $178 Occupancy rate: 80% Active rentals: 7,216

It’s perfectly legal to provide vacationers with a place to stay in Polynesian paradise—for now. But the Honolulu City Council moved forward a bill that would dramatically tighten the reins on vacation rentals. These rule changes would lock out big investors, and create a steep fine of more than $10,000 for nonlicensed units. So it might be best to wait out the legislation before making the plunge here unless folks are renting out spare rooms in their primary residences.

“Finding affordable housing has long been a significant challenge for Hawaii’s residents. Over the past decade, it has risen to crisis proportions,” the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice wrote in a 2018 report. “The growth of the vacation rental industry in recent years is exacerbating these problems.”

Despite the future challenges, Honolulu remains a popular place for hosts. There’s so much competition that one-bedroom units in oceanside towers are renting for a very reasonable $100 a night. But even with the lower rates, owners can still make a tidy profit as the steady stream of tourists ensures the rentals are never vacant for long. That explains why the average monthly revenue tops $3,300.

6. Nashville, TN Nashville, TN

realtor.com

Median list price: $385,000 Average daily rate: $247 Occupancy rate: 74% Active rentals: 6,965

As Music City has become to bachelorette parties what Las Vegas is to bachelor parties, Nashville’s short-term rental market has taken off.

But the free-for-all days are over. Last year the city began requiring mandatory permits for hosts, collecting hotel taxes, and cracking down on entire homes without the owner on-site being rented in residential areas. But it hasn’t dampened demand.

“We get calls daily from people interested in buying a property to rent on Airbnb,” says Brian Copeland, a real estate broker with Doorbell Real Estate. He owns a property he regularly lists on Airbnb that was grandfathered in under the previous rules.

Pricey Nashville hotels, which are charging upward of $1,000 per night during the NFL draft later this month, are creating an opportunity for lower-priced rentals, he says.

Places in walkable neighborhoods close to downtown are the most popular with guests, including in places like Germantown and Salemtown. Here a one-bedroom unit can go for about $130 per night.

7. Santa Ana, CA Santa Ana, CA

iStock/Davel5957

Median list price: $650,000 Average daily rate: $181 Occupancy rate: 83% Active rentals: 305

Santa Ana’s short-term rental market has gotten a boost from the nearby city of Anaheim, home to Disneyland, which recently passed highly restrictive new rules on rentals. So Santa Ana, which doesn’t even require permits for homes listed on sites like Airbnb, got the guests. Score!

“We’re 10 minutes to the beach and 10 minutes to Disneyland. … [So] we get a lot of tourists,” says local real estate agent Yara Guzman of LMB Enterprises. “From a family perspective, Airbnbs are smarter than hotels. If you’re traveling with children, it makes sense to have the kids in their own separate rooms.” Yes, indeed.

Santa Ana had an Airbnb ban earlier in the decade, but lifted it in 2015. Since then investors and everyday homeowners have flooded the market. Many are renting out rooms in private homes for about $50 nightly; entire homes can top $400 a night if they’re big enough to accommodate large groups or families.

8. Tulsa, OK Tulsa, OK

realtor.com

Median list price: $220,000 Average daily rate: $97 Occupancy rate: 75% Active rentals: 451

When folks dream of their ideal vacation destinations, Tulsa doesn’t usually spring to mind. But the number of short-term rentals here is exploding, up almost 300% over the past three years. And demand is so high that the market might need even more rentals to meet it.

Sure, the city has some 140 parks and is home to the Philbrook Museum of Art. But its biggest draw may be its affordable home prices—it’s the cheapest market on our list. So the investors are swooping in and helping to push up prices, which are up 21% over the past three years.

That rapid growth hasn’t gone unnoticed. The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission recommended earlier this month that the city require licenses for properties rented out for less than 30 days.

But the city is still a good deal for travelers. Entire one-bedroom apartments downtown can be found for under $50 a night, while there are plenty of houses going for under $100 a night.

9. Austin, TX Austin, TX

iStock/RoschetzkyIstockPhoto

Median list price: $545,100 Average daily rate: $245 Occupancy rate: 71% Active rentals: 10,825

There are about a zillion reasons to visit Austin. Visitors come for music, media, and film festival South by Southwest, a Texas Longhorns football game, or paddleboarding down the Colorado River. And they’re all looking for places to crash.

