Airbnb is doubling down on its efforts to cooperate with the multifamily industry in deciding the future of the short-term rental market.
The short-term rental company just announced that it is rolling out new products, tools and partnerships to strengthen its Airbnb Friendly Buildings Program.
This program has been in effect since 2016, but with the planned changes to the program, Airbnb is angling to make it mainstream.
For the past two years, the company has been working with REITs and private ownership groups to increase the adoption rate of the program in the multifamily market.
The biggest change Airbnb has announced as of yet is its plans to create APIs such that multifamily owners and operators can integrate Airbnb’s management technology with other tech platforms like Yardi, RealPage, Appfolio and Entrata.
This news comes on the heels of a heated quarter for Airbnb, as it has been embroiled in legal battles with the multifamily industry over the future of the short-term rental market.
With this step, Airbnb is offering an olive branch to the multifamily industry and working for a win-win solution.
Under the Airbnb Friendly Buildings program, residents, owner/operators and Airbnb split the revenue made from short-term rental bookings. The share between owner and resident is for the owner to decide.
Food for thought: Favorable resident/owner revenue splits could be used as a competitive advantage as demand and market acceptance of short-term rentals continue to rise.
To accompany this initiative, Airbnb is creating additional online and offline educational resources for residents to learn about home sharing.
