AirBNB hits snags in some cities

The fastest growing travel business in the world has hit a major roadblock. Here’s your insight so you can know the hazards in the opportunity.

AirBNB.com has emerged as a hot option for people to become would be hoteliers by renting their condo, home, or a room in their home to strangers.

A lot of legit hoteliers are sore at AirBNB, especially in the Caribbean and other fun-in-the-sun destinations. Condo associations hate it too. Because you take a sedate residential setting and, if enough owners put their condos up on AirBNB, it turns it into a transient location instead of a stable environment.

Big cities have taken a stance against sites like AirBNB and other disruptors in the travel market like Uber.com and RelayRides.com that offer transportation alternatives geared toward city dwellers. In fact, the AirBNB business model is not permitted in cities like San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York.

As The New York Times wrote on the topic, “Local laws may prohibit most or all short-term rentals under many circumstances, though enforcement can be sporadic and you have no way of knowing how tough your local authorities will be.”

But the reality is in most cases, for most people, something like AirBNB will work out just beautifully. We’re still in early innings with these disruptors. If you have a property, especially a vacation property, this could be way to boost your income.