This is cool, but selfishly speaking, the area I'd really like to see Airbnb sink their teeth into is the apartment rental market. I've rented a few long-term (~3 month) sublets on Airbnb, and the process was
light years better than dealing with landlords.
For example--I've avoided credit cards and loans in the past because I've been lucky enough to have sufficient savings and wanted to keep things simple. This means I have a sparse credit history. I've always had a steady income though, and have rented for many years without ever being so much as a single day late on a payment. Despite this, I get treated like I'm from outer space just because I haven't needed to put myself into debt.
It's just such an utterly stupid evaluation criteria. I'm provably a great tenant, but can easily get passed over in favor of someone who has a much worse record, but keeps their credit score high. With Airbnb, I am judged by my actual relevant track record--a lessor can see that again and again I fulfill my obligations and make a good impression. And of course, there's more accountability on the other side too since tenants can leave reviews.
There's just so much inefficiency they could clean up here.
For example--I've avoided credit cards and loans in the past because I've been lucky enough to have sufficient savings and wanted to keep things simple. This means I have a sparse credit history. I've always had a steady income though, and have rented for many years without ever being so much as a single day late on a payment. Despite this, I get treated like I'm from outer space just because I haven't needed to put myself into debt.
It's just such an utterly stupid evaluation criteria. I'm provably a great tenant, but can easily get passed over in favor of someone who has a much worse record, but keeps their credit score high. With Airbnb, I am judged by my actual relevant track record--a lessor can see that again and again I fulfill my obligations and make a good impression. And of course, there's more accountability on the other side too since tenants can leave reviews.
There's just so much inefficiency they could clean up here.