Startups see untapped potential in apartment buildings
Home-sharing services such as Airbnb are great for homeowners looking to make extra money by renting out properties, but for people living in apartment buildings it’s a bit more tricky. Apartment construction has been booming in recent years. Now, a handful of startups are aiming to wring even more money out of that market, both for the building owners and tenants. “Right now, it’s the wild, Wild West when it comes to short-term rentals,” said Sean Conway, the CEO of Pillow Residential, a company which is trying to make it easier to rent apartments on Airbnb. Most big apartment buildings have rules barring Airbnb , so Conway asked property owners what it would take to change that. “And they told us transparency, control, and profit sharing,” Conway said. Pillow, which is now in 12 cities, lets building owners track and control how much tenants use Airbnb. It also gives building owners a cut of the profits — between 5 and 15 percent. Conway said it’s also a way to for tenants to ...
