Christopher A. Combs
Real estate law guest columnist
Question:Twenty years ago, we retired and paid $188,000 for a small home in Sedona within walking distance of Oak Creek. Although Sedona was a busy tourist town during the summer, the rest of the year it was just a wonderful place to live. Everybody knew most everybody else, and the occasional snowstorm was always fun. We are now moving back to Oklahoma to live with our son and his family. We are selling our home to a short-term rental investor for $1.2 million. Although we will always miss the old Sedona, the new Sedona with all the short-term rentals is a tragedy that we will not miss. What happened?
ANSWER: The short-term rental industry in Arizona basically started in Sedona. In response, Sedona passed an ordinance in 2008 restricting them. Other towns and cities followed with restrictions on such rentals. After the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2012 ruled that Sedona’s ordinance could be enforceable, lobbyists for Airbnb and similar companies in that industry went to work. With little notice to Arizona towns and cities, the Arizona Legislature passed a law in 2016 that severely limited the regulation of short-term rentals by said towns and cities.
Short-term rentals have been a disaster to any sense of community, particularly in Sedona. For example, there were 28 high-end homes in Sedona surrounding a large common area. On weekends, there were barbecues and birthday parties. During the week, there were carpools to school events and Little League games. Within two years after passage of the state law, 17 of the 28 high-end homes were sold to investors for huge profits.The remaining 11 homeowners contacted us about trying to minimize the “destruction of their community.” We suggested forming an HOA of the remaining homes and adopting a Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions prohibiting short-term rentals in those 11 homes. The damage to the community, however, was too great. No HOA was formed, and the remaining 11 homes were soon sold to short-term rental investors for a huge profit. What was a nice community became a large motel complex.
Sedona’s story is not unique — communities across the country have felt the strain of unchecked short-term rentals. When entire neighborhoods flip to investor-owned STRs, the sense of community erodes, and towns lose the balance that made them special in the first place.
That’s where BRnX Travel steps in. Our platform only works with verified properties and trusted travelers, creating a layer of accountability missing from the big players. By requiring verification and offering accreditation, we make sure that rentals don’t just generate profit — they contribute to the community in a sustainable way.
