Neighbors
Our Mission
We believe in Good Neighbor, Good Host and Good Guest guidelines that protect neighborhoods by ensuring quiet, peaceful enjoyment for everyone and advocate for a fuller understanding of STRs, homeshares and homestays. We believe STRs bring tangible benefits to our communities, and we welcome opportunities to showcase what we do and who we serve, to create a greater understanding of how we serve the community at large:
- Provide visitors with a variety of housing choices
- Preserve and repair residential housing stock
- Create employment opportunities for contractors, cleaners, landscapers and other service professionals
- Showcase the diverse character of Wilmington's neighborhoods
- Welcome those retiring and relocating to the Cape Fear Coast
- Distribute the benefits of the tourism economy to homeowners and small businesses
- Keep tourism revenue in our community, rather than sending it to corporate hotel headquarters
Read more about Neighbor/Host/Guest guidelines below, at the North Carolina Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity, and at Vacation Rental Management Association.
Regulation
We have all heard unfortunate stories of neighbors being disturbed by partying and disruptive behavior... but this is actually more likely with long-term renters or even property owners than with short-term renters, and the appropriate response of calling law enforcement to report a disturbance should be the same in any case. Our rental agreements with guests include the expectation of quiet, respectful behavior on our premises...which they are inclined to observe, since they have been required to submit an ID, credit card, and cash deposit in order to book a reservation. There is also a mutual rating system with most STR platforms, which ensures that guests and hosts have a strong incentive to behave well. The majority of STR hosts have no problem with the kind of purposeful regulation that comes with any enterprise serving the public, including such things as fire extinguishers and smoke alarms, emergency contact, and health inspections.
STR and Housing Availability
Maintaining affordable housing is a great concern in Wilmington, and this issue has been used in lodging industry propaganda as a criticism of STR. Actually, short-term rentals provide an economic incentive for preserving and upgrading substandard housing stock, which often reverts to long-term rental.
Another community benefit of STR is that it provides elderly homeowners throughout Wilmington the option of supplementing their fixed incomes with much-needed resources from renting unused parts of their homes to guests, extending the ability to remain in their homes.
With historic racial conflicts and economic disparity, and the efforts towards healing organized by the 1898 Commission, Wilmington is still in need of opportunities for equitable participation in the financial benefits of tourism. Short-term rentals provide a level playing field in a de-centralized market for lodging revenues, as platforms like AirBnB launch groundbreaking efforts at cultural sensitivity among travelers and hosts.
Another community benefit of STR is that it provides elderly homeowners throughout Wilmington the option of supplementing their fixed incomes with much-needed resources from renting unused parts of their homes to guests, extending the ability to remain in their homes.
With historic racial conflicts and economic disparity, and the efforts towards healing organized by the 1898 Commission, Wilmington is still in need of opportunities for equitable participation in the financial benefits of tourism. Short-term rentals provide a level playing field in a de-centralized market for lodging revenues, as platforms like AirBnB launch groundbreaking efforts at cultural sensitivity among travelers and hosts.