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Bidding Website Rentberry May Be the Startup of Your Nightmares (gizmodo.com)
Renting is already fraught with pain, from annual rent hikes to extortionate lettings fees. But if a new service called Rentberry takes off, it could be about to get a lot worse. From a report: Rentberry has been operating in test cities and angering affordable housing advocates since 2016. But with its new expansion into 1,000 cities in the United States, the rental bidding website is about to piss off a lot more people. Alex Lubinksy, founder of Rentberry, seems to be pursuing an image that's closer to Uber's vilified Travis Kalanick than the do-gooder model of Elon Musk. Lubinsky courts the controversy that surrounds his startup and is known to include negative press when communicating his vision to reporters. But one big difference with Rentberry will be that if it takes off and becomes the new standard for renting apartments, most of its customers won't be able to run a #deleteRentberry campaign because landlords will have the control. The website essentially functions as a cross between CraigsList and eBay. A landlord lists a rental space and potential tenants bid against one another to claim the lease. Tenants' personal information is available to the landlord. The landlord then makes their final decision by weighing what the best offer is along with which bidder seems like they'd be the best tenant. For now, Rentberry charges users a $25 fee, but in the future, it plans to charge 25 percent of the difference between the asking price and the agreed upon rent. Whoever received the better deal pays the fee -- every month.
"rent-seeking" usually refers to entities that benefit from government mandates. This is not the case here.
No, it has nothing to do with "government mandates". It refers to anyone who tries to extract profits without actually doing any more work. Monopolies (cable companies, unregulated utilities, patent holders, etc.) do it all the time.
, and I will negotiate a lower rent, more amenities, or I'll move.
Oh wow, this makes me laugh. I own quite a few rentals and I guarantee if you tried to negotiate like that I'd have no problem not renewing your lease and finding someone else while simultaneously raising the rent. It's not as hard to find someone to replace you as you may think.
Now if you were a good tenant and not a dick about things, I wouldn't raise your rent, but I also won't be making "substantial improvements" as you think you deserve.
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"And may your days be long upon the earth."
Actually, there is. You do this on volume and ensure yourself a constant stream of tenants in the buildings generating rent.
You get your low price, small units in the Federal Section 8 housing program. The US Feds pay most of the rent, they have rules for the tenants, and if the tenants break rules, do drugs, destroy the place, you can have the Feds evict them and replace them with someone else in the program.
I know folks that make a LOT of mostly GUARANTEED money owning section 8 housing units.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
aggressive landlords who would put a family on the street just as soon as the first payment was missed.
Why is the landlord supposed to act as a bank with 0% interest?