We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments • Hacker News Board

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#271

Post by handmodel » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 6:59 PM UTC

dralley wrote: post #233

handmodel wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber and Lyft are 100% a win though. - It is now cheaper for the average person to get a ride to an airport/bar than it was before. It is safer, more predictable with timing, and more predictable with pricing. - Uber drivers make more money today than taxi drivers used to/or do today. There are also way more job openings in this than there used to be, with less friction to get involved. The world is not a zero sum ga…

>- It is now cheaper for the average person to get a ride to an airport/bar than it was before. Is it? Or are venture capitalists just footing the bill? Whatever model of "price" you use needs to take into account the fact that not only are Uber and Lyft lighting enormous piles of Saudi money on fire to "gain marketshare" but that the actual drivers are being paid peanuts. This isn't pure win, it's more like Nestle h…

What market did they destroy? The money went directly to US engineers and US drivers.

The US should be blessed that Saudi is so bad with its money and so willing to subsidize Americans.

It destroyed the money of people who had bought up medallions. That's it. Having medallions was not a long term solution when the city can now charge rideshare services for miles/minutes/rides on the road without any hard cap for politically connected incumbent players.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#272

Post by 1024core » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 6:59 PM UTC

the_rectifier wrote: post #238

handmodel wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber and Lyft are 100% a win though. - It is now cheaper for the average person to get a ride to an airport/bar than it was before. It is safer, more predictable with timing, and more predictable with pricing. - Uber drivers make more money today than taxi drivers used to/or do today. There are also way more job openings in this than there used to be, with less friction to get involved. The world is not a zero sum ga…

In most countries Uber has been a disaster for drivers, to the point of outllawing it.

I travel to India frequently. Before Uber (or their local variant, Ola) came along, getting a taxi was nearly impossible in middle-tier cities. The only option was an auto-rickshaw, whose drivers were notorious for gouging. And they formed a cartel: if you turned down one driver, the others would see that and refuse to give you a ride.

Uber was a god-send. You call up the driver, watch him approach on your phone, step out when he's there. Regardless of where you were, you could get a ride from there to wherever you were going. Rides for which auto-rickshaws used to charge upwards of Rs. 300 (~$4), can now be had for Rs 150 or less ( < $2 ).

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#273

Post by TeMPOraL » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:00 PM UTC

handmodel wrote: post #265

TeMPOraL wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is now cheaper for the average person to get a ride to an airport/bar than it was before. On average, in certain locations. In others, not so much. And let's not forget surge pricing. Or people living, or wanting to get to a place, along low-profit routes. Or people with disabilities. > more predictable with pricing Depends. Regular taxis tended to cost a bit more, but had much lower variance. > Uber drivers mak…

I would love a carbon tax but if that existed I don't see how you can blame Uber for making society worse. In additions to all the economic gains you talk about it has saved thousands of lives a year due to less drunk driving. Additionally, it has enabled millions of people in cities to skip buying a new car/any car which saves tons of emissions. More predictable as in you know the fair before you get in. I did have…

> how you can blame Uber for making society worse

There's a long, long, long list of reasons Uber has screwed over great many people, and continues to. From regulatory arbitrage, duping drivers into unprofitable deals, lack of proper insurance, privacy violations, harassing journalists, harassing employees... This has been covered non-stop on HN for pretty much a decade now. I invite you to do some searching, and you'll quickly see how Uber is one of the most ethically challenged companies of the 21st century.

> More predictable as in you know the fair before you get in.

Yes. And by higher-variance I meant that you never know what fare you'll have to either accept, or abandon the trip. With traditional taxis, the prices are variable, but it's easier to ballpark them (at least traveling in the city you know), and they have much tighter range.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#274

Post by syshum » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:00 PM UTC

enjo wrote: post #55

tut-urut-utut wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they are not. The consumer price depends only on supply and demand. Fees don't influence none of it, only the cost of the selling party and thus his profit.

This is correct in almost all cases (outside of highly commoditized goods) and it's crazy how people don't understand it. It's why the price of McDonalds doesn't increase when minimum wage does. McDonalds is already charging as much as they can for a Big Mac (where stores averages a 40% margin). Increasing minimum wage means that margin goes down a bit, not that prices increase. If they could increase prices they alr…

Except is does.. and no they do not charge "as much as they can" for the big mac. Prices go up all the time, just in the last year the price of the Big Mac has increased a lot due to input costs, including labor, going up

you are simply wrong

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#275

Post by woodruffw » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

speby wrote: post #262

woodruffw wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither of these things is true in NYC: cabs charge a fixed rate to the area airports (Uber is at least twice that rate), and hack drivers have historically made reasonable money. Most of them have lost that stability, as well as (in some instances) their life savings due to the medallion crash.

Yes, the medallion crash.... because medallions were a political "tool" which controlled supply, making them artificially way more valuable than they otherwise should have been.

The medallions were an economic tool, instituted during the Great Depression, to regulate a spiraling industry. Whether or not they “should” be valuable is a nonsense framing: they were introduced to enforce scarcity, which makes them valuable. Neither of us has to like them to recognize their outsized value and function in the welfare of a large number of peoples’ lives.

