September is Marketing and Branding Month at Inman. Tips for better branding and in-depth features on how to take advantage of marketing tools provided by Zillow, Redfin and other platforms are all in the works in addition to insights from experts. You’ll find it all at Inman, as well as our two-day virtual, flagship event, Your Playbook for the Fall Market, in October.
RentSpree has forged yet another partnership as it expands its presence in the rental industry.
Form Simplicity is a product owned and operated by Florida Realtors, and it will now work with RentSpree to “expedite the still often fragmented leasing process,” according to an announcement.
Florida Realtors represents 225,000 members in 51 boards and associations.
“Our continued mission is to simplify the often discombobulated and outdated rental process,” said RentSpree CEO and cofounder MIchael Lucarelli. “Partnering with Form Simplicity helps us to provide additional services to agents’ and brokers’ repertoire of tools that help them cut down on the time wasted on inefficient processes and paperwork.”
RentSpree continues to smartly make decisions around the idea that renters are future home owners, not merely “renters,” thus, its ongoing effort to connect with multiple listing services as a conduit to real estate agents.
Form Simplicity gives real estate agents and brokers the tools to create, manage, share, sign and store transactions digitally in the cloud, according to the release. There’s a mobile component, as well, allowing users to create and edit transactions on smartphones, as well as categorize and pre-populate common forms.
RentSpree, which recently gained funding in the amount of $17 million to scale its offerings, has linked itself to range of organizations that traditionally center on residential sales, such as Realty One, California Regional MLS, Los Angeles’ The MLS, and BrightMLS, among others.
In a company white paper published in June, 2022, RentSpree stated that “Over 60 percent of all rental properties never appear on the multiple listing service (MLS), severely limiting their exposure and profitability for landlords and agents.”
RentSpree’s software was reviewed by Inman in 2021, earning four stars mainly for its ability to smooth out the connections between application completion and tenant screening and other disparate workflows that typically require leasing agents, property managers and landlords to buy and run multiple software products.
RentSpree’s appeal comes in part from its ability to bridge the gap between being a landlord’s business tool and a renter-forward user experience. For example, its fintech features let tenants pay rent from multiple online sources.
Agent tools within RentSpree help them create and roll out tenant ad campaigns, lead capture tactics, screening programs and later, encourage the transition into home ownership, again demonstrating its intent to help tenants become owners.
“The integration of RentSpree into Form Simplicity helps boost the power of the digital transaction,”
said Florida Realtors CEO Margy Grant, in a press release. “Renters are the largest group of future homeowners, and with RentSpree, agents can seamlessly assist and connect the various steps within the rental process to help clients find their way home.”
RentSpree, founded in 2016, also landed in the top 13 percent of the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies of 2022, coming in at No. 625 with 1001 percent growth.
Florida Realtors recently mounted an effort in conjunction with local landlords to combat the state’s effort to curb rent increases.
The two groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a cap on rent hikes in Orange County, which includes Orlando, and landlord groups have promised to fight similar efforts in Tampa, according to an Inman report.
