To the editor:
Can’t find an affordable apartment? Tired of realtors and investors buying up homes in town that they have zero intention of living in and converting them to Airbnbs/VRBOs?
The overwhelming number of Airbnbs in Marblehead boasting on their site our close proximity to Salem are making it impossible to provide enough housing for permanent area residents.
This is a year-round residential community and the people who grew up and work in our town cannot afford to live here because landlords are charging between $300 to 1,500-plus per night on short-term rentals.
These properties were once used for monthly rentals, but now the property owners, most of whom do not live in these properties, are renting them out at astronomical prices so the people who live here are priced out. Further, we have to put up with the noise and battling for parking while the absentee property owners rake in the big bucks, permanently changing the landscape of our beautiful town. Year-round rentals, if you can find any, are priced high and the supply is very low, providing a very frustrating experience for those who wish to put roots down and live here permanently.
As of right now there are more than 150 Airbnbs in Marblehead! (Short term rentals averaging three nights)
Let’s follow the lead of Newport, R.I. where short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods are prohibited.
ENOUGH with the short-term rentals. Where are the selectmen on this? The Fire Department? Permits? Taxes? You literally have people making between 10 to 50K a month operating business out of homes that they do not live in? There’s a carousel of different people coming into town and staying for a couple of days, while completely disrupting neighbors in residential areas and making it all but impossible for the people who grew up in town, and wish to stay in town. Where is the planning board? This is completely out of control. Our town is being ruined and NOTHING is being done.
We now have more than 150 residences operating as a business with zero checks and balances in place.
NO MORE SHORT TERM RENTALS. PLEASE Prohibit Airbnbs/VRBOs from operating in residential areas for less than 30 days and only if the residence is owner operated! I have a friend who recently moved back to the area and cannot find a house for his young family because the realtors and investors outbid him to operate an Airbnb.
I called my own Marblehead realtor to ask him his thoughts on this and he informed me he owns three homes in town, two of which he does not live in and rents out at $500 a night and chuckled that he never even has to go near the place, he just texts the short-term renters a code to the door and his cleaning lady cleans up when the transients leave.
To be clear, the above is completely different then B&B’s, which I think are necessary in town and are registered businesses.
Ruby Kapote