Would love your feedback on my business idea

[Eugene Lipkin]

Hi BiggerPockets community,

I have a startup idea that I wanted to run by this community of landlords. It seems to me that there are two main pain points that landlords deal with every day:

1. Turnover. Landlords are really concerned about consistent income streams. Having a tenant move out and having the hassle of replacing them and not knowing how long it will take to find a new tenant is a source of anxiety. You can lose a lot of income trying to fill a property, and property management companies charge extra every time they have to find a new tenant.

2. Maintenance. Being a part-time landlord involves a lot of maintenance hassles. You either hire a handyman or become one yourself but maybe you aren't excited about spending your weekends plunging toilets.

The startup idea is to rent apartments or houses from landlords and offer an upfront monthly rent. Then, this company would go out and find a tenant, take care of maintenance going forward, etc. The landlords get a consistent income stream, and the company takes on the risk of bad tenants or maintenance issues. Instead of charging a % of rent fee, like most property management companies, this company would earn the difference between what they pay the landlord and what they charge the tenant.

What do you guys think? Do you think this idea could work? Am I right about what landlords care about, or are there other pain points that are more important?

Thanks!

[Joe Fairless]

@Eugene Lipkin first off, props to you for stretching the conventional thinking of the tenant/landlord/property mgmt company process. It's a lot easier to critique biz ideas than it is to come up with them. 

That said, the actual mgmt expenses and quality of resident would be the primary concern of the landlord. If you find a way of solving (maybe an insurance company??) that then you might have something.