

Sublets Just Got Easier - antr
http://blog.airbnb.com/sublets-just-got-easier

======
mcargian
Wow, is anyone else shocked by the prices? A couch for $900 a month? A one
bedroom rental (in Sunnyvale that would normally go for $600 to $800 a month
on CL) for $1200 and up?

~~~
dadro
That does seem expensive. I guess you'd have to rationalize it by the shorter
commitment (no lease). It is probably priced to offset the risk incurred by
the Subletor and AirBnB.

~~~
rwmj
I think these prices should be compared to what are known (in the UK) as
"short lets" -- fully furnished flats let out for 1-6 months.

In the UK these are usually let to business people, the flats are much smarter
than long lets, and the prices are 2-4x higher (and I assume the occupancy
rates are correspondingly lower).

------
jmjerlecki
This is another area they should take from craigslist. I have tried many times
to sublet my place and its a frustrating experience. Normally it turns into a
facebook message/event and I just reach out to friends and hope they pass the
word. Navigating through craigslist is frustrating and its hard to sift
through all the noise. I think it would be really smart for them to get
college campuses on board.

~~~
pyoung
It will be interesting to see if this effort is successful or not. I have
always considered subletting to be a buyers market, which is probably why you
had trouble subletting your place. I know a few people who were easily able to
get sublets at below market rates on craigslist, which means airbnb's
craigslist premium might not be worth much.

Although the recent dramatic increases in rent prices might put some pressure
on sublet demand (at least in the bay area).

------
kellysutton
I've been a longtime fan and customer of Airbnb. I'm very excited about the
subletting feature.

Although the prices are high right now, I'm sure they will come down as the
market balances out.

I'll probably book a room for a month and report back with my experiences.

------
twakefield
This is a fantastic idea to leverage Airbnb's market penetration further. I
know a lot of people that could use this.

However, the prices are obviously too high. It might have been a good idea to
launch this as a pilot (maybe this is the pilot?) for specific sellers and
make sure their monthly rents are somewhere in the market range. It will
probably stabilize, but right now it's a turn-off to see a shared rooms going
for what should be private studio pricing.

------
forgingahead
Getting an exception error

------
jonursenbach
I don't really like the dog video where the guy says "all those birds to
chase... oh nothing." Yeah it's playful, but after the issue with the
apartment in SF that was ransacked, it's just distasteful.

