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Overview
Design a user-centric digital platform for long-term rental service, focusing on accessibility, usability, and seamless experience for renters and landlords. The app aims to streamline the entire rental process, from property search, virtual tours, lease signing, and integrated payment systems.
Industry :
- Real Estate Long-term rental service
Business Model :
- Rental B2C Marketplace
- B2B Property Management
- Free to use Premium Features
Platform :
- Mobile iOS and Android
Project Timeline :
- 9 months
My role
I'm the lead product designer for this project. From end-to-end research, design, and development. I collaborated with a multi-functional team:
- Peter Cheng (Delivery Manager)
- Ann Nolasco (Product Manager)
- Russel Kinney (Business Analyst)
- TJ Figueroa (Product Designer)
- Sonjay Sarmeinto (Sr. Software Engineer)
- Ralph Evans (Full-Stack Developer)
We started NowHom in August 2019, but it faced a 6-month halt due to COVID-19 and US restrictions. Fortunately, we resumed the project virtually, working from home until we successfully launched the mobile app in January 2021.
Background
NowHom is a proptech company based in California, USA, founded by Beach Cities Investments, Inc. Established in 2020.
NowHom aims to revolutionize the rental experience by integrating real estate and financial technology, making the process more accessible and efficient for tenants, landlords, and property managers.
Understanding the problem
NowHom's main issue is the inefficient, fragmented, and unclear nature of the current rental market. Tenants waste time and face surprise fees. They also cannot build credit, even when they make their payments on time. Landlords encounter fraud, empty units, operational problems, and legal risks. The system lacks transparency and trust, which frustrates both sides of the market, leaving them feeling underserved.
Lack of qualification transparency
Renters don’t know if they meet income, credit, or background criteria until after paying fees.
Inefficient application process
Each property or landlord requires a separate application, ID upload, income verification, references, and contact forms.
Rent doesn’t build credit
Rent is usually a renter’s largest monthly expense, but most credit bureaus don’t recognize it. Without reporting to Experian, renters don’t build credit even if they pay on time.
Unqualified leads
Many inquiries are from tenants who fail to meet income or credit requirements.
Vacancy loss
Many inquiries are from tenants who fail to meet income or credit requirements.
Rent collection and reconciliation
Without integrated rent portals, tracking payments and balancing books takes hours weekly. Autopay is uncommon; late fees and reminders must be issued manually.
Research and findings
Highlight achievements by the numbers
We invited 18 participants and conducted a survey and interviews
12
Professionals, students, and families
6
Landlords, property managers, and property agents
90%
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90%
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Highlight achievements by the numbers
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90%
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90%
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Solution
Maintaining multiple tenants’ and landlords’ problems like finding a suitable property and signing a lease within a platform they do not need to meet physically to sign a lease.
Renters / Tenants
Verified Listings and Real-Time Availability
NowHom ensures that all listings are verified either by landlords, property managers, or through direct integration with Property Management Systems (PMS). Listings are updated in real time to reflect accurate availability and pricing.
Impact
Tenants can trust that the listings they see are correct. This takes away the hassle of dealing with outdated or fake listings.
Instant Pre-Qualification
Renters can quickly check if they qualify for properties with a pre-qualification tool that uses soft credit checks and income verification through a bank or payroll. This gives renters an immediate response on whether they meet the landlord's criteria, including income and credit requirements.
Impact
They can easily find listings that fit their financial profile and skip application fees for properties that don't match their qualifications.
Virtual Tours and Self-Serve Scheduling
Renters can book virtual tours directly through the app, allowing them to tour properties remotely via live video walkthroughs, 3D tours, or recorded content. In-person tours can also be scheduled with automatic reminders and confirmations.
Impact
Renters can view properties at their convenience, eliminating the need for complicated scheduling. Remote tenants can also explore properties without being there in person.
Rent Payment Automation
Renters can pay their rent using ACH, debit, credit card, or mobile wallet payments. NowHom also lets users set up autopay, along with reminders and late-fee automation.
Impact
Renters can conveniently pay rent on time and see improvements in their credit scores with regular payments.
Landlords / Property Managers
Verified Listings & Marketplace Management
Landlords and property managers can upload listings, manage availability, update pricing, and make sure that only verified units are displayed. Listings sync automatically with real-time availability to avoid double bookings.
Impact
Provides consistent and accurate information for prospective tenants, reducing time spent on manual updates.
Automated Screening & Pre-Screening
NowHom’s automated screening process pre-qualifies tenants based on customizable criteria (credit score, income, background checks). Landlords can define their own criteria for each listing.
Impact
Saves landlords time by filtering out unqualified applicants at the beginning, this leads to a smoother screening process.
