Airbnb should consider facilitating real estate transactions
Airbnb’s data could help property buyers become Airbnb customers
There have been 3 or 4 companies in the past decade who’s entry into a market and subsequent domination have left us saddled with buzzwords like “disruptive” and “sharing economy”. Airbnb is one of them, with some valuations of the company founded in 2008 reaching above $20 billion. While they are obviously doing swell, I think they are leaving a potential market for themselved untapped: Real Estate.
It doesn’t often show up on valuation tables, but the one of the most valuable things a company can have these days is data. With the number of hosts on the using the service most likely in the hundreds of thousands, and rental transactions completed a some multiple of that, Airbnb’s data holds a wealth of information that could help somebody entering the real estate market set the market for a property.
Traditionally, a large percentage of buyers looking to purchase a vacation property do so taking potential rental income into account when setting their budget. For whatever fee Airbnb see’s fair, they could bring a lot of clarity into the propert buyer’s budgeting process by allowing them to access a deep and detailed history of comparables in the area. Property buyers could spot trends in certain areas over time, and truly get a sense of what it would be like to own a home somwhere and use Airbnb to help pay for it.
Airbnb allows the hosts that use its service to wring value out of their properties by renting them. It could now help people looking to buy or sell propertyies do that in a different way: by helping them set their market more efficiently. For Airbnb’s part, it’s at least a good way to lock in new customers.
