
Before you commit to moving into a new place, why not Airbnb a nearby spot and get a feel for the area?
A partnership between Airbnb and Realtor.com will offer potential buyers the chance to crash at a new pad for a few nights to help them decide whether they want to move into that neighborhood.
When customers visit Realtor.com’s website, they’ll be able to choose the option to “Airbnb before buying.” A list of possible houses, condos, lofts and other properties in the area they’re looking at will then pop up.
Of course, you could have done this on Airbnb on your own. You could also use Airbnb in conjunction with your house-hunt on any other site or in real life. Realtor.com just adds a little more convenience by building this feature right into its search tools.
Here's what the Airbnb feature might show someone who's interested in a specific house in, say, San Jose, California:
The companies hope this partnership will enhance customers’ buying experience and ease their move to a new neighborhood or state. “It’s enabling them to try before they buy,” said Ryan O’Hara, CEO of Move, the parent company of Realtor.com. “We’re helping people make better choices on the biggest decision of their lives.”
Realtor.com is facing steep competition from the Zillow Group, formed when real estate website Zillow earlier this year acquired its rival Trulia for $2.5 billion. The latter two sites received 75.4 million unique visitors in March, while Realtor.com had 32.6 million unique visitors.
But Realtor.com has the backing of the News Corp media conglomerate, which bought Move in 2014. It rebranded itself after the acquisition, improving photo features and cross-promoting content from News Corp entities, such as real estate articles from the Wall Street Journal.
“We want to be really innovative and be bigger than them,” O’Hara told The Huffington Post of his competitor. The News Corp acquisition allowed Move to invest and increase traffic to its sites, O’Hara added.
And with the new Airbnb feature, Realtor.com hopes to reach a broader buyer audience that includes millennials. “Airbnb skews younger,” O’Hara said. “Millennials haven’t really stepped in to buy, but we’re seeing signals of it likely to start.”
Airbnb, which transformed the hospitality industry by opening up personal homes to tourists, is valued at $24 billion and hopes to secure a $1 billion funding round by the end of this month. It currently offers around 1.4 million listings across the world.
“We’ll be able to allow potential homeowners the special opportunity to experience those neighborhoods as if they already live there -- before making the decision to buy,” Chip Conley, head of Airbnb’s global strategy, said in a statement.
H/T USA Today

City: Mobile
Title:Downtown Historic Shotgun House
Nightly rate: $150
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate (percentage of time the place was rented from November to February): 100 percent
Reviews: 18

City: Fairbanks
Title:Arctic Roots Farm Onig's Cabin
Nightly rate: $176
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 64 percent
Reviews: 16

City: Sedona
Title:Luxury home with breathtaking views
Nightly rate: $750
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 63 percent
Reviews: 18

City: West Fork
Title:Ozark Cabin with Location & Views!
Nightly rate: $130
Bedrooms: 0
Occupancy rate: 60 percent
Reviews: 26

City: Sonoma
Title:Wine Country Villa, Pool, Views
Nightly rate: $1,750
Bedrooms: 7
Occupancy rate: 62 percent
Reviews: 22

City: Carbondale
Title:Ski-In/Out Aspen /Snowmass Townhouse
Nightly rate: $790
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 56 percent
Reviews: 16

City: Washington Depot
Title:Country Barn House Retreat
Nightly rate: $459
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 87 percent
Reviews: 11

City: Milford
Title:Bay/ocean view beach front house
Nightly rate: $300
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 60 percent
Reviews: 33

City: Fort Lauderdale
Title:4 Bedroom, waterfront, modern style
Nightly rate: $650
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 79 percent
Reviews: 12

City: Atlanta
Title:Beautifully Renovated Midtown Home
Nightly rate: $495
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 100 percent
Reviews: 22

City: Kihei
Title:Luxury Wailea Home - 2015 Deals !
Nightly rate: $725
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 89 percent
Reviews: 11

City: Boise
Title:Beautiful Home in Boise’s Northend
Nightly rate: $225
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 82 percent
Reviews: 10

City: River Forest
Title:Luxe Historic River Forest home
Nightly rate: $750
Bedrooms: 6
Occupancy rate: 50 percent
Reviews: 13

City: Fishers
Title:Great House for Family Gatherings
Nightly rate: $299
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 54 percent
Reviews: 11

City: Iowa City
Title:Cute House in Historic District!
Nightly rate: $150
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 86 percent
Reviews: 15

City: Andover
Title:Cabin Retreat near Town
Nightly rate: $175
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 71 percent
Reviews: 10

City: Louisville
Title:Home in the Highlands
Nightly rate: $210
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 93 percent
Reviews: 11

City: New Orleans
Title:Mansion in the Garden District
Nightly rate: $950
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 57 percent
Reviews: 18

City: Portland
Title:Portland West End Elegant Antique
Nightly rate: $500
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 70 percent
Reviews: 11

