It’s ridiculous how much our property taxes are here. Same with the rental taxes. Money grab is a good word for it.
The good news is our property values are falling after the great real estate gold rush of 2021.
Soon the county will have to recognize the lower sale prices and our taxed values will come down. But these greedy folks will simply keep raising the rates.
They will tax most of us off the island eventually, leaving a main group of mega-owners. Our local government is clearly wanting to keep squeezing the little guy off the island. And it’s working.
Are the fees hurting business? What is the occupancy rate for Galveston Air BNB properties? If it’s comparable to other coastal cities then the market says the overall rates are not too high. It says the owners are not getting quite as good of a return. If people still want to invest in these properties, then the return on investment must be sufficient.
Galveston short-term rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo average 48% occupancy, $277 daily rate and $3,252 in monthly revenue.
Average Airbnb occupancy rates across 500 cities in the USA.
A high Airbnb occupancy rate to be anything over 65%, top performers max out at around 75%. The average Airbnb occupancy rate across the country is 48% (not filtered for full or part-time properties). On the other hand, full-time properties with anything less than 50% are considered to be on the lower end of the spectrum. Some cities have average occupancy rates as low as 10% and even below.
The city is looking into increasing marshal and police service around the island’s short-term rentals, Brown said when asked where the registration money was going.
If they are "looking into" why are they increasing the fee now? Money grab is right. The city is so blatant about it. I thought they learned art of sneakiness like the cable company has done, just inching up are bills so nobody notices. Airbnb is getting so bad. I use them everywhere but, have been upset with their fees, high cleaning fees and have you seen the "owner's fees"?
As one has posted, the fees do not appear to be hurting the STR business. That being said (mayor and council); how difficult can it be to have the city manager provide a better explanation of fees collected and how those funds are used.
What all of these comments fail to address is that these short-term rentals have ruined Galveston. They have ruined neighborhoods, they have driven up costs of homes and rent and unfairly priced local residents out of the market. One of the proprietors complained about workers living off the island. It is her fault...nobody can afford to live here because of people like her. I don not feel the least bit sorry for these "business" owners. If they can't afford the cost of doing the business, then they shouldn't be in business. Simple economics. Maybe they will ditch their properties and let us have our island back. A couple years ago an article in the Texas Monthly predicted the downfall of Galveston would be STR's. Nobody paid attention. Here we are.
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(9) comments Back to story
Keep voting democrat and you see what happens to your money. Get the mayor Craig Brown out of office!!!!!
It’s the city manager not the mayor. 🙄
It’s ridiculous how much our property taxes are here. Same with the rental taxes. Money grab is a good word for it.
The good news is our property values are falling after the great real estate gold rush of 2021.
Soon the county will have to recognize the lower sale prices and our taxed values will come down. But these greedy folks will simply keep raising the rates.
They will tax most of us off the island eventually, leaving a main group of mega-owners. Our local government is clearly wanting to keep squeezing the little guy off the island. And it’s working.
Are the fees hurting business? What is the occupancy rate for Galveston Air BNB properties? If it’s comparable to other coastal cities then the market says the overall rates are not too high. It says the owners are not getting quite as good of a return. If people still want to invest in these properties, then the return on investment must be sufficient.
Galveston short-term rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo average 48% occupancy, $277 daily rate and $3,252 in monthly revenue.
Average Airbnb occupancy rates across 500 cities in the USA.
A high Airbnb occupancy rate to be anything over 65%, top performers max out at around 75%. The average Airbnb occupancy rate across the country is 48% (not filtered for full or part-time properties). On the other hand, full-time properties with anything less than 50% are considered to be on the lower end of the spectrum. Some cities have average occupancy rates as low as 10% and even below.
Governments, at all levels, work relentlessly to find more ways to take your money.
The city is looking into increasing marshal and police service around the island’s short-term rentals, Brown said when asked where the registration money was going.
If they are "looking into" why are they increasing the fee now? Money grab is right. The city is so blatant about it. I thought they learned art of sneakiness like the cable company has done, just inching up are bills so nobody notices. Airbnb is getting so bad. I use them everywhere but, have been upset with their fees, high cleaning fees and have you seen the "owner's fees"?
As one has posted, the fees do not appear to be hurting the STR business. That being said (mayor and council); how difficult can it be to have the city manager provide a better explanation of fees collected and how those funds are used.
What all of these comments fail to address is that these short-term rentals have ruined Galveston. They have ruined neighborhoods, they have driven up costs of homes and rent and unfairly priced local residents out of the market. One of the proprietors complained about workers living off the island. It is her fault...nobody can afford to live here because of people like her. I don not feel the least bit sorry for these "business" owners. If they can't afford the cost of doing the business, then they shouldn't be in business. Simple economics. Maybe they will ditch their properties and let us have our island back. A couple years ago an article in the Texas Monthly predicted the downfall of Galveston would be STR's. Nobody paid attention. Here we are.
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Keep it clean. Don't use obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be brief. Keep posts to 150 words or less.
Edit yourself. No more than two posts per thread and stay on topic. Do not link to sites outside galvnews.com.
Be aware. All posts are property of The Daily News and may be republished in print.
Be proactive. Use the "Report" link on each comment to let us know of rule violations.