Rendin has created a new digital agent which can digitally do many of the activities why people choose to pick a real estate agent in the first place. Providing the proper legal documents, posting your property on different listing sites and suggesting the proper price are some examples. In addition to that Rendin will take additional responsibility for the property, should the tenant leave debts or trash the apartment.
Coming back to the topic of conventional real estate agents, let’s look at what the different studies tell us about what Poles think about real estate agents. A 2021 study carried out by Otodom along with IQS shows that over time Poles have generally become less negative about real estate agents, with only 15% of the people saying that they’re unfavourable against agents. A couple of years before this survey was carried out, this number was 36%.
In addition, data shows also that more Poles are favouring real estate agents. In 2021 45% of Poles had a positive opinion regarding real estate agents, while in 2017 this number was only 24%. Both of these numbers show a generally more positive attitude towards the agents over time.
“Probably the general feeling towards real estate agents has become even more favourable from the landlord’s side in the last couple of years with the increased uncertainty, constantly changing regulations and market situation, fluctuating prices, more foreigners on the renting market and other topics that make keeping up with the market even more complicated for regular private landlords that are not professional rental investors,” comments Jakub Markowski, a representative of Rendin.
However, many landlords in Poland are still not actively using the services of real estate agents and similar tendencies are visible in other countries of the region. The aforementioned study by Otodom shows that only around 30% of Poles have used the services of a real estate agent for either selling, buying or renting real estate. Rendin’s similar study in Estonia has shown that it’s a similar trend in the region as 75% of landlords who are renting out in Estonia are doing so without the help of a real estate agent. This means that real estate agent services are generally still not popular in the region, even when the general perception of the profession is improving.
We change the rental industry
In Poland, the rental laws favor the tenants, even in cases of fraud. At Rendin, we champion fairness for both parties! Our solution supports equitable rental relationships by providing landlords with:
Professional legal aid whenever they need it
Rent payment guarantee
Property damage reimbursement
We envision modern property renting as simple, accessible, and, most of all, secure for both landlords and tenants.
Noticeable issues remain
According to the Otodom study, Poles expect the most that the agents will help them with verification of the legal status of the property, with pricing of the property, ensuring the security of the transaction and leading the customers to new technologies that could help them do things at an easier and cheaper manner. Most real estate agents are very likely to be able to do these things, at least up to some extent.
But why are people often not using a real estate agent then? The Otodom study also sheds some light on this - the price of the service along with the pressure sometimes put on the landlords by the agents is the biggest culprit. As real estate agents are paid based on commission, it might mean that some agents are putting pressure on the landlord to move through with an unfavourable deal as it means they will get their commission.
“This situation becomes even more tense if multiple agents are working with one property as it often might happen. To earn the commission in such a case, the agent often has to be faster than other agent(s), which might result in a drop in the quality of the work from the perspective of the landlord,” Markowski explains.
Also, most real estate agents have no methods in place to guarantee the security of the rental relationship once it starts. The process ends when the property is handed over to the tenant, but the agent has no responsibility for what happens next during the tenancy or when the rental agreement should end. Any issues from there on forward are between the tenant and the landlord and often the agent is not even turned to for legal advice nor can they provide it.
“We’re happily working with real estate agents also in Rendin. We can take care of the legal problems and risk, while the real estate agent can optimize the viewings and other activities,” Markowski says. “This allows the end user - the owner of the property - to get the best experience with all possible bases covered.”
A digital real estate agent can also help in many cases
Rendin has also come up with a digital real estate agent - Digiagent - for landlords that takes many of the best parts of the work a real estate agent does. Digiagent is able to suggest a good price, provides proper legal documents such as an agreement or the handover protocol and posts your property on most listing sites. In addition to that, the company has also reduced the cost of a simplified renting out process significantly and offers included additional value like taking extra responsibility for a successful tenancy.
Of course, Digiagent has noticeable limitations as well compared to a regular real estate agent. Showings of the property still have to be conducted by the landlord, along with the preparation of the property before handing it over and the handing over itself. However, the steps and guides built into the service help make renting out easy for landlords who have not even rented out before to do it properly.
“We can see that Digiagent is a complementary service in the market, which doesn’t compete with regular real estate agents' services, as many people still want to optimize the showing of the property as this is often the most time-consuming part of the process. However, Digiagent can prove valuable for landlords who are fine with showing the property themselves, but would like to optimize on costs and do things more digitally,” Markowski says.
Using Rendin’s Digiagent is completely free for the landlord until the tenant and the landlord decide to sign the rental agreement on the Rendin platform. The parties can choose to sign a rental agreement after without Rendin without any obligations. After signing the rental agreement on the Rendin platform, the cost of the Rendin service along with the extra protection is 2.5% of the monthly rent, which can be paid by either the landlord or the tenant.