Like every Saturday with the magazine 60 Million consumers, a new meeting today with Hervé Cabbibo, deputy editor-in-chief of the editorial staff who devotes, in the May issue, a whole file on holiday rental platforms, since the spring holidays are ending or are coming to an end and many French people are already planning for this summer.
Which houses to reserve or etc? And above all, how to do it? How to compare these online platforms that appeared in France at the end of the 90s, a little later for Airbnb, it was in 2008.
franceinfo: The first observation you make is that these rentals have now taken an absolutely essential place on the market?
Hervé Cabbiwell: Yes, indeed, it seems that the French can no longer do without it when it comes to going on vacation. A study that was published in 2021 showed that 52% of them, and even 59% of Ile-de-France residents have already used this type of platform at least once to find a rental. Today, there are a million rentals just a click away from vacationers, across all platforms.
How do we choose the ones that suit us best?
It all depends on whether you are an owner or a vacationer. On the owner’s side, it will be necessary to take an interest in the commission on each rental, which varies greatly from one site to another. 15% for Booking and between 14 and 16% for Gîtes de France, but only 3% for Airbnb, HouseTrip and even 0% with Leboncoin.
But on the holiday side, it’s exactly the opposite. The service charge varies there too and it’s 14% at Airbnb, up to 16% at HouseTrip and 0% at Booking. It should also be noted that the choice is wider at Airbnb: several hundred thousand rentals in France. It remains to consider the cancellation conditions, but these depend mainly on the owners themselves, and very little on the platforms. In the end, I would tell a vacationer not to stop at just one site, to visit them all. The rare pearl may not be where you think you’ll find it.
You shouldn’t believe in ads that are a little too good when looking for accommodation? What are the tips?
I would say don’t believe in Santa too much, of course, when watching the ads. If the price / quality ratio is really very interesting, beware. It’s probably a scam. And if the ad was posted three days earlier, and there’s no notice, you really need to sound the alarm. But the most important thing is to follow very specific rules when it comes to settlement.
Never finalize a transaction outside the platform, even if you are promised a price reduction through another service and especially not to pay on an account based abroad. Use the tools made available by the platforms. This is the best way to have guarantees against scams.
And if you are a landlord, what is your advice?
On the owner’s side, you must first be as precise as possible in writing your ad. Without forgetting to detail the level of equipment. Above all, attach as many photos as possible, and finally check the profile of the applicants by consulting reviews and comments that have been left by the previous owners.
There is also the exchange of houses on which you insist a little. If we are ready to welcome people into our homes, how do we proceed?
You must first connect to specialized sites, for example Home Challenges, Home Link or Sweet Home. Then, publish his advertisement which describes his apartment or his house with photos of course. Then launch a search for accommodation in a region of the world, a country, a city. And once we’ve found it, offer a trade. If it sticks, you discuss the details with the person on the opposite side and finalize things on the site.
Is it a free system?
With the exception of an annual subscription for two platforms out of the three that we studied, of the order of 120 or 150 euros.
Can we do a home exchange regardless of where we live?
You must not dream. It will be more difficult to exchange your two-room kitchen in Corbeil-Essonnes for a villa with twelve rooms overlooking the bay of San Francisco. So yes, it’s a plus that can change the value of the exchange.
And to exchange your house Do you have to own it or can you rent it?
There is no financial transaction, so there is no subletting. So there is no need to warn anyone. If it were your neighbors who might be worried to see a family of vacationers living in your home, it’s a bit like having friends over while you’re away.