The next Airbnb

[NYEXPAT]

My wife does very well with Airbnb (20%+ annual returns) and is now going to start with the next big thing in social networking www.eatwith.com She will be the first in Peru,which is one of the worlds culinary capitals! It will probably double her returns on the Penthouse and will open up a lot of cross publicity!

Long ago my Father told me "you can't teach a women to save money, but you can teach her to make it".

My Ex successfully ran a company I started for her which financed my early retirement and now young wife#2 is coming online!
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[photoguy]

Can you clarify what you mean by 20% annual returns in Airbnb? I believe it's a private company so are you talking about the gain on renting out a room/house vs the cost of mortgage+maintenance?

 

[inky]

This is very interesting. I hope it takes off.

 

[NYEXPAT]

Can you clarify what you mean by 20% annual returns in Airbnb? I believe it's a private company so are you talking about the gain on renting out a room/house vs the cost of mortgage+maintenance?

No,I don't own any part of Airbnb and yes, you are correct that is "net return" based on the original purchase price and not adjusted for the 300% capital gain she has on paper!

 

[walkinwood]

I like the eatwith concept, but their coverage is very limited now. Are you aware of any other sites like it?

Thanks - interesting post. We haven't used Airbnb yet, but plan to later this year.

 

[MooreBonds]

I like the eatwith concept, but their coverage is very limited now. Are you aware of any other sites like it?

Thanks - interesting post. We haven't used Airbnb yet, but plan to later this year.

While I'm all for capitalist endeavors, I do wonder about this concept regarding health inspector laws, sales taxes and the like.

True, many commercial establishments would likely make my stomach turn over if I saw what happened on a good night while preparing my dinner...but still, there is some level of supervision that many 1st world societies have regarding food safety and regulation that probably wouldn't sit well with this.

And that's not even getting into the whole 'commercial' designation for places (condos/homes) if you're inviting the public into your home, whereby just from a plumbing perspective, you get into things like grease interceptors, 180 degree water from a booster heater (or chemical sanitation) on your dishwasher, etc. Not to mention various electrical, mechanical, and even electrical (think: ADA accessibility just for starters). Then add in the factor of condos/co-ops if you're essentially running a business (even part-time) with members of the public coming by.

It could work in a 3rd world country without the red tape and regulation, but I'd bet the New York operations (and any other US cities) get shut down in the near future.

 

[walkinwood]

While I'm all for capitalist endeavors, I do wonder about this concept regarding health inspector laws, sales taxes and the like.

True, many commercial establishments would likely make my stomach turn over if I saw what happened on a good night while preparing my dinner...but still, there is some level of supervision that many 1st world societies have regarding food safety and regulation that probably wouldn't sit well with this.

And that's not even getting into the whole 'commercial' designation for places (condos/homes) if you're inviting the public into your home, whereby just from a plumbing perspective, you get into things like grease interceptors, 180 degree water from a booster heater (or chemical sanitation) on your dishwasher, etc. Not to mention various electrical, mechanical, and even electrical (think: ADA accessibility just for starters). Then add in the factor of condos/co-ops if you're essentially running a business (even part-time) with members of the public coming by.

It could work in a 3rd world country without the red tape and regulation, but I'd bet the New York operations (and any other US cities) get shut down in the near future.

I just want to eat local food with local families - not run this as a business.

 

[NYEXPAT]

I like the eatwith concept, but their coverage is very limited now. Are you aware of any other sites like it?

Thanks - interesting post. We haven't used Airbnb yet, but plan to later this year.

I do not know of any other sites, but I have not looked either. The company started recently in Israel and I am sure the concept will be easily scale-able to all the major food destinations in the world.

They appear to be swamped as DW applied to be a host a week ago and has not heard back yet (we live in one of the worlds top 10 food destinations).

It's a win/win for me as DW makes money and I get to sit around and eat/drink with interesting world travelers!

 

[chris2008]

I noticed this is an interesting trend in Germany, too, called supperclubs, guerilladinner or guestaurant.