Greetings: We have been hosting for our "great little beach house in Barnegat Light" on Long Beach Island, New Jersey for the past two years. I recently put the house back up on the Airbnb site for this summer and "tested" the availability link. I was not happy with what I found.
In addition to New Jersey's new tax on all host properties not rented by licensed realty agents, I found a new Airbnb "service fee" of equal amount. The NJ taxes are 11% of the rental fee. In effect, these two new charges increase the cost to prospective guests for our house by more than 20%!
New Jersey shore listings are very competitive since there are so many concentrated in a relatively small area. Almost 100% of guests interested in Long Beach Island have been here or rented before over the past 40 years. Last year, all of our guests came because they already knew about LBI from personal experience, family or friends. Price, location and value drove their decisions. Our guests paid the rent and that was it-- No taxes, no Airbnb service fees, no cleaning fees, or other extras.
We cannot affort to "eat" the taxes and the service fees in addition to the cleaning and linen services we have provided at our own expense. Now each guest will pay over $400 more for the same weekly rental. It is cheaper to rent through a realtor.
By listing our house at the same rates with a local realtor, Berkshire Hathaway, all prospective LBI guests are free to search the realtor's internet listings and actually talk to someone on the phone. They can request specific rental details, including personal tours of the house. But guests will not have to pay either the NJ taxes or the Airbnb service fee. Properties rented through a licensed realtor are exempt from the NJ sales and "hotel" taxes. And I would not have to manage the guests, web postings and paperwork.
The tax, although subject to amendment [maybe] this Spring, is bad enough. We have joined the group that is fighting to have the tax amended, but we are not holding our breath.
I do not see the continuing advantage of our Airbnb listing given the tax burden and the service fee that is now seven times last year's fee. The incentive to host through Airbnb has evaporated.
What am I missing? tsmith