RenterResume, a service for landlords and property managers, is expanding into metro D.C. A marketing campaign in July will introduce and launch the service in the District. In addition, the company is looking for investors and is considering relocating its headquarters from Baltimore to D.C.
“We’re the Match.com for landlords and renters,” says Joshua Hines, CEO, who co-founded the company with Ashley Wilson and Max Mathieu in 2012.
The co-founders are from Baltimore, so that’s where they established the company. However, they quickly found that most of their business was in metro D.C. Not only is the population considerably larger than Baltimore's, but the proportion of renters to homeowners is considerably higher as well.
“In D.C. metro, 66 percent of residents are renters, versus Baltimore metro, where 33 percent of residents are renters,” says Hines. “The D.C. market is more suited for our product. It’s much busier than Baltimore and the busier the landlords are, the more they benefit from our product.”
RenterResume streamlines the tenant application process for landlords/property managers. The company hosts an online application for each rental unit. The company then does a credit check and researches criminal and eviction histories of each prospective tenant. The information is given to the landlord/property manager.
“We weed through the applicants who fit the landlords’ criteria. We [end up with an] average of four applications for each rental unit,” says Hines. “It’s up to the landlord to make the ultimate decision. We provide the information to do that.”
Currently, RenterResume is operating in Baltimore and the District “by invitation only,” meaning, Hines says, that the service is available to landlords/property owners of 50 units and up. After the launch, the service will be open to all landlords/property managers regardless of the number of units they have to rent.
Currently, RenterResume’s customers have a total of 800 to 1,000 individual units for rent. Within a year, the company hopes to represent 10,000 to 12,000 units for rent. Within a year, too, the company plans to double the number of employees from its current three to six.