“There’s an event almost every weekend—it’s a nonstop flow of people,” says local real estate broker Brad Pauly of Pauly Presley Realty. “People will have their places filled for most of the year.”

Most condos won’t allow homes to be rented out to temporary guests, so the market is mostly made up of entire single-family homes or just a bedroom in a home. The city requires hosts to pay $500 for 12-month licenses.

A two-bedroom artist retreat is listed for under $100 a night in East Austin, an up-and-coming neighborhood.

10. Tucson, AZ Tucson, AZ

realtor.com

Median list price: $392,100 Average daily rate: $133 Occupancy rate: 90% Active rentals: 3,124

The cherry on top to owning a home listed on a site like Airbnb or HomeAway is when your property shoots up in value. Among the places we ranked, Tucson had the highest price appreciation, up 9% year over year.

Visitors come to Tucson for the hiking, mountain biking, or the perfect Instagram shot in Saguaro National Park, named after the iconic cactus. These visitors are usually snagging up entire homes, which make up more than 80% of the vacation rental market here. Accommodations include this 900-square-foot cottage at the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, which rents for around $150 a night.

And while investors fret over law changes in cities across the country, short-term rental owners can breathe a sigh of relief here. The state of Arizona has a law on the books preventing cities from banning short-term rentals.

* We limited our list to just two cities per state and one per metropolitan area to ensure geographic diversity. Anaheim, CA, was removed from the ranking because city officials are phasing out private short-term rentals entirely. Las Vegas was eliminated due to strict rental limitations.

** Fixed, 30-year mortgage payment calculated on that city’s realtor.com median list price in March, given a 20% down payment and 5% interest rate on the loan

Allison Underhill contributed to this report.

The post Airbnb Bliss: Top 10 Cities Where Vacation Rentals Rake in the Most Cash appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

Airbnb Bliss: Top 10 Cities Where Vacation Rentals Rake in the Most Cash

#TRUSTED LOCAL REALTOR #Airbnb Bliss: Top 10 Cities Where Vacation Rentals Rake in the Most Cash

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freshsheetsonline · 7 months ago

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Why is Airbnb Cleaning Not an Easy Job for Owners?

Are you an Airbnb owner? If so, you might be already dealing with a lot of issues. One of the biggest issues is always keeping your property clean. But fortunately, top-notch Airbnb house cleaning services Washington DC are available to serve all the Airbnb owners. These services make it easier to maintain cleanliness at your Airbnb properties. But why do owners need these services to maintain cleanliness? Can they not preserve it themselves? Here are the reasons behind it.

Reason-1: Deep Cleaning:

As an Airbnb owner, you need to serve your guests with quality. And every person who checks out your property on the Airbnb website often looks at the cleanliness factor. People need a clean place to stay. However, once you put your property on the Airbnb website, people are going to book it. You are going to get guests often. The issue is that people are going to make a mess. And cleaning it is not easy. You can never work on it alone. As a result, it becomes difficult to maintain cleanliness.

Reason-2: Time Factor:

The location, availability, curb appeal, finely furnished, etc., are some of the factors that put your Airbnb in demand. Your property must be getting continuous bookings due to this. It leaves less time for you to clean the property thoroughly before the next guests arrive. The available time may not be enough for you. Therefore, it is hard to maintain cleanliness here.

Professional Airbnb Cleaners:

The list of issues that make cleanliness more challenging for Airbnb owners is endless. But the only solution for them amidst this issue is the availability of professional Airbnb cleaners DC. Professional cleaners do not care whether the cleaning task is highly intense or if you have only a few hours before the next guests arrive. They will take care of cleaning tasks professionally. They will clean every corner of the property and make it shine like new. And it is all possible because a team of experienced cleaners will use the right techniques and methods to clean the property.

About Fresh Sheets:

Fresh Sheets is an excellent Airbnb cleaning Washington DC service available. The company offers complete Airbnb cleaning services to its customers. Whether it is quick cleaning, laundry, or washing & drying dishes, the cleaners from Fresh Sheets will look after everything. Therefore, this service is a must for every Airbnb owner.

