Good morning,

Here’s what’s going on in the vacation rental world this week:

The Host-Only Fee is now live on Airbnb - officially shifting the entire service cost to hosts, the platform also introduced new social features for Experiences + previewed new host tools, and Hostaway made headlines as the first $1 billion PMS unicorn in the vacation rental industry.

This week in the markets: 30-year mortgage rates matched their lowest level since 2024, San Diego advanced a $5,000-per-bedroom tax on STRs, and NYC lawmakers are reconsidering their toughest rental restrictions for homeowners.

Lets dive in. 

NEWS

Headline Roundup

• Airbnb rolls out new social features for Experiences, expands AI customer support, and previewed several new hosting tools (Airbnb)

• Airbnb’s Host Only Fee went live on Monday 10/27. Read the details here: (The Host Report)

• Hostaway reaches unicorn status as first $1 billion vacation rental PMS (The Host Report)

• 2026 Travel Trends: Vacation Rental Property Managers Focus on Efficiency While Travelers Seek Experiences (The Host Report)

• Palm Springs hosts catch a break as city abandons plans to tighten rental restrictions (The Palm Springs Post)

• Airbnb introduces new tools to help hosts prevent unauthorized Halloween parties (CNBC)

• Hotel industry reports $650M in losses, urges Congress to end government shutdown (Hotel Dive)

• RealTimeRental bets big on total platform overhaul to reclaim competitive edge (VRM Intel)

• Unyoked partners with Forestry England to launch off-grid cabin experiences (Hospitality Net)

• Flataway launches a tool for STR operators to instantly create direct booking websites (Flataway.ai)

• Rabbu abandons property management model, launches marketplace for profitable Airbnb properties (Yahoo Finance)

The #1 Priority for 84% of people booking a place to stay is The Location!

INTERESTING INSIGHTS

The Story of Live Oak Lake

Isaac French was a 24-year-old accountant with $30,000 in savings and a wild vision: build a village of luxury cabins in rural Texas. Despite having no formal development experience beyond running construction projects for his father's contracting business, Isaac believed his concept could be special.

While scrolling Zillow one morning, he stumbled across 5 acres of overgrown land with massive live oak trees and a cow pond. Two hours after walking the property, he had it under contract for $138,000 cash, closing in 30 days.

Through creative financing (giving his family 40% equity for co-signing loans, maxing out credit cards, flipping a spec home for $200k, and getting a local bank to agree) Isaac scraped together $2.2 million to fund the development.

Ten months later, Live Oak Lake opened with seven cabins listed on Airbnb in January 2022.

The Disaster That Changed Everything

Just weeks into operation, with glowing reviews pouring in, Isaac's world collapsed. He woke up, opened the Airbnb app, and his entire account was suspended. No warning. No explanation.

"I felt entirely helpless: a tiny speck next to a multi-billion dollar empire that didn't care," Isaac recalls. Customer service was vague and unhelpful. He'd just spent $2.2 million of mostly borrowed money, and his sole distribution channel had vanished overnight.

With the property sitting empty and debt piling up, Isaac had no choice but to figure out direct bookings immediately.

Desperate and digging through Google, he stumbled upon a travel influencer living an hour away. For $950, they agreed to post a giveaway for a 2-night stay featuring his property. Isaac sent photos, frantically built a website to accept direct bookings, and started an Instagram account from scratch.

A few days later, the giveaway went live. Within days, the results were staggering: ~5,000 new Instagram followers and ~$40,000 in direct bookings.

"I couldn't believe it. I knew Live Oak Lake was special, but this seemed too good to be true," Isaac remembers.

Six days later, Airbnb restored his account - it had been a system glitch. But by then, Isaac had discovered something far more valuable than his Airbnb listing.

Isaac went all-in on social media, partnering with more influencers and posting viral content. "That incident with Airbnb may have been the biggest blessing that ever happened."

The Direct Booking Advantage

That first year, Live Oak Lake delivered extraordinary results:

• $1M gross revenue, $550k NOI

• 94% occupancy 

• 80% of bookings coming direct

And some other, indirect benefits:

• 15% higher margins (no OTA fees)

• Customer emails for retargeting (some guests returned 3-4 times in one year)

• Zero platform risk (couldn't be deplatformed again)

• Better guests (booking from Instagram, not price-shopping on Airbnb)

Isaac built the brand up to 150,000 Instagram followers and 40,000 email subscribers. Just a year and a half after opening, Isaac received an offer he couldn't refuse: $7 million.

One million dollars per cabin.

Its a good lesson that having a brand and owning your distribution: the email list, the Instagram following, the direct relationship with guests, can help a real estate asset achieve extraordinary results.

If you’re interested in learning more about Isaac, he has a great newsletter (I subscribe to it myself) you can check it out here

MARKET INSIGHTS

Mortgage Rate Snapshot

Mortgage rates remained near three-year lows last week, with softer-than-expected inflation data keeping volatility minimal. The 30-year fixed rate matched its lowest level since 2024, as markets awaited potential movement following the Fed’s upcoming announcement.

Regulations Update

• Sausalito, California, is enforcing a strengthened short-term rental ban with fines up to $5,000 for third violations, requiring owners to immediately remove all listings under 30 days from platforms like Airbnb and VRBO

• San Diego's rules committee approved a $5,000 annual tax per bedroom on short-term rentals and second homes, potentially affecting 10,644 properties and generating $135 million yearly pending full council vote

• New York City Council Member introduced legislation to ease restrictions by allowing one and two-family homeowners to host up to four guests instead of two and permit locked-off private areas without physical presence

• Vail, Colorado, voters will decide in November on Issue 2A proposing a 6% tax increase on short-term rentals to fund housing initiatives, with Airbnb contributing $30,000 to opposition campaigns

See this weeks full regulations report here: (The Host Report)