How did the idea of Loftey originate?
Having been bait and switched myself when I was looking for my first apartment out of school, I saw first-hand how risky and difficult the apartment search process can be. And I’m from New York. Then a few years later my brother took a job as a real estate broker and I was shocked to learn that the sleazy sales tactics and fake listings weren’t just a small part of the industry, but there were entire companies that were built entirely upon these tactics. Some of the biggest names in New York City real estate teach their brokers to do nothing but bait and switch. There had to be a better way.
How is Loftey a better solution than comparable apartment search engines (i.e. StreetEasy, RentHop, Etc.)?
We don’t compete with public listing websites like Streeteasy, we are a service that complements those websites. If you use those sites to find your apartment, you can either go it alone and deal with the buildings/brokers yourself and pay whatever costs are associated with the apartment, or if you use our service then we will provide financial incentives like a guaranteed rent reduction, not charge any additional fees, and most importantly, eliminate any fake listings.
What is the average amount of time it takes to process a tenant’s application through the Loftey app? What does the full application process involve?
Our clients still have to go through the owner’s application process. We do help make sure that all documents are obtained in a timely manner, which helps to speed things up. For rental buildings approval is typically 24-48 hours while a co-op or condo application can take up to five weeks.
Do you see more New Yorkers using the app for rentals or sales? Why?
When it comes to sales we focus mostly on buyers and have seen a large increase in demand this year. However, our innovative approach to the rental market is game-changing and we deal with a much larger number of rental clients.
Right now the app allows users to search any area in Manhattan, are you working to include the outer boroughs?
We are actually currently partnering with some of the newer buildings in Queens and Brooklyn. They aren’t on our website yet, but our perks apply to those apartments even though they are on other websites. One of the best perks of our program is that our financial perks apply to apartments on any website.
About how much does the average user save by using Loftey in terms of the different offerings provided (i.e. reduced rent, moving expenses, etc.)?
Our average client saves approximately $700, even when they rent no fee apartments. Our clients have combined to save about $1 million, which otherwise would have gone to brokers/owners.
In the past, Loftey has marketed itself by saying it works to tackle fake listings—what’s the process of filtering fake listings out of Loftey’s search engine?
We currently verify all listings manually to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. We are building an automated solution which will flag apartments on any website a user is on to let them know if the listing is legitimate or not.
What do you think the most appealing part of using Loftey is for users (Tech-wise)? Why?
The difference we provide comes down to three things: saving our clients’ money without charging extra fees, verifying all listings from any website to ensure no typical broker shadiness, consolidating the search so our clients don’t have to email 50 difference brokers/buildings just to find an apartment—we do all the work. Some of our clients from out of town don’t value the savings much, but tell us the listing verification and search consolidation meant everything to them. That said some savvy New Yorkers only care about the savings.
Where do you see Loftey in the future?
We are growing our client base in New York right now and are expecting to do 2 percent of all rental transactions in Manhattan in 2018. We are looking at other cities and are about to release an app that we think will change the way renters across the country approach their search.
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