15-3759 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

New Woriy for Home Buyers: A Party House Next Door - NYTimes.com Page 6 of 8 � eight or fe��-er. 1'l�e a�-erage age of Airbnb guests in Austin is 36. According to the research compan��Airdna, of the 1,414 Airbnb listings in Austin as of Aug. 3i ��ith three or more bedi�ooms, 33 offer lodging for four or more people per bedrooln ��l�ile 61g sleep o�-cr t��-o pci� bedroo�l�. .�il�l�nl� r�i�f��l�� •� ]it�lliil�� 1or nc:ighbors ha�-ing problems ��-ith hosts a�1��her� it operates and is building tools that�h�ill tr��to recognize parties before they�1lappen, say�nrhen someone books a ]arge house and that listing is immediatel��ie�ved bv �l1an�� other site visitors. Since October 2012, Austin has recei��ed 266 complaints about the t��pe of registered properties where the l�omeo�vner is generall��not present. T�n�entv percent of the properties ha��e at]east one complaint, ��-ith an average of 2.4 coinplaints among those. Seeenteen percent of the coinplaints ��ere about over- occupanc5�. Tl�e house ��here I staved has recei��ed �5 complaints, and the city has suspended its license once. The ��alls have "Dumb and Dumber" and"Anchorman" mo��ie posters, and the three bedrooms are full of bunk beds and futons. "Our neighbors understand tl�at your group is here to ha��e a good time," the listing says. 13ut not too good a time. Each door to the outside has a framed cop��of Austin's noise ordinance nearb��, and Jason Martin, a liinited partner��ith partial o�vnership in the propert��, sends an extensi��e list of house rules to guests urging t11em not to disturb the neighbors. "It is extremely professionally run," l�e said. "Any��ord of a bachelor part��or fraternities is an immediate no-go." In fact, house parties and "organized social e��ents" ai�e not allo�ved on the premises, a rule I thought I was not breaking��rhen I in��ited the neighbors ovei. There's another rule noting that "all persons entering the premises are counted as chargeable guests." I should ha�-e reread the rules and reviewed my original communications ��ith Mr. Martin once I decided to hold t11e gatllering in the days aftcr I made the bool:ir�g. Tliose ��isitors ��ere especiall�- concerned abot�t their pi•opert� ��liies. For man�- of thenl, their hoines are their largest asset Jessie Neufeld, ��ho bought her home right before the local rules changed in zolz and no�n�has a 2-year-old child, put it most bluntl��. "We did not bu��our house to be li��ing next to a hotel," she said. "Would��ou buy a home if�-ou kne��a hotel like this ��as operating next door, if you �canted to set vour life up and raise a falnil��?" http://nlobile.nytimes.coi��/2015/10/10/your-money/new-worry-for-home-buyers-a-party-... 10/12/2015