Integrated Rent Collection & Financial Tools
Landlords can collect rent payments directly through the app; It offers flexible payment options like ACH, card payments, or digital wallets. The platform keeps track of all payments, generates automatic receipts, and notifies landlords about late payments or missed rent.
Impact
Rent collection is automated and secure, with landlords having a full overview of all financial transactions in real-time.
Financing & Flexible Payment Options
Renters can use flexible financing options to pay rent, such as splitting payments into installments or accessing a “rent now, pay later” feature.
Impact
Provides renters with more financial flexibility, especially for those experiencing temporary cash flow issues.
Secondary research
NowHom's
objectives are centered around providing a seamless, efficient, and socially responsible rental experience for both tenants and landlords. The company aims to achieve its goals by focusing on innovation, community impact, and platform growth. Below are the key objectives of NowHom:
Impact
NowHom’s objectives are designed to achieve its business goals by focusing on both enhancing user experience and driving sustainable growth. These objectives address the needs of tenants, landlords, and the broader community, while also ensuring the platform's continued success in the real estate and proptech sectors.
40%
Simplify the Rental Process
NowHom aims to make finding and securing rental properties straightforward and user-friendly. Their platform offers features like virtual walkthroughs and a three-step application process to streamline the experience for tenants.
25%
Enhance Tenant Accessibility
The platform provides tools such as credit boosting and the ability to "lock in" a property, increasing the chances of securing a desired rental, even for those with less-than-perfect credit.
20%
Supporting Landlords and Property Mangers
NowHom offers landlords and management companies tools to fill vacancies more efficiently by connecting them with pre-qualified tenants, thus reducing downtime between tenants.
Target Market Users
Renters
- Professionals, students, and families
- Renters who would rather have virtual tours, rather than meet in person
Landlords
- Property owners looking to expand their tenant base digitally
- Landlords seeking to easily list and manage properties
- Real estate experts managing property and assisting clients find rental houses
Our process
To understand about NowHom’s background, market space, and users, I started by conducting research with the following goals:
Research Goals
Understanding consumer behavior and demographics is essential to developing a successful rental property app, but so is knowing how emerging technologies like virtual reality (VR) can enhance the user experience. The purpose of this study is to thoroughly examine these elements, determining user requirements, expectations, and the ways in which virtual reality (VR) can be used to improve property search and engagement.
Consumer Behavior
- 22% of people feel that the pre-qualification application has too many requirements, making it difficult to apply for rent.
- There’s no denying the COVID-19 pandemic changed business as we know it. But there’s no evidence to suggest it hindered short-term renters (STRs).
- Demand for STRs is higher than it was in pre-pandemic times—and so is revenue.
- STR demand is up 23.8% from 2020. And even though occupancy rates have slightly declined due to an uptick in supply, revenue is still 21.5% higher than it was this time last year and 60.3% higher than it was before the pandemic.
Demographics
- Americans who plan to buy or rent a property in the next 12 months in 2018, by age: 33.33% of respondents 18-29 years; 34.55% 30-49 years; 22.99% 50-64 years
- 3.13 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 years stated that they are short-term renters in the past 12 months; 38.57% for 30-49 years; 25.2% for 50-64 years for long-term renters or homeowners.
Virtual Reality (VR)
- Nowadays, new tech is constantly being introduced and changing the face of industries. The most recent technological developments in real estate are virtual tours and virtual reality (or VR).
- VR allows you to view a house without having to physically move.
- 95% of home buyers use the Internet to look for homes.
- 51% of people buy homes that they found online, so adding VR to this seems like the obvious next step
- 71% of Millennials are positive about the use of VR, this is unsurprising as most Millennials are quick to adapt to new technologies. On the other hand, older generations might take a bit more convincing
- 62% of Americans now choose their real estate agency which one provides 3D virtual reality tours
Competitive Analysis
After learning more about the industry, I wanted to take a closer look at NowHom's competitors and how they’re helping their users/tenants, and how they are able to rent and passed some verification requirements. Through my market research, I identified some top direct and indirect competitors within the industry: Apartments.com, Trulia Rentals, Redfin, and Airbnb. Direct competitors are real estate-focused similar to NowHom, while indirect competitors aren’t focused solely on long-term rent. Exploring each of their apps, I evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of each to see how Homely could fill in any gaps moving forward.
Persona
Malcolm Stuart
24 Years Old
Student at UCLA
Works at Antler Cafe
Annual Income:
$18,890
+ $8,000 Commission
Own a Pet
No Kids
Fair Credit
Social Techie
Randy Van Veen
32 Years Old
Consulting Manager
Rimini Street
Annual Income:
$88,900
Married
Three (3) Children
Bad Credit
Tech Savvy
James Miller
41 Years Old
Business Owner
Drain Right Services
Annual Income:
$206,420
Single
One Child
Good Credit
Basic Tech User