Startup Founder Creates Yelp for Apartment Hunters

Ofo Ezeugwu, founder and CEO of Whose Your Landlord, saw a problem in the market when it came to tenants understanding who they were actually renting from. He solved it by creating a platform that provides aggregated data from both current and previous tenants that consists of reviews and a rating system.

“WhoseYourLandlord (WYL) is a platform built to empower and inform millennial renters through neighborhood insights, landlord reviews, community-driven content, and access to quality listings,” said Ezeugwu in a recent interview

content-custom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad1">  with Black Enterprise in which he goes into detail about raising capital via crowdfunding.

When you log on to the platform, you have the option to search for available apartments or read landlord reviews. On the landlord’s side, there is a rating system that shows the properties conditions and the safety provided among other really important qualifications that will help you decide if this is the place for you.

“We’ve seen rating

systems on Yelp and Netflix and you can look at the movie and look at the ratings before selecting it but, in housing, it’s never really been that way so, it really is an untapped market when it comes to the real estate industry,” Ezeugwu told Now This.

The site currently has over 300,000 users and is increasing its active users daily. It’s unlike any other site of this nature due to the fact that there is actual content displayed on the homepage and a cool vibe and feel behind the brand. Stories are showcased with headlines that read like a modern-day publication. “Ever Been Duped by a Fake Landlord?” and “Is Your Home Your Headquarters?”

The CEO’s goal is to create a social element to the platform as well, allowing former, current, and prospective tenants to interact with each other, Ezeugwu told Now This. This type of engagement not only gives the tenant feedback but it also keeps the landlords accountable; knowing that there is potential for their future tenant’s decision to be swayed.

 

User Interface (Image: Whose Your Landlord)

 

According to the video below, “Over the last decade, the homeownership rate is down 7% among millennials and down another 9% among folks age 35-44 and today, nearly half the nation rents.” Whose Your Landlord is right on time.

 

 

Video: YouTube