Even though this begins with a pitch for empowering tenants, the customers are the landlords. The value for landlords comes at the expense of tenants in several ways.
* It prevents tenants who don't meet income or other requirements from even looking at the unit.
* It makes tenants liable for noting damage as soon as they view a unit to avoid it being attributed to them, a daunting task.
* And it removes a face to face interaction that forces some accountability on landlords who don't provide a clean/cared for unit.
Notably absent is a mechanism for tenants to provide feedback to landlords on the listing. The Questions feature is helpful, but not designed for concerns/praise.
> it removes a face to face interaction that forces some accountability on landlords who don't provide a clean/cared for unit.
I do not think face to face interactions with landlords help when the landlord knows they are providing a poorly kept property to begin with.
I’ve had a landlord that would use various manipulative techniques to get people to sign leases.
Promises of future fixes, charm, references to the difficulty of finding a place, hints toward other interest.
Landlords can not be trusted to be benevolent. They are like the pre-Uber taxi drivers.
Landlords lack accountability and provide services to people in positions of vulnerability. They take advantage of the asymmetric power differentials and do it in the name of profit.
Anything to remove this person and unify terms is advantageous.
Jerry.ai is doing this with insurance, and various startups have made attempts to do this with car dealerships. CarWoo back in the day.
Bad algorithms can be improved overnight. Greedy, careless people are here to stay.
* It prevents tenants who don't meet income or other requirements from even looking at the unit.
* It makes tenants liable for noting damage as soon as they view a unit to avoid it being attributed to them, a daunting task.
* And it removes a face to face interaction that forces some accountability on landlords who don't provide a clean/cared for unit.
Notably absent is a mechanism for tenants to provide feedback to landlords on the listing. The Questions feature is helpful, but not designed for concerns/praise.