Rentals.ca Network recently launched with six Canadian rental marketplaces. The network consists of Rentals.ca, Rentfaster.ca, Louer.ca, Rentboard.ca, RentCanada.com and TorontoRentals.com.
Funding for the Rentals.ca Network was provided by Rentsync, formerly known as Landlord Web Solutions, a St. Catharines and Toronto-based firm. Rentsync provides rental housing marketing, advertising and software solutions in North America.
“This transaction creates opportunities to pool resources and provide a more sophisticated set of tools for renters and landlords in Canada,” says Steve Cowan, CEO of Rentsync. “We are tremendously excited about the opportunities ahead.”
The network features map-based search, neighbourhood scores and commute times, 3D virtual tours, floor plans, open house dates and artificial intelligence to detect fraudulent listings.
“We are passionate about offering renters an exceptional experience through intuitive design on mobile, tablet, desktop and voice devices,” says Matt Danison, CEO of Rentals.ca. “With an understanding of the next generation of renters, we are focusing on interval searching, where renters might only have five minutes to scan our rental inventory while waiting in line, commuting on the subway, or during a lunch break.”
More efficiencies are on the horizon as technologies are integrated, and best practices and key features are applied to all marketplaces, the company says. The Rentals.ca Network has already achieved synergies by merging sales, human resources and billing, which provide cost savings across the network, it says.
For the renter, the new network will provide more quality listings, a faster, safer search experience and more features to examine in each listing, the company says.
For the landlord, it will drive more quality leads and save time in posting and editing listings on multiple websites. The company is also promising “exceptional customer service”.
Although the network works with major REITs and property managers across Canada, most of the property listings come from small landlords posting their apartments, condos, townhouses, detached homes and basements for rent directly to one of the six brands, the company says.
In August, the network received 26 million page views, 4.3 million sessions and 2.3 million users, it says. In the last 12 months, the network has generated 50 million sessions, with 24 million users resulting in 5.4 million leads generated for landlords across Canada.
Since 2019, it says 110,000 small mom and pop landlords have listed properties with one of the six rental marketplaces, resulting in over 240,000 listed properties.
