Airbnb's Jesse Stein on Creating More Opportunities for Hosts and Buy-In for Landlords

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Show notes

In this episode of Buildings 2.0, Jose speaks with Jesse Stein, Global Head of Real Estate at Airbnb. They discuss how Airbnb is increasing opportunities for hosting by expanding their business model to renters, and the ways in which they're getting landlord and property manager buy-in by offering benefits like free marketing and revenue sharing. They also talk about emerging technology impacting the housing industry today, if there's a future in converting empty offices to apartments, and how Airbnb is using real-time data to help hosts make better decisions.

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Topics discussed

How Airbnb is expanding into the untapped rental market by partnering with property owners and landlords to offer more host opportunities.
What benefits they're offering to landlords in order to increase buy-in, like free marketing and revenue sharing.
Why scaling faster will require more education and experience to increase landlord confidence in the new product offering.
If converting empty office space to apartments will help with the housing market or won’t work at all.
What emerging technology is impacting the housing and real estate market, from smart locks to property management software.
How Airbnb uses real-time data in their average daily rate calculator to help hosts make more informed decisions on when to rent.

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Guest Quotes

Intro Quote: "Our hosts are what drive our community, and our Hosts are teachers, our Hosts are firefighters, our Hosts are single mothers. And at the end of the day, we're helping them make some extra income by hosting their primary homes to keep up with the cost of living. So it's really a mission driven organization, and we have great technology. We have some of the best UI in the world, but at the end of the day, it really comes down to our hosts, and they are what are the heart and soul of." (5:12--5:46)
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"Renters historically have not been able to host like those that own their homes. And that's been a philosophical challenge. ... One of the things that we're really trying to do is empower renters to monetize the benefits of Airbnb." (7:35)
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"The evolution of property management software is starting to happen as well. … But I do feel like there's a lot of prop tech out there and I always wonder about what is this prop tech solving?" (19:20)