The housing and rental market has been skyrocketing over the last year and doesn’t look like it will be coming down anytime soon. Nearly 75% of all millennials say they are renting due to financial reasons. However, rent is going up while wages have stayed the same. People looking to rent houses are having a harder time finding safe and affordable housing.
HomeRoom has created a solution to this problem by creating a co-living space platform where investors earn more and renters pay less.
“Young adults need more affordable housing options that don’t sacrifice quality or experience. The future of living looks very different, Gen Z is amplifying the trends that millennials started: delayed marriage, living with roommates longer, diverse income streams, needing a way to dig themselves out of student debt. 1 in 4 Americans has student debt. That’s more than 40 million people. And the high cost of living is the #1 reason why young people stay in debt,” said Johnny Wolff, Founder and CEO of HomeRoom.
In 2018, the founders of HomeRoom saw two truths that needed addressing: investing in real estate should be easier and accessible and high rent keeps young people in debt. They wanted to see an increase in options to combat this problem. As a real estate marketplace that connects property investors with qualified renters, HomeRoom is providing both investors and renters with affordable options.
HomeRoom helps investors purchase homes in cities that young people are flocking to. The problem with those cities is that they lack affordable housing. Within a month, they renovate the home to be ready for qualified renters to live in amenity-rich, but wildly affordable options. Bye-bye apartment premiums!
“Affordable communal living belongs everywhere. The United States is uniquely behind on this. People enjoy having community, they enjoy sharing living experience and the money they save is hugely relevant,” said Wolff.
While the bread and butter of HomeRoom is influencing both investors and tenants to participate in affordable housing, they are doing more to augment the community in their properties. With social events, HomeRoom is fostering a community of like-minded members in nearby areas. Many renters are familiar with the inconveniences of finding a new roommate whether it be not cleaning the dishes right away or owning a dog that barks at the crack of dawn. They have added a fine-tuned roommate matching system on their app to ensure that roommates connect on living preferences.
“Our approach to co-living is what makes us unique: Higher rent cash flows, and a shared-space experience valued by younger generations. Coliving helps millennials unlock the ability to purchase their own homes at a higher rate over time – as they are able to save such significant money on rent, while creating a new asset class for investors at the same time – one that is way more accessible and has lower barriers to entry. This has allowed us to scale so quickly with such little capital. Everybody wins,” said Wolff.
Within their app, they have taken away logistical headaches between roommates and landlords. No longer are maintenance requests living in the void. Through the app, tenants can request maintenance. HomeRoom gets into the nitty-gritty of the details of coliving and even provides options like request an emergency maintenance problem or a non-emergency maintenance problem so that tenants can rest easy at night knowing their home is being taken care of. Tenants can pay rent online, interview potential roommates, schedule a household meeting with their roomies or tap into the wide variety of other member resources such as renter’s insurance guides or house rules.
One of Homeroom’s biggest assets is that they set their focus with both investors and renters equally to assure success for both parties. Each side requires specific, unique skills, which is how they decided to build their team. Their senior team brings a mix of unique backgrounds from startups, technology, real estate and property management experience.
Since their launch, Homeroom has gone from one home in Kansas City to 105 homes in 31 cities across six major metros: Kansas City, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Pittsburgh. During 2021, they grew their rental GMV to $1.8M (300% YoY growth). The average rent across every property is $458, which is about 50% lower than market comps, and the investors see returns 50% higher.
But HomeRoom has more planned for the future. Their goal is to become the go-to platform for both real estate investors and renters. With this $1M in pre-seed they will be focused on scaling efforts to achieve 80+ cities across 20 major metros, 1,000+ homes, 6,000+ tenants, a broadened investor playbook that will tap into new investor channels, technology and team expansion.
To learn more about HomeRoom and their services at www.livehomeroom.com
