Choosing to share a house with complete strangers can be a big decision.

Buffalo's John Denecke says becoming an Airbnb host literally changed his life.

"Had people as far as New Zealand, three people, Australia, Indonesia, India is big over the summer,” Denecke said. "I'm meeting people from all over the world. I'm getting some income from it and just meeting great friends."

The host pays a piece of his profits to Erie County and the city of Buffalo - but unlike with hotels - guests in Erie County don't pay a bed tax for Airbnb.

The company says it’s not for lack of effort, as it has negotiated with Erie County for roughly three years.

"Buffalo is the number 2 most booked destination in New York State after New York City. We have a very passionate host committee there," said Airbnb Head of Public Policy for New York, Josh Meltzer.

Erie County says negotiations are ongoing but it believes it needs to pass a new law to collect that bed tax - and it's unclear if it needs to do so at the county or state level.

"We have signed voluntary collection agreements with over 30 counties statewide and to date have remitted more than $4 million to those counties," Meltzer said.

However, Erie County isn't the only one perhaps missing their piece of the pie.

New York has yet to pass a bill to collect sales tax for home sharing - primarily due to disagreements over New York City regulations.

Airbnb estimates it would bring in $100 million annually to the state just from its guests.

When Denecke first opened his home to guests in June 2017 - he says it was hit and miss, but has since booked more and more days each year.

"For the calendar year of 2019, I've been booked 86 percent of the days,” Denecke said. "It's getting more and more popular and I believe we offer a good service for our community.

Denecke understands his guests will likely soon have some extra costs.

"That's their call,” he said. “I hope they don't crazy about it but again, everybody wants in on the action."