The Role Technology Plays in The Short-Term Rental Industry
As anyone who’s an insider knows, the short-term rental industry looks very different from several years (or even a year) ago. One of the ways the industry is becoming indistinguishable from its former self is by the increasing use of technology-driven by consumer demand on the real estate and renter side.
Emir Dukic, Founder and CEO of Rabbu (a platform that’s an all-in-one turnkey property and asset management platform) is one of the people taking full advantage of this. Like many people, Emir found his way into the industry by unlikely means. Dissatisfied with his trajectory as a civil engineer, Emir joined a soccer skills startup called KYCK which was then acquired by NBC Sports.
Eventually, with the money from his day job, he and his wife purchased a home in Charlotte, North Carolina which had a spare room. Emir was able to convince his wife to turn this spare room into a short-term rental unit, which led to his initial Airbnb experiment. It wasn’t long after that he was able to break even and pay the mortgage on the entire house. This convinced him to explore the space a bit deeper.
Eventually, Emir was able to acquire more properties via rental arbitrage and ran into a problem with property management and finding turn-key solutions. Soon, Emir would discover he wasn’t the only one.
Emir and his co-founder James Strong realized that there was significant pent-up demand from investors who wanted to get into the space but didn’t have the technology to do so. This is where Emir and James utilized their tech and operations backgrounds to bring Rabbu to the masses.
Current and Future Trends
As the industry grows, Emir realizes that tech and automation will be the way forward for people wanting to get into space and capitalize on the uncharted territory it presents. One of the ways Emir has done this is by educating real estate investors on the potential gains that are possible and by backing it up with data. Rabbu has an entire underwriting platform on data.rabbu.com that gives an estimate on the potential returns a short-term rental can make over time.
In addition to updating investors on current trends, it’s necessary to see where the industry is going as a whole. Emir believes the following will happen over time:
Venture capitalists waiting on guidance - Lots of investment capital waiting to be intelligently deployed
Shifting demand - Many hotels are becoming micro-apartments to meet buyer intent of personalization
Less supply of available homes - Less real estate available for purchase is creating a class of people who are intelligently saving up to eventually buy
Owners with multiple properties- The market is seeing more people who have multiple properties rather than just a second home for rentals, which will increase as the short-term rental space diversifies
Emir was able to sum it up by saying: “There’s a bridging of the gap. Hospitality and residences are not going to be that far apart anymore. COVID has really accelerated a trend in the way people live, work, and travel. People want furnished rentals for months. People aren’t going to be satisfied with small hotel spaces when they’re traveling.”
This mixture of technology, demand, and competition will create a white-hot hospitality market that ultimately creates a better all-around experience for consumers and the investors who are willing to take a risk on this burgeoning space.
We’re definitely excited to see where this will all lead in a couple of years.
To connect with Emir, check out his LinkedIn or visit Rabbu.com
