A Senior “Airbnb” of Sorts?

The success of Airbnb and other types of vacation home sharing services seems to be particularly useful to a certain segment of the population (here’s a hint-this is the elder law prof  blog). The New York Times ran an article about elders renting rooms in their homes through these vacation home sharing services.  Renting Rooms to Travelers Can Be a Source of Income Later in Life explains how this has become a source of income for some elders. In fact, “Airbnb, in a 2015 study, identified people over 60 as the fastest-growing cohort of its hosts, increasing by 102 percent that year, compared to its overall growth rate in the United States of 85 percent. Worldwide, the company estimates that about 260,000 of its roughly two million listings are offered by hosts 60 and older. Of those, 64 percent are women. (The company doesn’t track marital status.)” The article mentions the various businesses that offer this service and gives a sense of how they work.

Of course, there are pros and cons to opening up one’s home to strangers, as the article notes, as well as some upfront costs to prepare one’s home for “guests.” For some, according to the article, renting out rooms provides a nice additional income.  Interesting concept.