Skift Take
As the marketplace grows, so is the range of short-term rental services.
Srividya Kalyanaraman
The short-term leasing industry is branching off, with lots of Airbnb-like iterations.
We took a look at two in specific: Per hour rentals for the show business and short-term student housing. Both are services Airbnb doesn’t typically provide. On Scouter, film production teams and social networks influencers can rent places on a hourly basis.
And Station Club offers regular monthly furnished leasings to international trainees and interns visiting the U.S. for a short time period.
Scouter– Airbnb for Hourly Rentals
Guadalajara, Mexico-based Scouter has actually just recently launched in South Florida with the objective of being the Airbnb for venues. The company’s platform lists estates, stadiums, pools and other specific areas for motion pictures, photography shoots and one-day events.
The four-year-old company began as a Facebook page when its creator and CEO Mauricio Almeida was working for Sony Entertainment in the material department.
“I realized that we constantly have the very same issue when it pertains to discovering locations for our shoots,” Almeida stated. “We wished to rent specific places, like a garden, or a medical facility, or a helipad, or a big mansion. And we needed it for a couple of hours in the day. So it began with a Facebook page listing homes of buddies. But I rapidly understood that this can be a much bigger service,” he stated.
Four years later on, Scouter counts the likes of HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Style, and Gucci as its customers. The majority of properties on the Scouter platform, consisting of homes, homes, offices and estates, are rented by owners who also utilize Airbnb.
And for areas like parks, stadiums, art galleries, and dining establishments, the company has a dedicated sales and account management team that searches for and manages those locations, as there are more settlements and security procedures included.
Hosts who use Scouter frequently similarly have listings on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
“We are another channel to generate income, with another market,” Almeida stated. “If a home leas for $2,000 a night, Scouter can pay $3,000 for four hours due to the fact that it is for commercial use, so hosts stand to make more cash.”
Almeida stated that one of the biggest risks is damage to the residential or commercial property or location. And for that, Scouter gives the owner a security deposit of $5,000. The mansion leasings begin at $2,000 for four hours, while a standard home or apartment with a terrace or garden starts at $300 for two hours.
If you wonder about a television show shot on a Scouter-found place? Narcos is one.
Outpost Club: Short-Term International Student Housing
Home management company Outpost Club supplies furnished regular monthly leasings for worldwide students and young professionals relocating to the U.S. for education and internships.
Founded in 2016 by Ukrainians Sergii Starostin and Oleksandr Prykhodko, Station Club handles 1,500 apartments throughout 40 buildings in New York across Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, along with Philadelphia. It prepares to expand to other markets like Massachusetts and Florida that have a substantial student population.
Starostin said that New York City’s Resident Law 18 that banned most short-term leasings for less than 30 nights has brought more organization for his business.
“When last year there was a closure of the majority of Airbnbs in New York City, it pumped up business since like Airbnb was not just used for short-term travel, however Airbnb was likewise used for mid-term stays like 1-5 months,” Starostin said. “So we began to deal with some Airbnb property owners who had short term leasings, however we converted them into mid- and long-term leasings.”
Station Club enters management contracts with these landlords and takes a charge for its services. Rents for the tiniest units begin with $1,000 monthly that includes standard products, energies and periodic cleansing and maintenance. In other places, in Pennsylvania, Station Club rents homes starting from $750.
The company is likewise the main partner for New York City’s Administration for Kid Solutions, where it offers housing for trainees coming out of foster care and entering colleges. The city pays Station Club to momentarily accommodate these trainees.