Reader opinion: Vacation rentals in a changing economy

by Josette Brose-Eichar 

There has been much written lately about vacation rentals, AKA short term rentals. It has also been a prominent topic of discussion at Sonoma City Council meetings and discussions countywide. In all of this it is never mentioned why vacation rentals are now proliferating both here and nation wide.

I first want to disclose that we are both vacation rental users and owners. Three years ago, at the worst of the real estate down turn, we purchased a short sale home in our own neighborhood in an unincorporated area of Sonoma County and have been renting it as a vacation rental. We are permitted and pay all required transient occupancy taxes as required.

I think what I am going to state would be borne out if surveys were done and statistics were gathered from both vacation home owners and users. As middle class income shrinks, the middle class (ourselves included) have less to spend. We still want to go on vacation and enjoy our lives. As more and more is built to accommodate the one percent in the way of luxury resorts and hotels costing from $300 and up, we are then relegated to staying at the Motel 6 by the freeway. It does not make for a very enjoyable vacation.

Vacation rentals become the reasonable answer. A nice quiet place to stay, privacy, you can cook your own meals if you want to, and often stay in scenic and historic locations.

We find that most of our renters are family groups here in Sonoma for a wedding or event or a group of friends on a wine tasting vacation. For $200 to $225 per night they get 3-bedrooms and 2 and ½ bathrooms, so six people can stay for less than our cheapest hotel. The reason vacation rentals are popular, as disposable income shrinks, is obvious.

I hear a lot of anecdotal evidence that big corporations are buying up houses and turning them into vacation rentals. A quick look at the listings on Home Away, Airbnb and VRBO will not bear that out. Most are one-offs owned by and taken care of by private owners. Experienced vacation renters shy away from those handled by management companies and prefer to deal with private owners. The reviews will bear this out. You will see lots of complaints and bad reviews concerning management companies.

There is also a reason they are proliferating from the owner perspective. Again, as our income shrank and there was less work available, we decided to use some retirement money as a down payment to buy the house. It looked like a good investment. And it has been. The income helps to pay the bills and keep us in the black.

Many people now have to get creative to earn a living. Thus the reason things like Uber, home sharing, cottage craft businesses on Itsy and vacation rentals are taking off. A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle stated that over one third of people employed are working full or part time as independent contractors in some capacity.

I am fully aware that the more vacation rentals there are in an area, the less housing is available for first time buyers and long term renters. But, I would like to see this discussion based in reality and not hysteria. One neighbor was worried the vacation renters were going to burglarize his house: common sense would tell you middle class people usually do not go around breaking into peoples houses when on vacation. We have more to fear from the strange people who have recently started going through our recycling and trash at night.

Then there are the noise complaints. Sadly I am more disturbed three or four times a week by neighbors using gas powered leaf blowers for what seems like hours on end. I would rather hear some people talking in a back yard and having a barbeque, whether they are home owners or vacation renters.

One letter to the editor complained that the vacation renters had children playing in the back yard, are vacation renter children somehow different than homeowner’s children? Instead of addressing the issues of regulation, moratorium and enforcement, I see a lot published that really is just nonsense.

I also find it ironic that publications supported by and owned big corporations are so vocal on publishing lots of hysteria concerning vacation rentals. It seems like a red herring to distract people from real quality of life issues in our communities. Some scrutiny should be applied to many of the potential big development issues that are lurking just below the surface, especially here in Sonoma Valley. What is eventually going to be built at Cornerstone, what will happen at the Sonoma Developmental Center, when is the $500 a night, 60-room hotel coming to Sonoma’s plaza?

I believe in short that vacation rentals are simply a product of our changing economic environment, in which middle class disposable income is shrinking, it is simply filling a gap for middle class travelers and small bucks middle class investors. Rather than making it into something to get crazy over, why not just find a way to regulate and restrict it to an acceptable level.