Zapp by Zumper hopes to make the rental application process a breeze.
There’s no dearth of apps and websites that can make finding an apartment a bit easier. Sites like Trulia, Zillow, StreetEasy and others help buyers and renters filter apartments by price, size, location, fee/no fee, and even more specific criteria. But if you’ve ever tried renting an apartment in a highly competitive market like New York City, you know that finding the apartment is half the battle.
So you’ve found a listing you love, decided you can afford it, met the broker, toured the space, and now it’s time to move. So what’s next? The dreaded application. The application process for an apartment can be a crucible for both prospective tenants, brokers, and landlords. There may be help on the way.
Techcrunch recently profiled real estate startup, Zumper, a company that has been trying to establish itself as a competitor to some of the other big names in online real estate rentals by matching tenants and property managers. While they have their own take on the process, this isn’t necessarily anything new. What could be a gamechanger is Zapp, Zumper’s latest app that actually allows tenants to apply right through their phones. Imagine an apartment hunting process that allowed you to find and apply for an apartment all from one app on your phone. No paperwork, no signing and scanning, and best of all, no expensive credit checks.
Zapp allows you to apply for apartments for free has partnered with Experian to provide $10 credit checks, a fraction of what you’d pay on the average. You can also reuse the credit check to apply for other apartments once it’s been run.
Zapp is launching now, but only on a limited basis in the San Francisco metro. With around $8 million in funding, Zapp is poised to make a big change to something that most shoppers consider a major headache.