Renting apartments and the 20% agency fee.

[rmike]

What works for me is to let the AirBnB host know that I am looking for a long-term rental, and then lock in 2 weeks through the site. This gives you enough time to become aware of nuisances such as noisy neighbors or construction work. Landlords usually are willing to block out my actual schedule while I am evaluating the place. If it's a miss, the host pockets 2 weeks of inflated rent, and I am not getting stuck with a costly mistake.