Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

caretaker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

321–330 of 593 posts

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

#321

Post by bytematic »

standardUser wrote: post #108

Apartment hunting is the most inefficient "purchasing" decision I have ever had to make, and the one most likely to end up with a severely sub-optimal outcome. There's some good ideas here that would at least facilitate efficiently viewing more apartments. But there's still so much extremely basic information that potential renters either cannot get about a unit or have to jump through hoops to get. Noise issues, pes…

You have to convince the property managers because they are purposefully gating that information. They want you to ask questions so they can gauge your interest and deny you early, also the benefit of not excluding the "right" people. And yes there is a lot of room for discrimination here

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

#322

Post by compsciphd »

AJRF wrote: post #302

I recently moved house. I was previously living with my friend, and we had an agreement I pay sometime before the end of the month. He gave me a contract and said you'll need this, just because when you go to the next place they will ask you for your previous contract. He found it online, it was boiler plate and we agreed verbally I pay him whenever during the month. We we're really good friends, and I lived there fo…

serious Q. how in the world would any credit agency know what day you are paying the rent?

In the US, I don't believe any credit agency has insight into my personal bank accounts re size (I think?) or when things are paid to whom they are paid or the like (pretty sure about this). they know about my debts, but unless the landlord puts me into collection, I ca't imagine a reason for my rent appearing on the report (it's been a while since I looked at one, but dont remember seeing them)

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

#323

Post by seigando »

denimnerd42 wrote: post #204
kennywinker wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Op suggested regulation. I.e. making certain practices illegal. You responded: > they run a racket that would be illegal there to begin with. Perhaps making it illegal in nyc as well, as op suggested, is the solution? Rather than letting a tech company replace the scalpers with a scalping monopoly

do you think NYC making a law or regulation is going to lead to less corruption? This is NYC we are talking about after all.

maybe we can find a software solution to the selective enforcement problem.

;)

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

#324

Post by compsciphd »

gentleman11 wrote: post #312
bko wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. You can always take a regular cab. Low profit routes were pretty much impossible to get pre-Uber. I am almost certain that Uber is more likely to obey disability laws than "Joe's taxi" with a few cars. > Depends. Regular t…

The purpose of the medallions, in theory, is to improve the chances that the average cab driver can make a living wage. Can the average Uber driver live a middle class income from this “gig”? > When accounting for the ride-sharing company’s commissions and fees, vehicle expenses and a modest health insurance package, Uber drivers end up earning just $9.21 in hourly wages, according to a new study from the Economic Po…

the average cabby can't buy a medalion, he therefore has to pay a fee to someone who owns a car with a medalion to rent the car for a period of time (+ probably paying the owner a percentage of his take). As opposed to using his own car and keeping everything that uber lets him to keep which might be less than what the medalion owner would have taken. hence, increase in money into pocket for the uber/lyft driver.

with that said, this is all supposition, i just find it a reasonable argument.

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

#325

Post by mlinhares »

compsciphd wrote: post #322
AJRF wrote: post #302

I recently moved house. I was previously living with my friend, and we had an agreement I pay sometime before the end of the month. He gave me a contract and said you'll need this, just because when you go to the next place they will ask you for your previous contract. He found it online, it was boiler plate and we agreed verbally I pay him whenever during the month. We we're really good friends, and I lived there fo…

serious Q. how in the world would any credit agency know what day you are paying the rent? In the US, I don't believe any credit agency has insight into my personal bank accounts re size (I think?) or when things are paid to whom they are paid or the like (pretty sure about this). they know about my debts, but unless the landlord puts me into collection, I ca't imagine a reason for my rent appearing on the report (it…

Credit agencies can 100% know when you pay you rent as the receiver can send this information to them. Credit cards also say when you pay so they can keep track of when you're delinquent or late for payments.

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

#326

Post by Robotbeat »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #257
Robotbeat wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore has “social housing” except the government builds the housing and sells it to people for cheap: https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/a-singapore-plan-for-publi...

My understanding is that the median condo in Singapore costs $1M USD. Is this not true, and if it is, then how is $1M USD for a condo considered cheap? You can get condos next to The Four Seasons in Beverly Hills for that price...

Is your figure for private condos or government built?

Keep in mind Singapore has a higher PPP per capita than the US.

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

#327

Post by foobiekr »

handmodel wrote: post #289
TeMPOraL wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

As crazy as early Uber was I still have trouble believing that taxi companies are more deserving or were better to their employees or less corrupt. There's no evidence. I guess if you prefer being able to ballpark a taxi cost then that's cool! You can still use taxis. But most people prefer to see the price before they get in. Certainly the choice existing is better for the consumer and has helped keep taxi fares low…

early Uber wasn’t crazy, it was a blatant and malign attempt to use cheap capital to monopolize an existing sector. Uber is and was always about as close to evil as a company can be without selling opioids or nicotine.

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

#328

Post by freewilly1040 »

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 =…

Brokers provide a service that people in most cities happily do themselves for free, and take an extortionate cut. Someone is coming in and doing it better. Why should I be sad?

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

#329

Post by AJRF »

compsciphd wrote: post #322
AJRF wrote: post #302

I recently moved house. I was previously living with my friend, and we had an agreement I pay sometime before the end of the month. He gave me a contract and said you'll need this, just because when you go to the next place they will ask you for your previous contract. He found it online, it was boiler plate and we agreed verbally I pay him whenever during the month. We we're really good friends, and I lived there fo…

serious Q. how in the world would any credit agency know what day you are paying the rent? In the US, I don't believe any credit agency has insight into my personal bank accounts re size (I think?) or when things are paid to whom they are paid or the like (pretty sure about this). they know about my debts, but unless the landlord puts me into collection, I ca't imagine a reason for my rent appearing on the report (it…

OP here - Estate agent asked for 6 months bank statements, which I assume was requested by the referencing agency.

I don't think is common practise in the U.K, but I asked around and lots of people told me it is more common that the larger agencies ask for it, plus it was for an apartment in a very competitive development so I feel like it might have been a forcing function to reduce the amount of applicants but that is speculation on my part.

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

#330

Post by lazyasciiart »

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…

> it has saved thousands of lives a year due to less drunk driving

According to Uber?

> Additionally, it has enabled millions of people in cities to skip buying a new car/any car which saves tons of emissions.

Citation needed. I believe the last analysis I read showed that most people used Uber etc to replace transit or walking, which means it adds to emissions.

I've used taxis in multiple cities that I booked through an app and got a fare ahead of time. At this point Uber is "a taxi, but with no guarantee of quality* and no cap on how many of them are creating traffic"

*GPS routing does no good when the driver clearly can't read a map and doesn't know where they are or how to follow directions.

Post reply on HN