She turned down “a bunch of college party guys” and was suspicious of “two girls who were almost 18<br />and their mothers said they could come to New York.” She also says no to people who have “ridiculous requests, like ‘Can I smoke weed in the room?’”<br />When she retires, Ms. Deans would like to move to Florida<br />and rent or buy a house near Orlando, where she could host families headed to Walt Disney World.<br />“As an Airbnb host you have to remember, it’s not about you, it’s about them.”<br />Airbnb, the short-term home rental service that began operations eight years ago and is now valued at $31 billion, estimates<br />that there are 46,000 hosts statewide, with more than 45,000 active listings in New York City alone, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in rental income every year.<br />“First, the host is nervous to start, then they’re excited, then they see the money.”<br />But when the host comes across a bad guest or feels taken for granted, she said, “they say, ‘Oh my God, I hate these people.’”<br />Despite the good income she earns through Airbnb each year, Ms. Badia does not feel financially secure.<br />“My first mistake as a host,” Ms. Badia said.<br />Like Ms. Badia, Ms. Deans is a host out of necessity.<br />At her primary residence, the two-family house in Clinton Hill, Ms. Cames said an apartment she offered for<br />rent sat vacant for months before she listed it on Airbnb, because she could not find a long-term tenant.