City: Baltimore
Title:Sunny 4-5 BR near JHU, Loyola!
Nightly rate: $375
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 60 percent
Reviews: 17

City: Boston
Title:3Bed/2.5Bath Luxury Triplex Boston
Nightly rate: $700
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 90 percent
Reviews: 13

City: Saint Joseph
Title:Modern beach house on Lake Michigan
Nightly rate: $325
Bedrooms: 1
Occupancy rate: 89 percent
Reviews: 12

City: Minneapolis
Title:Cool Warehouse loft
Nightly rate: $165
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 77 percent
Reviews: 30

City: Brandon
Title:Lake House Retreat - Ski/Fish/Relax
Nightly rate: $175
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 71 percent
Reviews: 10

City: St. Louis
Title:Modern, Loft-like In Historic Area
Nightly rate: $175
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 75 percent
Reviews: 16

City: Bozeman
Title:Unique neighborhood cottage
Nightly rate: $160
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 66 percent
Reviews: 10

City: Omaha
Title:Vintage Townhouse in Dundee
Nightly rate: $135
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 97 percent
Reviews: 11

City: Danbury
Title:Mother Moose Luxury Log Cabin
Nightly rate: $550
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 48 percent
Reviews: 88

City: Union City
Title:CITY MANSION CLOSE TO TIMES SQUARE
Nightly rate: $400
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 63 percent
Reviews: 78

City: Santa Fe
Title:5 Level Artist Retreat on 5 Acres
Nightly rate: $249
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 62 percent
Reviews: 25

City: New York
Title:Super Luxury Townhouse-Sleeps 16!!
Nightly rate: $1,500
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 67 percent
Reviews: 30

City: Las Vegas
Title:6000 Sq Ft Luxury Home W/Pool & Spa
Nightly rate: $599
Bedrooms: 7
Occupancy rate: 65 percent
Reviews: 15

City: Asheville
Title:Montford Home 1 mile to Downtown
Nightly rate: $235
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 79 percent
Reviews: 33

City: Grand Forks
Title:Newer 3BR Townhome Near Shopping
Nightly rate: $125
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 33 percent
Reviews: 8

City: Westerville
Title:Columbus Ohio Retreat / OSU games
Nightly rate: $500
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 43 percent
Reviews: 10

City: Oklahoma City
Title:Gatewood: Unique & BEST of OKC!!
Nightly rate: $125
Bedrooms: 2
Occupancy rate: 90 percent
Reviews: 63

City: Portland
Title:Historic Hafner Haus, Downtown PDX
Nightly rate: $199
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 89 percent
Reviews: 29

City: East Stroudsburg
Title:Spacious All Season Retreat 7Br/5Ba
Nightly rate: $350
Bedrooms: 7
Occupancy rate: 45 percent
Reviews: 12

City: San Juan
Title:Walk to the beach Lux 5BR/5.5BATH
Nightly rate: $800
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 81 percent
Reviews: 16

City: Saunderstown
Title:Wister House South, Saunderstown RI
Nightly rate: $265
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 70 percent
Reviews: 10

City: Charleston
Title:Large Dwnt Home-WEEKDAY SPECIAL
Nightly rate: $389
Bedrooms: 3
Occupancy rate: 74 percent
Reviews: 28

City: Sioux Falls
Title:Home away from home! Welcome!
Nightly rate: $90
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 34 percent
Reviews: 41

City: Nashville
Title:Lovely, great location! Vanderbilt
Nightly rate: $850
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 91 percent
Reviews: 10

City: Austin
Title:Cool down at the SoCo pool retreat!
Nightly rate: $999
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 89 percent
Reviews: 12

City: Park City
Title:4BR Solamere Deer Valley Ski Home
Nightly rate: $649
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 48 percent
Reviews: 11

City: Waterbury Center
Title:Meadow-House Backcountry Residency
Nightly rate: $900
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 43 percent
Reviews: 16

City: Virginia Beach
Title:Piper's Paradise at Croatan Beach
Nightly rate: $525
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 47 percent
Reviews: 12

City: Seattle
Title:Best Coffee in Seattle 1 Block Away
Nightly rate: $672
Bedrooms: 6
Occupancy rate: 58 percent
Reviews: 16

City: Washington, D.C.
Title:Celebrity House Hunter Mansion
Nightly rate: $1,200
Bedrooms: 6
Occupancy rate: 74 percent
Reviews: 34

City: Berkeley Springs
Title:Wild, Wonderful Five-Bedroom Loghome
Nightly rate: $240
Bedrooms: 5
Occupancy rate: 70 percent
Reviews: 72

City: Two Rivers
Title:Frank Lloyd Wright's Schwartz House
Nightly rate: $395
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 50 percent
Reviews: 14

City: Wilson
Title:Beautiful Western Home
Nightly rate: $325
Bedrooms: 4
Occupancy rate: 42 percent
Reviews: 13