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Back in the stone age, landlords would have to go through the ridiculous process of meeting prospective tenants, showing them their potential homes, and sharing information on the rental.
No longer. Thanks to a property tech company with the amazingly mawkish name Rently, landlords can now kick their feet up and relax — even more than they used to, that is.
Rently’s big idea? What it calls “self-guided touring,” a system where would-be renters receive a one-time door code to tour apartments on their own time.
Recently, Rently has even begun charging apartment hunters for the privilege of touring an apartment in the first place — until now, a notoriously unprofitable process. After the tour, the potential renter has the chance to provide feedback via a survey and complete an online rental application.
And the best part? Rently’s “leasing automation” system handles all the busywork like ID verification and financial vetting, meaning landlords don’t need to lift a single finger.
Rently is a great example of SaaS — software as a service — a business model that lets big tech companies rent us tools we used to own, commodifying things like apartment tours that were once free.
“Whether seeking to find new renter leads, increase security, reduce operating costs, or increase rental revenue, Rently has a tailored solution for owners and property managers, like you,” the company’s website chimes.
A now-viral post on X-formerly-Twitter showed what this looks like from the renter’s end. Apartment hunters can either pay a “casually looking” fee of $4.99, which unlocks 10 tours over 30 days, or a “rent ready” fee of $11.99. The latter option — which offers the “best value,” per Rently — bestows apartment hunters with “Verified Renter Status,” which comes with benefits like instant credit pre-check, an application fee discount, and 24/7 live-chat support.
“I’m not paying $5 to tour a potential rental home,” the poster declares. “You ppl have lost your mind.”
Though the poster certainly doesn’t appreciate it, Rently acts as what’s called a financial intermediary, easing the burden of labor on the landlord, and offloading the landlord’s lost earnings onto would-be renters in the form of tour fees.
Rently’s approach helps to commodify the rental application process itself, turning even access to information about a living space into a source of profit — and vetting potential renters who aren’t willing to pay to play.
The genius of Rently is that it doesn’t really create housing or provide people with shelter. As the middleman, it carves a whole new stream of revenue out of the rental market, which is the kind of money move our economy is built on.
By saving our landlords precious time and money, Rently is helping them double down on their investments, allowing them to grow into new markets. Renters, meanwhile, can rest assured that the $11.99 Rently tier will always be there when it’s time to move.
More on startups: New “Uber with Guns” App Lets the Wealthy Rent Armed Goons
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