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

#541

Post by benhurmarcel » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 7:59 AM UTC

oconnor663 wrote: post #141

tut-urut-utut wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The assumption that software can solve this problem is simply wrong. It's the regulation change that needs to happen if you don't want that renter pay the broker "services". For example, a new law in Germany to apply the "who hires pays" principle for brokers in the renting market basically made the renting "broker fee free" for renters. Previously, the landlords would hire a broker that needed to be paid by the rent…

> Why not, it doesn't cost them anything It can't be quite this simple. If your renter is paying $X to you plus $Y to your broker, then their willingness to pay for the apartment was at least $X+Y, and you're leaving at least $Y on the table. In theory there should be a lot of market pressure to shrink Y. So the question becomes, what transaction costs are getting in the way of that? Or maybe, is the $Y actually buyi…

In Europe the broker/agency usually takes a flat fee at the contract signature. It's not a recurring payment.

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

#542

Post by raverbashing » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:04 AM UTC

konschubert wrote: post #534

coding123 wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All states should operate like Oregon that stipulates the maximum lease break fee of 1.5 months. I think that's totally fair considering it's been a landlords market for the past 20 years. There's no reason in any state to keep someone on the hook for potentially 12 months when that landlord can just tell someone "hey we're still advertising it but we haven't found anyone yet". By the way, if any of you find yourself…

In Germany, the tenant usually has a 3 month termination notice requirement. The landlord just CANT terminate the lease, ever. (Unless he is going to live in the place herself or the tenant stopped paying. And even then, it takes a long time to get a tenant out. It works just fine.

"Works just fine" not actually. That's one of the reasons you see a lot of places going into airbnb (where they get paid more).

I'll give you it works better than some other places because the rights are balanced.

But 3 month termination notices are just an anachronism. German "bureaucracy" still think contracts are forever when they're getting shorter with time.

Yes, I'm giving you the 3 months notice when you could terminate the lease, let's say, with 1 month then have a queue of 10 people ready to rent it again (were you not petty)

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

#543

Post by unishark » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:13 AM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #478

crazygringo wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously you're not going to use it if your landlord doesn't allow subleases, and landlords are also usually pretty upfront about approval requirements for a sublease. I've never heard of a landlord not allowing a subletter to convert to a full lease upon original lease expiration. I mean, the alternative is to forego a month or two of rent while you find a new tenant. Unless there's a horrible problem with the exis…

> Obviously you're not going to use it if your landlord doesn't allow subleases, In many jurisdictions, including New York, the law requires that landlords allow subleases. Tenants have a lot more rights than you might think.

Subleasing is kind of a red herring. There are particular reasons landlords might want to avoid letting that happen willy-nilly. But if the company finds a tenant that conforms to the landlord's requirements, the landlord can agree to a transfer of the lease, or just agree to break the lease and start a new one with the new tenant.

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

#544

Post by refurb » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:15 AM UTC

ipaddr wrote: post #333

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…

Cab drivers had goals to own a medallion. That medallion value rose allowing someone to retire. What we have is slightly higher pay until your car breaks. No retirement plan. The drivers lose out. The customer rides in someone's personal car pays a little less sometimes but a lot more (demand pricing) when they really need it. Uber/Lift lose money on each ride but will rise prices as soon as they can once you have fe…

Few drivers owned a medallion. Mostly owned by large cops.

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

#545

Post by jarv » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:15 AM UTC

raverbashing wrote: post #542

konschubert wrote: post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany, the tenant usually has a 3 month termination notice requirement. The landlord just CANT terminate the lease, ever. (Unless he is going to live in the place herself or the tenant stopped paying. And even then, it takes a long time to get a tenant out. It works just fine.

"Works just fine" not actually. That's one of the reasons you see a lot of places going into airbnb (where they get paid more). I'll give you it works better than some other places because the rights are balanced. But 3 month termination notices are just an anachronism. German "bureaucracy" still think contracts are forever when they're getting shorter with time. Yes, I'm giving you the 3 months notice when you could…

Oh man, don't get me started. The 3 _calendar_ month notice that needs to be sent in writing (or faxed) is so ridiculous and I wonder if it is done to make it more difficult to get out of contracts. In my case, I had no idea that the written notice receive date matters (unlike the US, where you typically use the postmark date), due to mail delay because of a holiday my notice arrived 2 days late and that was enough to make them pay for another month despite there being an incredible amount of demand in Berlin for apartments.

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

#546

Post by refurb » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:15 AM UTC

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #293

handmodel wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 poli…

The US may not feel so blessed when the Saudis decide they want some of that money back.

It’s not a loan.

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

#547

Post by allendoerfer » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:16 AM UTC

raverbashing wrote: post #542

konschubert wrote: post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany, the tenant usually has a 3 month termination notice requirement. The landlord just CANT terminate the lease, ever. (Unless he is going to live in the place herself or the tenant stopped paying. And even then, it takes a long time to get a tenant out. It works just fine.

"Works just fine" not actually. That's one of the reasons you see a lot of places going into airbnb (where they get paid more). I'll give you it works better than some other places because the rights are balanced. But 3 month termination notices are just an anachronism. German "bureaucracy" still think contracts are forever when they're getting shorter with time. Yes, I'm giving you the 3 months notice when you could…

Most landlords are fine with the tenant leaving early, if he provides a follow-up tenant. OP is really describing a non-issue in a landlords market.

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

#548

Post by unishark » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:24 AM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #480

danenania wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why would they ever say no to a qualified tenant?" I agree with the rest of your comment, but in my experience landlords in hot markets can be pretty capricious. If they know they'll have a steady stream of applicants, many will definitely reject qualified tenants based on personal whims or to hold out for someone they see as "more" qualified or more likely to stay long term. That said, as long as the apartment stil…

That's not rejecting (all) qualified tenants though so much as they are merely using some kind of algorithm to pick one of the many prospective qualified tenants. They can only choose one anyway, and FIFO is not necessarily the best strategy. So a better way to phrase the question would be "Why would they ever say no to all qualified prospective tenants?"

In California my understanding is they are required to accept the first qualified tenant due to anti-discrimination laws. I thought NY was similar in that regard (and hence the income=3*rent or whatever the popular advertised rules are there).

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

#549

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 8:31 AM UTC

konschubert wrote: post #534

coding123 wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All states should operate like Oregon that stipulates the maximum lease break fee of 1.5 months. I think that's totally fair considering it's been a landlords market for the past 20 years. There's no reason in any state to keep someone on the hook for potentially 12 months when that landlord can just tell someone "hey we're still advertising it but we haven't found anyone yet". By the way, if any of you find yourself…

In Germany, the tenant usually has a 3 month termination notice requirement. The landlord just CANT terminate the lease, ever. (Unless he is going to live in the place herself or the tenant stopped paying. And even then, it takes a long time to get a tenant out. It works just fine.

[deleted]

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

#550

Post by tut-urut-utut » Fri, Jul 09, 2021, 9:00 AM UTC

EricE wrote: post #157

enjo wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Fast food prices have increased greater than inflation for some time: https://www.delish.com/food/news/a39265/fast-food-menu-price... Thinking that labor costs do not impact product costs is grossly ignorant.

> Thinking that labor costs do not impact product costs is grossly ignorant.

No one is arguing that labor cost doesn't impact product cost, but the fact is that in general it doesn't impact product price.

Or to put it the other way: can you imagine a business not increasing product price as much as they can, regardless of the product cost, as long as the supply is matched?

If they can increase the price, why would they wait for cost to rise before doing so?

The outcome is that business/landlord already charge as much as they can, and increased cost doesn't change the product price, since they already chareg as much as they can.