I asked Michael Schaecher from AirBnB to give us an update ahead of SXSW, and the big housing crunch! I’ve heard that hotel rooms filled up faster than normal for 2011. Here is one solution.

2010 was an exciting year for us at Airbnb. Our concept is simple: people make money renting our their space to those who need a place to stay, and we now offer a diversity of listings, from an entire apartment to a private island. We recently closed a $7.2 million round of funding from Greylock Ventures and Sequoia Capital, launched an iPhone App, and saw 800% growth for the year. Nowhere has this growth been more evident than in Austin.

As many struggled for jobs in the wake of recession, people began using our marketplace as a new stream of income. Starting last year with fifty Airbnb hosts, the city of the violet crown ended the year with a community of two hundred. Since inception, there have been over 6,000 nights booked in Austin, with the majority occurring in 2010. Many of these hosts made well
over $10,000 last year, money which helped people keep their homes in a down economy and even funded new business ventures.

Fred Chieux, Managing Director of DUEL Purpose, says, “I started using Airbnb back in 2008, when a new startup I founded kept me out in Sillicon Valley, often weeks or months at a time. The founders provided much of the seed funding and renting out my loft on Airbnb lowered my costs when I was on the road.” Fred adds, “Hosting on Airbnb has been a great experience. I would highly recommend my fellow Austinites rent out their places during SXSW because renters from Airbnb are great, and the site is really easy to use.”

Fred isn’t the only Austinite using Airbnb to cash in on SXSW either. As all of the convenient hotels are completely sold out, hosts on Airbnb are able to ask a premium for their space. We expect that for people who rent out a guest room, entire apartment, or house during SXSW earnings will be between $1,000 to $5,000.

Our current listings are nearly all booked for SXSW already, and there are still thousands of people looking to Airbnb for a place to stay. For a limited time, we are offering free professional photography to new hosts that will be posting listings during this event. We hope to be able to give something back to the city that has been so great to us.

We’re excited to be a part of your community, and would love to have you as part of ours.