Check out more at https://freshsheets.co/

Original Source: https://bit.ly/3JTyuAF

#Airbnb house cleaning services Washington DC

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silvertipmountaincenter · 6 years ago

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The Year 2018 in Housing

A major homeless shelter closed, several government agency heads departed, and the D.C. Auditor’s reports criticized the city’s efforts to create affordable housing.

Darrow Montgomery

Everywhere across D.C., from Trinidad to Anacostia and Michigan Park, it’s getting more expensive to live. For the first time, the Washington Business Journal reported in October, the median sales price of a single-family home in the District topped $700,000. (It’s now north of $730,000.) Renters aren’t exactly having better luck: Though median rental prices are down slightly since 2017, it’s still about $2,160 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment.

In the shadow of a ballooning housing market, there was a slew of high-level departures this year. Chiefs of the Office of Planning, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and Department of General Services—all of whom have a hand in where (and how well) people live—were asked to step down shortly after Mayor Muriel Bowser’s re-election.

Budget cuts threatened some of the District’s most vulnerable people, as well as lauded non-profit housing organizations, and Attorney General Karl Racine announced lawsuits against some of the District’s worst slumlords.

City Paper also reported on a little-known program within DCRA that helps big developers pay more to fast-track large construction projects, like an Apple store in Mount Vernon Square’s Carnegie Library, as well as the start-to-finish mess that was the construction of a luxury hotel in Adams Morgan.

Below, some of the most significant pieces of news from this chaotic year. The biggest takeaway? It is very, very expensive to live in D.C.

DC General

At the beginning of the year, Mayor Bowser doubled down on her commitment to close DC General, the city’s largest family homeless shelter, by the end of 2018.

Smaller replacement shelters in wards 4, 7, and 8 opened a month apart from each other this fall, though the latter two were delayed after the company hired to build them bungled the job. (And residents of the Ward 4 shelter are already complaining about its quality.) Neighbors of planned homeless shelters in wards 3 and 5 continued to mount legal challenges against each of them, though construction is now underway on both. A court recently gave approval to the shelter in Ward 3, allowing the final phases of its construction to move forward. Construction is also ongoing on Ward 6’s shelter, and District officials plan on opening the three of them between the summer of 2019 and spring of 2020.

In October, Bowser finally shuttered DC General on what would have been Relisha Rudd’s 13th birthday. (Rudd was a resident of DC General when she went missing in 2014. Law enforcement officials have not located her in the intervening years, and she was last seen at a Holiday Inn Express with a janitor who worked at the shelter.) Advocates for the homeless loudly protested Bowser’s decision to fast-track the shelter’s closure, arguing that she did so to offer valuable District land to Jeff Bezos for Amazon’s East Coast headquarters. (The company eventually announced that it would split HQ2 between Long Island City, New York, and Crystal City, Virginia.)

DC Housing Authority

The DC Court of Appeals struck down a redevelopment plan this spring for Barry Farm, the beleaguered public housing complex in Ward 8, where District officials later found traces of lead. The discovery, made during a structural audit of DCHA’s housing portfolio, was representative of more pervasive issues across the authority’s housing stock. Almost one-third of its units are nearly uninhabitable, the audit found. DCHA will need an estimated $343 million next fiscal year to make interim repairs, and is preparing a commensurate financial ask from the city come budget season in the spring. Also this year, a member of DCHA’s board of commissioners stepped down after he organized a “unity” rally where an attendee referred to Jews as “termites.”

A seniors-only apartment complex in Ward 6, the Arthur Capper senior center, endured a mammoth fire this summer that displaced dozens of residents. Many of those seniors are living in hotels around the city until Capper is restored.

The American Civil Liberties Union of D.C. filed a lawsuit against DCHA this year after security guards of a DCHA property allegedly violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Filed in U.S. District Court on Aug. 30, the lawsuit alleges that a “profoundly deaf” tenant of Ward 2’s Claridge Towers, who experienced difficulty breathing, was unable to access health services in a timely fashion.

Affordable housing developments

Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White held demonstrations against the construction of two housing developments in his ward—Maple View Flats and Reunion Square. White protested the construction of Maple View Flats, alleging that the developer, Tim Chapman, lied about how many Ward 8 residents he hired to work on the project. Reunion Square was a proposed tax increment financing project in Anacostia that would have boasted tens of thousands of square feet of retail and office space, as well as some affordable housing. White sunk that deal in November, arguing that it was too generous to the developer.

