With stacks of papers to sign, background checks to complete and fees to pay, the apartment rental process can seem antiquated and inefficient for both sides of the equation.
Larger property management companies will have enterprise software to make the process a bit simpler, but what about the single property owner? If they are only renting three or four units, it’s likely they’ll rely on the tried-and-true method of stacks of paper and Excel sheets.
Sarnen Steinbarth experienced these struggles firsthand, as he bought his first property at the age of 19, and by 22 owned a 29-unit building.
He started a property management and education company in 2009 and quickly learned that listing properties and managing the application and screening process was time-consuming and inefficient.
He also saw that the software options available were targeted primarily at property managers overseeing 100-plus units.
“If you have two units or four units, you don’t want to pay $300 a month for one rental that you rent out for $700 a month,” he said.
Steinbarth thought the property management model could follow a similar path online as TurboTax, and purchased the URL www.turbotenant.com for $4 in 2012.
Four years later, Steinbarth launched Fort Collins-based TurboTenant, a property management software startup that offers services like one-click rental marketing, online rental applications and tenant screening for independent landlords.
"There wasn't a product on the market for an independent landlord, someone with one to 100 properties. Most software on the market is geared toward large apartment complexes. It is expensive and too complicated for the average user. I knew there was a need, and that I could build a great solution,” said Steinbarth.
On TurboTenant, landlords can list properties, share the listing across a dozen websites like Apartments.com and Realtor.com, review applications and manage tenants. The service is free for landlords and TurboTenant collects a $35 to $45 application fee from tenants.
Since launching in early-2016, TurboTenant has serviced more than 175,000 landlords and had more than two million renters use the platform.
“We make the rental process better for both sides,” Steinbarth said.
Last year TurboTenant closed a $2.2 million funding round, led by Kirk Holland of Access Venture Partners, and have grown their team to 18, with a host of major executive hires.
"Our goal is to be the go-to communication platform for landlords and renters. We continue to make feature updates based on user feedback and ideas. We keep those lines of communication open. We want the customer experience on our platform to be second to none,” said COO/CFO Andrew Evans.
As the company moves forward, Steinbarth said they’ll continue to beef up marketing efforts to reach more landlords, especially ones that may not be the most tech or internet savvy.
“Finding them is tricky,” Steinbarth said. “Selling them on it is easy.”
