How excited are you to discover there is a new ILS (internet listing service) on the market – apartable.com? Since seemingly everyone is trying to get into the rental listing game, the space is getting a bit crowded. Most of your listings are now syndicated through your property management software or a partner like rentals.com, etc. Why should you care about apartable.com entering the space?

Well, it seems to me there are three things you want when listing a vacancy:

  • Rent it fast
  • Rent it to the best possible tenant
  • Spend the least amount of time doing it

Apartable.com figured out a way to cut the fat out of the process from both ends: tenant and property manager.

I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with Matt Bortnick, Co-Founder of apartable.com. Here is an excerpt from our Skype interview:

Who Are You and What Do You Do?

My name is Matthew Bortnick and I’m one of the founders of Apartable. My overall mission is to make the lives of renters and property managers easier, as there is a disconnect going on not only in the US, but all over the world. Despite the Internet making the world transparent, the rental market is still quite opaque. My day to day job is to work with real estate professionals in helping us make the rental world a better one for all sides involved. Like Sy Syms says, “an educated consumer is my best costumer”.

How is Apartable.com Different?

Apartable is different in a number of ways. First and foremost is the design and ease of the site.

  • No ads
  • Clean design
  • Provides all relevant information needed to make a decision
  • Renters are matched with relevant properties based on their profiles, as opposed to simple search and sort. We only bring them properties that are pertinent to their needs, which goes far beyond room numbers
  • Renters can interact and communicate directly with brokers, managers, owners, and tenants in order to better understand and help find a place directly through the site, without the need for unnecessary phone calls and viewings for something that could have been determined irrelevant from the beginning.
  • Provide financials to renters – which is the biggest stumbling block when looking for an apartment and getting accepted into the right place
  • Renters have ability to search ahead of time and inquire about apartments that are off market  – Apartable is not a listing site, but an index of units throughout the country
  • Provide local and market information to help renters understand everything about their new surroundings before they come – from price averages, cost of living, the newest restaurants, and discussions about what it’s like to live in a particular place – one can move to SF from NY having never before visited, and by the time they move, understand where they are going
  • Overall, we are bringing the entire rental process online

How would Apartable benefit Property Managers?

Triple Qualification:

  • Listings are only shown and sorted based on user preferences and financials – each renter is real and verified
  • Because all info is displayed, only relevant people will contact the manager, because they are interested in a specific property – nobody wants to waste time  – and managers choose who to contact based on what they see in the profile – no repetitive phone questions or useless showings
  • Premium users can even receive leads with live credit-scores, renter background checks, etc

Social Space to connect Property Managers and Renters:

  • Personal branding and community engagement is hugely important and we provide a dedicated space in the rental market for this
  • Can communicate directly with renters on the personal level
  • Just as renters can be matched with properties, property managers can be matched with relevant renters
  • Managers can receive leads even when a property isn’t on the market yet

If you have any questions regarding apartable.com, please contact Matt directly: email matthew@apartable.com or @matibortnick on Twitter.

Fourandahalf is an Internet and Social Marketing agency that works exclusivity with Property Management companies. We also publish a property management technology blog. Please contact us with any questions.