Major News: Barcelona Plans to Ban Airbnb Short-Term Rentals!

Airbnb has long become a preferred source for people seeking authentic experiences and good-value vacations.

According to a report by the French outlet France 24 last Friday, the 21st, Barcelona plans to ban all short-term rentals across the city to address a housing crisis and soaring rents linked to tourism.

At a press conference that day, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said the Mediterranean city would stop issuing new licenses and would not renew existing ones, with the goal of fully banning homes from being rented as tourist accommodation by 2029.

He said that rents in Barcelona were currently soaring and becoming more expensive every day.

At present, about 10,000 homes are registered as tourist rentals.

Barcelona Mayor

Jaume Collboni

“We need to increase the housing supply. The measures proposed today aim to increase supply so that working-class and middle-class people are no longer forced to leave the city because they cannot afford a home,” Collboni said. “This measure will not change the situation overnight. These problems take time to solve, but it marks a turning point.”

Around the world, quite a few prominent cities have already taken aggressive measures to restrict Airbnb short-term rentals.

Cities including New York, Vancouver and Tokyo now require hosts to live in the apartments they rent out, while San Francisco and Seattle limit the number of properties a single host can list.

Dallas prohibits short-term rental apartments in certain neighborhoods. Many other cities, including London, Amsterdam and Paris, limit the number of nights an apartment can be rented each year.

But pressure also provides motivation.

As short-term rental regulation becomes stricter in different places, a new model between short-term and long-term rentals—mid-term rentals—is attracting increasing attention as a more flexible, more stable rental option that may even deliver higher income.

Starting with the next article, we will explain the concept of mid-term rentals for owners.

As a homeowner, you may now be wondering: my home is quite good, but how much could it earn on Airbnb? Would it earn more than a long-term rental? Would it involve a lot of trouble?

Contact us right away! We will evaluate it for you free of charge.

If you:

• Hope to increase rental income through short-term rentals;

• Cannot spare a great deal of time to handle the small details;

• Occasionally need to use the home yourself, making it unsuitable to empty out the furniture for a long-term rental;

Then:

Snowball Rentals’ management team is your best choice.

From pre-launch vacation-rental styling, big-data analysis and online marketing to tenant screening, dynamic pricing, customer service and sales, cleaning and repairs, Snowball Rentals provides everything as one complete service for your home.

This Week’s Booking Results

Through long-standing relationships with insurers, assignment companies and technology companies, Snowball Rentals rents homes for medium- and long-term durations at short-term rates, then gives owners a rebate of 5% in management fees to maximize their income.

Winter is the low season for Seattle’s short-term rental market, especially in 2023. Some recent large bookings, however, have been like a ray of sunshine, giving us high hopes for Airbnb’s performance this summer!

For the following detached home on Mercer Island, Zillow shows an estimated long-term monthly rent of about US$5,895.

The owner placed considerable trust in the Snowball Rentals team and entrusted us with short-term rental operations. Good results came shortly after the home was listed.

Rental income rose from US$5,895 to US$11,400.41!

As shown in the booking screenshot below, the guest booked 32 nights through Airbnb. Almost without noticing, a short-term rental became a mid-term rental.

This booking’s rent plus cleaning fees totaled US$11,400.41!

In summary, under Snowball Rentals’ management, this property’s one-month rental income nearly doubled, from US$5,895 to US$11,400.31.

More importantly, the owner does not have to worry about maintenance or cleaning. When something needs to be discussed with guests, we also help with communication and oversight.

Let us take a look together at this detached home, which secured a large one-month booking shortly after being listed!

After Airbnb’s downturn in 2023, we at Snowball Rentals hope to help owners regain ground in summer 2024!

Once again, heartfelt thanks to our homeowners for their trust and support. Whether the market is strong or weak, Snowball Rentals will stand with you and look for ways to increase your income!

Some homeowners will surely ask the hard question: was a large booking like this just a stroke of luck? What if the home does not rent? A long-term rental is more stable—even earning less is better than earning nothing!

Our answer is: the outcome depends on what we do.

Vacation-Rental Styling

Competition on Airbnb is becoming increasingly intense. The days of piecing together secondhand furniture, taking phone photos and earning easy money on Airbnb are over. Airbnb hosts have moved toward professional operations.

Careful design and furnishing before launch, followed by professional short-term rental operations, will be the only choice for a rental that continues to generate high income.

Here is another of Snowball Rentals’ core services: vacation-rental styling!

If you would also like to make your home more attractive and earn more rent, please contact us at any time!

We also share practical vacation-rental styling plans and creative ideas to help you achieve more with less spending!

Keep rental income growing!

Referral Rewards

If you are already a Snowball Rentals homeowner, each referral receives a US$500 referral fee.

If you are not yet a Snowball Rentals homeowner, each referral receives a US$250 shopping voucher.

Snowball Rentals Management

1. Full service — We provide pre-launch rental design, furniture procurement, furnishing, professional photography, online marketing, copywriting, tenant service and sales, cleaning, supply purchasing and property repairs. You only need to be a hands-off owner; we handle the rest.

2. Multi-platform promotion — We promote the home on Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway and other mainstream platforms for maximum exposure.

3. Dynamic pricing — Using big data, we adjust prices every day according to seasonal demand, holidays, last-minute vacancy offers, weekends and local activities, maximizing the owner’s income.

4. Income-improvement SOP — We follow 44 secrets for maximizing short-term rental income, optimizing each property’s online marketing, on-site operations and other aspects to work toward maximum income.

5. Flexible owner stays — Owners can flexibly choose when to stay themselves. This is especially suitable for owners with multiple residences around the world.

6. Terminate at any time — Management does not require an annual commitment. The owner can end the agreement with one month’s advance notice.

7. Corporate housing — In addition to nightly rentals, we work with insurers and assignment companies to provide executives with hotel-style managed accommodation for stays 30 days or more.

8. Transparent fees — For rentals 30 days or more, we charge 15% of accommodation revenue. For nightly rentals 30 days or less, we charge 20% of accommodation revenue.