Another tax increment financed project, the redevelopment of Rhode Island Avenue NE’s Brookland Manor, passed the D.C. Council this winter. Dozens of residents and their advocates lobbied against the project, believing that it will lead to the displacement of low-income families and those with large households.

DCHA broke ground this year on Parkway Overlook, an apartment complex on Robinson Place SE long-planned for redevelopment. Once home to 1,000 low-income residents, the property fell into disrepair, with $5 million in vacant property taxes owed at one point on the complex.

And hitting back against landlords they say violated the city’s housing code, tenant associations across the city organized actions against them this year, launching rent control strikes in Brightwood Park and legal action in Deanwood, among others. Dozens of these tenants live in apartments without heat or clean water, and where mold, pests, and crumbling infrastructure are the norm.

Legislative news

A controversial move to limit how frequently homeowners list their spaces on Airbnb passed the D.C. Council, even after the District’s chief financial officer estimated that the city could lose $21 million annually in hotel tax revenue. The Council also introduced a bill to seal eviction records, and passed separate measures to make ownership of limited liability companies more transparent, make the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act more restrictive, and help curb rent concessions scams. The Bowser administration finally published regulations to implement the District Opportunity to Purchase Act, which will allow the city to buy apartment buildings, ostensibly providing another opportunity to keep rental units affordable.

The D.C. Council also weighed how to legislate around eviction reforms, after the U.S. Marshals Service told City Paper in April that it would change its enforcement of evictions. USMS no longer mandates that landlords move former tenants’ belongings onto the street, making evictions in D.C. more like those in other major metropolitan areas.

Former Councilmember Kathy Patterson, now D.C.’s auditor, released multiple reports this year criticizing the District’s efforts to preserve and create affordable housing. Those include audits skeptical of the efficacy of an affordable housing “trust fund” within the Department of Housing and Community Development, as well as an audit criticizing DCRA’s ability to effectively oversee the abatement of housing code violations.

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gillespialfredoe01806ld · 6 years ago

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How to Make Big Bucks on Airbnb: Vacation Home Secrets From the Netflix Series ‘Stay Here’

Netflix

Don’t you wish your home looked so dreamy, you could make money on Airbnb if you rented it out? A new Netflix series, “Stay Here,” can show you the ropes.

On the series, designer Genevieve Gorder and real estate broker Peter Lorimer show homeowners how to prepare properties to make a killing on short-term rental sites such as Airbnb.com and VRBO.

‘The bed is the throne of the house’ Bright white bed linens with a colorful throw in the renovated Seattle houseboat featured on “Stay Here”

Netflix

But isn’t white almost impossible to keep clean?

The hosts suggest using a cozy throw on the bed for color and texture.

Create a unique welcome basket This Seattle houseboat is fully booked for months in advance now that it’s been renovated by the professionals on “Stay Here.”

Gorder suggests spending as much as “10% of the price of a one-night stay” on the goody basket, and to make sure the contents are directly connected to the area.

For example, the goody basket for the Seattle houseboat contains smoked salmon and locally grown apples; the guesthouse in Brooklyn comes filled with brilliantly colored bagels from a nearby shop.

Pick a ‘theme experience’ Renovated vineyard cottage in Paso Robles, CA

Netflix

Guests will pay extra for “theme experiences” corresponding with the location.

Purge personal items

Similar to staging a home to sell, you should remove all personal items—e.g., photographs and mementos—from the premises.

She advises replacing personal items with accessories unique to your geographical location—a jar of shells if it’s a beach house, or colorfully painted oars if you’re near a body of water.

Never take the listing photos yourself It’s easy to see that this interior shot of the Washington, DC, firehouse was taken by a professional.

Netflix

Once you have your property decorated and ready to list, Lorimer says, “It’s absolutely essential to hire a professional real estate photographer to best present your property in all its glory.

“You should get a return on that investment within the first month,” he says.

Create a social media footprint for your property

The first step is to “decide on a simple, descriptive, and memorable hashtag,” Lorimer says.

Do not go with the plain and obvious, like #1BRRentalNearSantaBarbara, he says. “Pick something more fun and descriptive, like #ArtistHideawayInOjai.

“Then use that hashtag on the property’s own Twitter account, Instagram account, Facebook page, and website,” he advises.

