ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

Rent. Introduces New Feature To Help Renters Live More Cost-Effectively

The new feature reveals all the expected costs that they will need to pay upfront, including charges that mostly go hidden and crop up over time.
PUBLISHED FEB 27, 2024
Cover Image Source: An array of To Let and For Sale signs | Getty Images | Photo by Christopher Furlong
Cover Image Source: An array of To Let and For Sale signs | Getty Images | Photo by Christopher Furlong

Online rental marketplace, Rent. has introduced a new feature called Total Cost of Renting to help renters simplify their move with easy budgeting, per Business Wire. The new feature will provide a detailed breakdown of the entire financial commitment for renters, including all the associated costs such as monthly utilities, parking fees, and more. This is the first-of-its kind feature from a rental marketplace that is set to help thousands of renters across the U.S.



 

Rent. operates under the Rent Group Inc., a subsidiary of Redfin Corporation. Rent.'s network also includes other websites such as ApartmentGuide.com and Rentals.com as well as platforms like Realtor.com. The new feature is now available on every Rent.com listing and it will soon be coming to all listings on ApartmentGuide.com as well. "We make it easy to find a rental that fits your budget and lifestyle,” said Nishant Phadnis, Rent.’s chief product officer in a release.

The “Total Cost of Renting” empowers renters with a deeper understanding of all the associated costs for them to make informed decisions about where to live. Prospective renters can also avoid unexpected costs as the new feature clarifies all the expected costs that they will need to pay upfront, including charges that mostly go hidden and crop up over time.

When a renter on the platform clicks on the Total Costs & Fees tab on any rental listing, information on two cost estimates will be provided to them. The first is the estimated total monthly cost that includes the rent, amenity fees, utilities, pet rent and parking fees a tenant can expect to pay each month. The second represents the one-time fees that renters will need to pay before moving in. These costs include security deposits as well as application and admin fees. The feature also supports property managers and owners by helping them to maintain transparency with tenants and promote accountability. By providing all the cost information up front, property managers can appear trustworthy, which will allow them to fill vacancies faster.



 

The feature addresses a longstanding issue in the rental market, which is the transparency regarding the costs of renting a property. Renters often get hit with hidden charges and costs, once they have committed to a property, causing them to fork over more money. Thus, the new feature aims to eliminate all of the surprise fees and enable renters to budget more effectively for their move.

Earlier, short-term renting platform, Airbnb also introduced new features to help increase transparency between city officials and property owners. Airbnb updates its City Portal, allowing the officials to access greater data insights and use new instruments to help them enforce their short-term rental laws.

With the new update, city halls, and tourism officials can get data on the number of guests in a given month, aggregated insights into where guests are traveling from, survey data on the average amount of time a guest spends in the city and local business recommendations from hosts, among others.

Airbnb stated that the new portal update is a part of the company’s efforts to work collaboratively with cities by allowing them to search for listings in their registration system and take action on listings they believe violate local short-term renting regulations.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The sharks did not expect the product to taste as good as it did, considering what it was made from.
4 hours ago
The designer was also commissioned by top brands and worked for the royal family.
5 hours ago
The host had a look of bewilderment on his face which was absolutely hilarious.
6 hours ago
Things did not seem to be going well for the entrepreneur due to her high energy.
9 hours ago
The guest might have had high expectations, but they were quickly brought down to earth.
10 hours ago
The contestant was unable to contain her excitement and hugged the model.
1 day ago
Two of the players got it right, and while the player who lost didn't mind, fans were not satisfied.
1 day ago
Lisa celebrated her birthday in style with a perfect two-card guess to win the big prize.
1 day ago
Rick Harrison did what he could to console the guest who said that he had lost faith in NASCAR.
1 day ago
Both the guest and the expert were fascinated by how well the automaton worked.
2 days ago
One of the entrepreneurs broke down in tears, explaining all the struggles they had to go through.
2 days ago
She couldn’t believe it when her doll was appraised at a five-figure sum, and laughed in disbelief.
2 days ago
Ken Jennings truly has embraced "Jeopardy!" in every way possible at this point.
2 days ago
The comedian was impressed by the simplicity of the product and amused by the pitch.
3 days ago
Harrison usually makes smart deals on the show, but this vintage car buy turned into a costly mistake.
3 days ago
Had she started the game in a better way, she might have won the five-figure prize money.
3 days ago
Barbara Corcoran made the exact same offer, and she wasn't happy about being rejected.
4 days ago
The guest believed that it was worth a modest amount of money, but that was clearly not the case.
4 days ago
With James Holzhauer in the lead, Amy Schneider and Andrew He decided to joke around.
4 days ago
Barbara Corcoran told the founders that she had never seen Greiner so passionate.
4 days ago