RentSpree, SentriLock link up on software services for renters

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Technology company RentSpree is hopeful the trend toward digital showing services will continue as it has expanded its partnership with the app-powered lockbox manufacturer, SentriLock, according to a press release.

The official electronic lockbox provider of the National Association of Realtors, SentriLock’s software makes it easy for agents to coordinate tenant tours, monitor activity trends and generate reports on what units are favored, not shown and other such critical leasing metrics.

Most importantly, it will now help leasing agents quickly deliver RentSpree-powered application services through its app in a method that connects the prospect with the application at or moments after the showing, when the sales cycle is at its most critical juncture.

“We continuously strive to provide agents and brokers with the best technology solutions in the industry,” said Michael Lucarelli, CEO and co-founder of RentSpree in the press release. “By combining our company’s superior suite of tools with those of other industry leaders such as SentriLock is only logical.”

RentSpree is a fast-growing proptech serving the apartment market and recently closed on a funding round of $17 million. It offers application software, marketing features, financial tools and a host of benefits to empower tenants and the agents who serve them.

Its pairing with SentriLock’s SentriKey Showing Service seems only natural, given the company’s respective trajectories.

“Integrating RentSpree’s online standard rental application and screening platform with SentriLock’s property access management functionality enables both companies to marry important elements in the often fragmented leasing process and helps to empower and support agents as a result,” the release states.

RentSpree has openly communicated its desire to expand through partnerships, relying on a number of already established industry partners bettering the way people rent and the agents that deliver those processes.

It has linked up with a number of multiple listing services and brokerages.

“In this way, we can cater to and empower smart rental agents with just a few clicks in the most effective way possible,” Lucarelli said.

SentriLock’s CEO and founder Scott Fisher agreed with Lucarelli, stating in the release that technology doesn’t replace agents, but instead makes them better at what they already do.

“We are always looking to find meaningful partnerships with other proptech vendors that can positively impact the critical role that our almost half a million Realtor customers play in the home search process,” he said.

Agents are not traditionally encouraged to focus on renters as lead sources, despite stats that say most aspire to own homes, which makes partnerships like this important to shifting that mentality.

The Pew Research Center found that more households are renting than at any other time in the last 50 years.

“Rental rates have also increased among some groups that have traditionally been less likely to rent, including whites and middle-aged adults,” the center said.

A 2016 survey the Center published revealed that 72% of renters would like to buy a house at some point. However, today’s high cost of rent is only delaying what those respondents likely meant by “at some point.”

RentSpree, however, wants to encourage more tenants to become homebuyers. One such effort includes its reporting of one-time rental payments to boost credit scores and future lending power.

Other technology companies are joining them in that effort, such as RentBase, a CRM for agents to track renters; Stake, a fintech that rewards tenants for on-time payments and offers no-fee banking services; and Gravy, a mobile app that offers savings incentives and direct cash matching.

Email Craig Rowe