Be sure to post some gorgeous photos as well, he says, and “encourage guests to post photos of themselves in your place using your hashtag. It’s free advertising!”

Keep your short-term rental clean, clean, clean This bedroom is located in what used to be an old firehouse, which is now a spotless vacation rental.

Netflix

“There is no such thing as too clean,” notes Lorimer. One mucky dish or soiled towel can result in a bad review, and “that’s extremely difficult to overcome.”

“Clean is the first impression you want to leave when they step in the door,” agrees Gorder. “If it looks bad, or smells bad, you’ve lost them.”

Find all episodes from the first season of “Stay Here” on Netflix.

youtube

The post How to Make Big Bucks on Airbnb: Vacation Home Secrets From the Netflix Series ‘Stay Here’ appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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hiredmv · 7 years ago

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We're looking for professional cleaners in the Washington, DC Area for several properties. Work includes basic janitorial/organizing duties (e.g. general cleaning, trash removal, dusting etc.) laundry - staging Airbnb rooms for guest arrival - stock [...]

#IFTTT #Craigslist

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airbnbfestivals · 6 years ago

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Should I expect a refund following a misleading booking?

My boyfriend and I drove up from NC to Washington DC for a 3 nights stay in an Airbnb, an entire apartment. It was a small studio apartment that appeared very nice from the pictures shown on the app. When we got there, we were very sketched out by the location of the apartment. The building was very run down and definitely not as described on the app. One feature said there was both street parking and paid parking off premises but neither of those were accurate. There were only about 10 street spots for an entire complex, all of which were taken when we got there, and they all had signs that said “no parking from 7-9:30 am.” When contacting the host, she said that this was the only parking available and we’d have to move our car in the morning. I guess this is standard for a big city, but this should be disclosed information. We drove around trying to find somewhere else to park and got very creeped out by the surrounding area. We are not picky people, but neither of us felt comfortable staying there, and we certainly wouldn’t have been going out at night if we stayed. It was a self check-in but we never even got out of the car. We ended up deciding to cancel the reservation and finding a hotel to stay at.We paid about $450 for the three nights, including the nightly fees, cleaning fee, Airbnb service fee, and taxes. When I canceled the reservation on the first night, the given refund amount was $50, which I think is half of one night. I ended up going through the resolution center to request a larger refund from my host. I requested the full amount of the nightly fees for two nights as well as the cleaning fee. The cleaning fee says it is refundable up until check in, and since we didn’t check in we should get this back. She declined it all saying only “This won’t be refunded per the cancellation policy.” This host is a supposed “superhost” but has not been apologetic or helpful at all. She hasn’t said more than 2 sentences. I decided to involve Airbnb a few days ago and further explained the situation but they have yet to respond. Am I wrong for wanting more than a $50 refund for a place I didn’t even walk into? The ad is quite misleading and makes me hesitant to use the app at all in the future. There were only 3 reviews when I booked, all of which were positive.... and strangely another review appeared right after the weekend I cancelled. Do you think Airbnb will be willing to work with me? Is it on me to do extensive research of the surrounding neighborhood before booking? Get $20 off your first AirBnB stay.

#Should I expect a refund following a misleading booking?#vacation #family #place to stay #airbnb #h

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smoothshift · 7 years ago

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Some pics from my fourth year of daily-driving the NSX via /r/cars

Some pics from my fourth year of daily-driving the NSX

I have been daily-driving my 1995 NSX for a bit more than four years now, starting in the Washington DC area, then in Honolulu, and now in southern California. I’m a little late this year but like my previous posts (Year 3 | Year 2 | Year 1) I wanted to share some highlights with you.

Here’s my car in beautiful Honolulu. Big news in the NSX community this year of course: the release of the second-generation NSX, 12 years after the first-gen ceased production in 2005!

We got a bunch of Oahu’s NSXs together to check it out at Acura of Honolulu; I think this may have been one of the largest NSX meets on the island, ever.

Over the past year, I also got a surprising bit of attention for my previous drives.

A writer from Road and Track reached out to me and put together a great article (also shared on Jalopnik

n0el, a local old-school car enthusiast took me out on some video shoots and assembled a piece that was featured on Island Driver TV, a local TV show

An automotive journalist based in Montreal happened to be staying at an NSX buddy’s AirBnB and got us featured on autocar.net

But the big news for me in this past year was an addition to the family, which of course meant we needed to get something with a few more seats than an NSX has to offer. Otherwise I don’t think I would’ve been allowed to bring this guy home. Also meant that my grocery runs were not just to Costco anymore, but also to Target in the middle of the night for diapers or formula.