But to the larger point: medallions made NYC yellowcabs more expensive than the market demands, and they’re still cheaper than ridesharing.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#276

Post by kodt » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

handmodel wrote: post #206

boringg wrote: post #159

Caretaker: The redfin of brokers. Take all the value for themselves freeze out the brokers (who provide a service but are universally disdained). Ride that wave of positive news for a couples years. Eventually everyone will hate the fraction of the market Caretaker has as they raise prices to make investors happy and people realize there are problems. It's like the same idea of Uber and Lyft. Less human involvement =…

Uber and Lyft are 100% a win though. - It is now cheaper for the average person to get a ride to an airport/bar than it was before. It is safer, more predictable with timing, and more predictable with pricing. - Uber drivers make more money today than taxi drivers used to/or do today. There are also way more job openings in this than there used to be, with less friction to get involved. The world is not a zero sum ga…

Your first point was true, pre-pandemic. But is no longer true, at least not universally true. In some areas Uber and Lyft are now prohibitively expensive. What was once a $15 trip is now $40-50. You are better off going back to traditional taxi companies.

They have also become very unreliable, with no available drivers in some areas or 40+ minute wait times, and then the driver cancels. The majority of drivers switched to food delivery it seems. Pre-pandemic you could get a driver within 5 minutes no problem in some areas, and now may be waiting 30+ minutes.

I took a trip to Asheville and Uber/Lyft service was virtually non-existent, you had to rely on local cab companies to get around.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#277

Post by enumjorge » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #248

handmodel wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber and Lyft are 100% a win though. - It is now cheaper for the average person to get a ride to an airport/bar than it was before. It is safer, more predictable with timing, and more predictable with pricing. - Uber drivers make more money today than taxi drivers used to/or do today. There are also way more job openings in this than there used to be, with less friction to get involved. The world is not a zero sum ga…

> It is now cheaper for the average person to get a ride to an airport/bar than it was before. On average, in certain locations. In others, not so much. And let's not forget surge pricing. Or people living, or wanting to get to a place, along low-profit routes. Or people with disabilities. > more predictable with pricing Depends. Regular taxis tended to cost a bit more, but had much lower variance. > Uber drivers mak…

Yeah I don’t understand the parent comment’s gushing take on Uber/Lyft. I consider them a net positive but they are hardly a 100% win. In my area prices shot up from what they were 1-2 years ago, and many drivers barely break even (if they do) once you take into account maintenance costs on the car they drive.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#278

Post by handmodel » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

tenpies wrote: post #225

mattzito wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brokers taking money from renters is ridiculous and should be done away with. Landlords hiring brokers to deal with vetting and showing an apartment and all those logistics seems pretty reasonable and up to the landlord if they feel it’s worth the value.

Spoiler: the landlord is just passing that cost to the tenant. It's like in Canada where tenants can hire a broker for "free" to find a rental. However the broker just collects 1 month rent from the landlord. Do you think the landlord just absorbs the cost? No, the quoted rent was just 8.4% higher when the broker mentioned he was a broker.

It is interesting. One important difference is if the broker knows they have to pay the broker they are probably more likely to due their best to keep a tenant if they have to deal with it. The landlord also wants to make as much money while having a marketable rent - so its not like they don't care if they have to raise rent to cover expenses.

I still think having this on a platform where a company is making a flat $250 fee (or whatever) is extremely scalable for the company and would benefit both the landlord and tenants.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#279

Post by __sy__ » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

jmuguy wrote: post #209

benmanns wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a recommendation on a quality smart lock for home use? Some ideal mix of security, style, open/compatible software.

We've gone through a bunch (including the Igloohome locks mentioned in the post) and landed on Yale's Assure line, specifically the YRD216 model with a physical keypad (not the touchscreen). Deployed in 100s of homes now (we're also property managers) with really no issue. We use Z-Wave to control but their modular system allows for Zigbee as well. I would avoid the Schlage "Smart Deadbolt" model. At least when it co…

I agree 110% with this! The touchscreens confuse new people not used to it. As far as Schlage, yeah... let's just say there's a few folks in the Home Assistant community (and us too) who are not super impressed with their protocol implementation.

btw which z-wave controller do you guys use for the Assure?

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#280

Post by satellite2 » Thu, Jul 08, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

sombremesa wrote: post #247

cafard wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will Uber and Lift continue to be a win when the VCs start wanting to see some of their money back? Or will the prices start rising back to the old taxi rates, then past?

We're talking about public companies. You can safely use the term investors, the term "VC" is irrelevant, except for drama. Now that we're talking about public companies, there are a lot of them. Any concern about price gouging you might have should extend to all these companies. If not, why not?

Not sure if it's accurate, but the feeling is that recently, tech companies went public before being profitable or while barely being so. On top of that, their valuation is higher on a PE ratio basis than classical ones.

So it feels that they'll have to change something big to meet expected returns.

And the fear is that, as they succesfully managed to kill the incumbent, they are free to change the most obvious parameter, the pricing.