Business for Streamlining the Rental Process - Thoughts?

[Jack Psooy]

Hi BiggerPockets forum,

Everyone knows the rental process is extremely frustrating for both tenants and landlords alike. From the tenant's perspective, there is the process of scouring multiple different rental websites, contacting the landlord, filling out the application process, and applying for the property (and hopefully succeeding in the application). 

From the landlords perspective, they have to review the (sometimes countless) applications, choose a successful tenant, conduct background checks, and hope they don't flake. It is incredibly stressful, disheartening, and time consuming for both parties to go through this process, and it seems like no one has the answer on how to improve this situation, so we are left with the status quo (Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, apartments.com, etc.)

I am looking to implement a new system whereby the following key things are addressed:

- Tenants are upfront pre-approved for properties (by filling out a profile as step 1 which includes income check, credit check, referral, etc.)

- Tenants can instantly apply for properties based on their qualifications

- Rental postings are given a countdown timer until the application period ends (like eBay - with the goal to provide transparency for all)

- Landlords can view all applicants on equal footing (thanks to the standardized profiles). There will be a software prioritization system where the applicants are ranked based on their profile criteria, so landlords can easily choose who the successful tenant will be (no more sifting through dozens of applicants)

I am looking to validate this process, and see if this is solving an actual need or pain point in the rental market today. Any thoughts, omissions in the process, or general feedback would be extremely welcomed, as I look to make life a little easier for everyone as they look for their next rental. Thanks!

[Mary Smith]

@Jack Psooy Hey Jack! I really do like the idea that you have and if you do happen to find a way to implement this, then that would be great. However, I don't think that this appears to be that big of a problem just like @Jevon Shaw stated.

Every applicant has different scenarios tied to their background check, credit score, etc. A tenant with a high credit score isn't necessarily equivalent to a good tenant. There's so many other factors that come in to play that it would be really hard to code that all into an application that does it for you. TransUnion already has a similar score, called the 'Resident Score' that is tied to applications, giving a fuller view of the applicant rather than just the applicant's credit score. Even if technology like this did exist, I think I would still go the route of going through all my applications to ascertain the best tenant for my property, vs having a software that ranks them only based on a few parameters. Just my two cents!