The growth of proptech: an interview with Larry Goodman

While the rental economy has seen continual growth, technology to support this growth has been slow to keep up. Recently, however, new technology has started to emerge that provides properties and renters with innovations that help navigate renting a new home.

We spoke with Jetty’s Chief Revenue Officer, Larry Goodman, to better understand what this new technology means for multifamily real estate, and how it can help properties succeed.

A: Today, the multifamily real estate market continues to see substantial growth. This in turn has spurred significant growth in proptech, with new solutions that offer better flexibility for both property owners and renters. On the owner’s side, proptech provides tools that give onsite teams more efficient ways to operate and perform their day-to-day duties. From a resident’s perspective, proptech can make finding a home, and staying in a home, easier to do. This is a huge step in the right direction, especially as multifamily continues to see growth.

A: As the proptech ecosystem continues to expand, the challenge today for property owners and applicants is the number of solutions available to them. Although technology is supposed to help simplify renting a home, the amount of products on the market can oftentimes make selecting a tool difficult in the first place.

Onsite leasing teams have a long list of daily tasks, so when a new tool is introduced to them, it can add another step to their already long list of to-dos. If the tool doesn’t integrate with their PMS, it becomes that much harder to use. And when you introduce multiple tools, which in theory are supposed to better help onsite teams perform their jobs, knowing which tool to focus on for what adds a layer of stress.

A resident, on the other hand, is simply focused on affordability, finding a new home, being approved for a new home, and paying rent for their new home. When it comes to proptech, tools are meant to positively impact a renter’s life. The goal then is to help them move into a place and stay in that new place. With irregular pay cycles though, pay dates don’t always line up on the first of the month; but rent payments are always due on the first. This makes lack of flexibility a challenge, which is where Jetty Rent helps tremendously.

A: There’s currently a large number of single point solutions on the market. For renters, finding the right tool to use to move into their new home, for say renters insurance or a deposit alternative, can mean hours of research. So tools that save time and provide a user-friendly experience are key. Property owners also strive to make the journey for the resident as easy as possible, meaning they need easy-to-use, integrated tools themselves. 

As proptech companies continue to innovate, offering a platform of trusted financial solutions, rather than single point solutions, for both sides of the lease can create massive value. Essentially, bundled solutions have a positive impact, especially when it comes from a trusted brand property owners are already using. This can make the rental journey more positive along the way.