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[–] 93 points 2 years ago (26 children)

Bro, we need Glassdoor for renting...

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  • [–] 38 points 2 years ago (14 children)

    I'll build it, just as soon as you figure out how it gets paid for.

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  • [–] 56 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Get paid by landlords to remove negative reviews, like yelp. Offer to show all reviews, even removed ones, to renters that pay for the premium service.

    Ew, I feel gross after coming up with that idea.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago

    shake down bad landlords to delete bad reviews.

    charge landlords for priority in search results.

    sell searcher info as marketing data.

    sell search trends as financial early indicators to hedge funds.

    expand to HOA reviews for neighborhoods.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Real estate advertising, surely?

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Yeah. No.

    "Advertise your rental property on the page where your tenants review you."

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    "I mean... If you really value your brand, you'll stand behind it? I can put you on the opt-out list though, so future tenants know you don't stand behind it. I'm offering value at a fraction of the cost of advertisement and you're paying for peace of mind."

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (9 children)

    For apartment complexes there's yelp/Google maps reviews.

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    [–] 57 points 2 years ago (36 children)

    References for renting? What sort of dystopia is that? I've never heard of that concept, luckily.

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  • [–] 35 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    It's common in Germany to get a "reference" from your current landlord that basically just says "paid rent on time and didn't set anything on fire".

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Huh. Here we have registries for people who habitually don't pay on time, with a cooldown once they're caught up. If you're not in the registry it's assumed that you're good.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (19 children)

    What country are you in? I thought landlord reference is the norm.

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    [+] 41 points 2 years ago (6 children)
  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago

    Depends on the market. Like New York City is competitive, I think they demand references because they have plenty of options for tenants. Other places maybe not so much. Whatever people can get away with they will do.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    What the actual fuck? You renting a basement apartment or applying for a mortgage?

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    [–] 34 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    Catch 22 for everyone trying to move out of their parent's home when they specifically state the references can't be family.

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  • [–] 34 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Some landlords will give good recommendations for shitty tenants, just so they can get rid of them.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    One guy I bothered every day about his other tenant stomping across my ceiling. That landlord gave me a fantastic recommendation because he was tired of having to do any effort whatsoever instead of just receiving money for doing nothing.

    I saw that tenant as I was moving out, "I don't understand the problem, I always wore my indoor boots?" Fuck apartments lol.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago

    Can confirm, had a friend rent a room in a house I was staying in (privately rented from the owner) after months of issues, he was given a glowing referee from myself and the owner, and swiftly ejected from the house. Guarantee it got him out the door a shitload quicker.

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  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Life hack: lie, steal and manipulate. Or be a honest homeless person. It's definitely not going to bother me.

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (34 children)

    It is an asymmetric relationship. The landlord only cares if a tenant can be trusted to pay rent and not trash the place. On the other hand, the tenant is getting a service (shelter and upkeep) from the landlord.

    Like other service providers, an aggregate rating is probably more appropriate. Some people are fine as long as they have a roof and indoor plumbing while others rate 1-star if the water takes a minute to warm up. Some tenants care about kitchen appliances while others care about an updated bathroom. Some like to be woken up by the first rays of sun while others want a dark room to sleep in. It is important for tenants to both get a good aggregate of a landlord's quality but also understand if the landlord's faults are ones that they care about.

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  • [–] 29 points 2 years ago (33 children)

    Being a landlord is morally wrong. Shelter is a human right, not a service. The service that they provide is not calling the cops to evict you so long as you pay them. They don't otherwise provide you with anything.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    So, grocery stores are morally wrong? I mean, food is a human right, isn't it? What about hotels?

    Providing a necessary service in exchange for money isn't morally wrong.

    Not everyone wants to own property. It's a huge financial liability, and a pain in the ass, tbh. I actually know people who sold their homes and moved into apartments because they were sick of the time and money required to upkeep a house.

    While there are absolutely landlords who are immoral, especially corporate landlords, saying that being a landlord is inherently immoral is just incorrect.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    I do agree that grocery stores are morally wrong in some sense yes. People should not have to lend their bodies in order to eat. Hotels aren't morally wrong entirely, because they're only providing a place to stay temporarily. If they did provide long term stay and charged for it than yes that would be morally wrong. You'll note that I'm an anarchist.

    There is no such thing as a moral landlord. And the people you're talking about downsized. The landlord does not do repairs, he hires handyman and trades workers to do repairs. The landlord collects a tax from you while giving you nothing in return. My rent is twice the monthly cost of a mortgage for a mini home in my area.

    When you have a mortgage the money isn't gone when you spend it, it's used to pay off your loan. When you're done you own the property.

    I will never own this property. None of my money is returned to me. It is taken by a person or entity who literally does not provide me anything.

    I'll repeat, providing shelter isn't a service. What the landlord is providing you, is not evicting you so long as you provide them a taxation of your wages that goes straight into their pocket. If all landlords died overnight nothing would materially change except for all the people renting could now keep their wages, and hire the handyman to do the work themselves. Housing co-ops also cover the costs of upkeep by pooling money to spend. No, landlords are 100% immoral 100% of the time and your buddy who's a good guy and a landlord might be a good guy but it has nothing to do with his being a landlord. Some cops save dying animals and volunteer at soup kitchens I'm sure, they're all still bastards by participating in a system of militarized state violence.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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    [–] 15 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    Oh no it’s worse than that. I have mandatory binding arbitration so I don’t really have rights. Mind you that’s after the application fees and paying for my own background check, commonly used to strong-arm you into accepting horrible terms.

    It’s that or be homeless.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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    [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    The gallows and guillotine have a nice easy solution for all that bullshit.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    I think you're on to something...

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