Arif Qazi / Insider
Nick Sullivan was facing a sudden squeeze. For the past few years, his two Airbnb properties around Charlotte, North Carolina, had generated as much as $7,000 a month in revenue, which he and his wife stashed away for retirement. But this past fall, that income was slashed in half: Bookings dropped, his homes were empty more often than not, and his monthly revenue sank to $3,000.
His cleaner was actually the first to point out the slowdown in bookings — she told Sullivan the same thing was happening with various rentals all over town. "We started panicking and started connecting with other folks who we know have short-term rentals," Sullivan told Insider. "We don't know what's going on."