Insights and Data for Multifamily Professionals

“A Full-Fledged Duopoly”

What HE said! It is in fact “now a full-fledged duopoly among the marketplace listing sites.”

The HE would be Mike Whaling, founder and president of 30 Lines in Columbus, Ohio. In his Tweet, Mike is referring to the news that broke on February 11th regarding CoStar’s acquisition of Rent Path.

pay-to-play tweet

That means we’re now in a residential rental listing duopoly that does not serve residential renters and also does not serve owners and property managers. An industry that does not serve its two main customers is ripe for disruption.

One thing these conglomerates have in common is — their business models are based on Pay-to-Play.

These conditions may not affect large multifamily organizations because of their high budget thresholds, but many medium to small sized companies will surely anticipate escalating marketing costs. Over the years, property management companies have been growing increasingly resentful of these large aggregators.

This makes the need for disruption (AKA alternative listing options) even more clear.

These conditions won’t just affect the supply side of the equation, renters will also be impacted.

These conglomerates are likely to own and drive all of the traffic to their best performing brands, thereby drastically reducing search options for the 109 million renters in the U.S., and narrowing the inventory rentals.

CoStar’s acquisition of RentPath ensures the further reduction of choice for renters and property managers, making the case with incredible eloquence, for a free and open alternative.

The continued consolidation of traditional multifamily housing aggregators into a duopoly begs these questions:

As the Pay-to-Play advertising model swells through the consolidation of brands, the path for innovation in the space widens. Price fatigue is escalating. Consumer frustration with a lack of robust and relevant options is heightening. This makes a compelling case for a “re-engineered” model that removes cost barriers to participation and fundamentally enhances the renter experience.

That’s where Dwellsy comes in.

Our Mission: Make it easier for renters to find “hard to find” rentals.

Our Beliefs:

Just to be crystal clear.

It’s FREE-FOR-ALL with Dwellsy

Back to Mike’s duopoly Tweet, where he mentioned, “What makes your brand stand out from everyone else just got that much more important.”

Here’s how we stand out.

Dwellsy sets property listings free.

Check out our other blog posts on Dwellsy’s blog.

Looking for a new home? Dwellsy can help you find a rental.

Authors:
Jonas Bordo, CEO of Dwellsy
Judy Bellack, Chief Consultant of Judith Lawrence Associates
Erika Benadom, Marketing at Dwellsy

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