3 Headaches That Hound Every Landlord — and How They Can Be Alleviated

Sponsored By homeBody

homeBody is an NYC-based startup company that has built the first property management tool designed for small landlords and their tenants.

Created By Brownstoner

In New York City, landlords are often seen as rich and distant parties to the day-to-day management of their rental properties. The truth is, 85 percent of the city’s 2.2 million rental units are managed by individual DIY landlords. Many of them share similar challenges:

1. Reaching the Busy Tenant 

Communicating with tenants can mean juggling emails, texts, calls, hand-written notes, or printing signs. This means it’s easy for crucial information, even payments, to get lost in the shuffle, slowing down the operation of a rental business and creating mistrust.

Solution: homeBody streamlines communication to and from every tenant, keeping a record of all interactions. “The app’s dashboard shows a job menu, with upcoming work tasks, and the status of jobs,” says Ted Lanzi, who manages six buildings in Manhattan. “It also automatically sends rent statements directly to tenants, and it’s easy to review leases with them.”

2. Tough to Find Good New Tenants 

Relying on credit scores, guarantors, and broker applications alone can’t predict whether a tenant will be timely with payments or a good neighbor. Landlords know the cost and hassle of a bad tenant can be extremely high.

Solution: homeBody tracks data about tenants – whether payments are on time, if they take care of their units, and if they are viewed as good neighbors – giving landlords more information before deciding to rent to a prospective tenant.

3. No Credit for Good Service

Good landlords strive to be attentive and responsive, but they often don’t get credit for it. While it’s easy to share reviews and warnings about bad service online, there’s no easy outlet to search for well-reviewed and attentive landlords.

Solution: homeBody provides accountability for both landlords and tenants. “HomeBody made my work more transparent to everyone,” says Andy Lau, who manages a six-unit building in Ridgewood. “Tenants now know my efforts of trying to provide a better environment for the entire building. Many tenants also stand up for me when there is a fraudulent complaint of heat insufficiency.”

Pete Harrison and Jo Owre started homeBody in 2016 with the belief that the relationship between small landlords and tenants is the key to a healthy and vibrant New York City. “We absolutely believe that if we make it easier for both parties to work together, we can make the rental market fair for everybody,” says Harrison.

For more information visit www.joinhomebody.com or call them at (929) 376-7980.