Ultimately though, we decided that Hawai’i was not working out for us and that we should move back to the mainland. I can go on about the professional and personal reasons as to why but since this is about driving the shit outta my car, just know that I am disappointed to have to give up views, weather like this, and car meet spots like this.

But as a guy who likes to put on miles, there was a lot of really frustrating things in my day-to-day:

For one thing, there is a pretty hard limit on places to go. Many places are indescribably beautiful, sure, but a lot of times, we just end up in a tiny run down parking lot behind a ‘massage parlor’ and moped shop.

Or if one wants to do some competitive driving, it’s a not-so-fun fact that Oahu embarrassingly does not have legal options… except indoor go-karts.

And it was always tough to get anything car-related done on the island. Having a garage is a real luxury ( I still have never had one). More often than not, I ended up relying on fellow NSX owners to get little things done. Or if I needed to have a real car wash, I’d take the car over to family members’ homes.

I did, however, manage to get my iLIFT Systems setup upgraded. The inventor happens to live on Oahu so it was a real privilege to have him build out my system himself. Finally got a pic of the rear tank/manifold as well, for all those who have asked me about it. Now I can drive anywhere… even more!

Once we decided that we were going to leave Honolulu, I wanted to make sure my last months in Hawai’i were filled with as many car events as possible:

Cars and coffee every chance I could get.

Car meets whenever I heard about them.

Getting into car shows (including my first Wekfest).

And of course, driving around with my NSX brethren.

A pic from my last car meet in Hawai’i and one of my favorite shots ever.

And then it was time to move: * I cleaned up the cars, got them inspected, then had them loaded onto a 747 and flown back to the US mainland.

Pretty happy with the service. Our cars were nicely protected in a warehouse waiting for us when we landed. It is very nice to hop in your own car from LAX instead of having to get a rental.

Welcome to Los Angeles (I insisted to my wife that LA and SoCal in general are usually pretty dry but of course we landed in a heavy rainstorm with a lot of flooding). Good timing on that iLIFT Systems upgrade.

But it was nice to be back in San Diego.

Really one of the great things about an NSX is that I can go to Cars and Coffee in the morning and hang out with all the fancy exotics and luxury cars then go to a fancy brunch with a view but then later that night go to a tuner meet and still fit in with the burnout/busted-by-cops crowd.

Some old haunts. Weird how all those videos of cars doing pulls on highways are tagged in Mexico, but this doesn’t look anything like that.

Family reunion of sorts. When I bought my first car (an Infiniti G20) it was the first Japanese car in the family. That car didn’t change their mind, but every car purchased since I got an Acura Legend (still pictured) was a Honda. My dad, my sisters, my cousins, etc. all bought Honda or Acura cars.

Getting in touch with my San Diego NSX brothers which of course meant more drives in the mountains, including my favorite: Palomar.

Barely back on the mainland and there was already a regional NSX meet, in Vegas, of course. Highlight of this trip was seeing my buddy Tyson again. Last time I saw him was maybe 10 years ago, also in Vegas, but since then we’ve picked up a couple NSXs and driven several hundreds of thousands of miles.

Glad to be back in SoCal. I’ve got a few long road trips ahead planned and a lot of places to explore. Hope to see some of you guys out there.

Some stats from the year:

23.1 average MPG

25.6 highest MPG (driving from Vegas)

18.4 lowest MPG (typical day in Honolulu)

43.1 miles per day

My MPG and mileage rate has taken a serious hit because of all the driving I did confined to Oahu. With the metropolitan Honolulu area making up most of my miles, pretty much all my miles were urban/city driving. Since getting back to the mainland though, my MPG is slowly crawling back up to it’s previous efficiency. And wow, only 43 miles a day this past year? Still enough for 193K miles so far.

Hope you enjoyed the pics; I try to be fairly active on Instagram (@nsxlife). All pics linked in this post are my own iPhone pics except for this by PureFlow Photography (@jdphoto_) and this by Sebastian Carral Photography (@supercaroftheworld). Thanks!

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